A Wish and a Wedding by Margaret Way Page A

shelter? What next? Is that a wig she’s wearing, or her own hair? And what’s she doing down at the school? Not helping you teach, I bet! She’s got no verbal skills. I try to engage her in conversation but she can’t even string two words together. Even when I say hello she’s pushed for an answer.”
    â€œWhereas you more or less don’t let up,” Tori retorted bluntly, stung on Chrissy’s behalf. “Chrissy is having difficulty responding because you go out of your way to make her nervous. To my mind, that’s cruel.”
    Marcy’s bosom heaved with the level of affront. “I can’t begin to imagine why Haddo is so fond of you,” she muttered grimly.
    â€œThat’s something even I’m not capable of answering,” Tori quipped. “But then, you’re no closer to Haddo than you were six or seven years ago. That’s sad, Marcy. Maybe it’s time you asked yourself the Big Question: could I be wasting my time? ”
    Marcy threw back her shiny head, cut in the latest style, “Terribly amusing, my dear.” She glared. “But then you always were obnoxious.”
    â€œCharming!” Tori murmured. For some reason Marcy, several years older, had always been afraid of her. Why, exactly?
    â€œAnd you’re heading for a cropper.” Marcy’s crystal tones sharpened. “Don’t think I don’t know why you’ve been sent out here. The family are worried about the sort of people you hang out with.”
    â€œ Your sort, Marcy,” Tori reminded her dryly. “You know—the so called shakers and movers. The in crowd.”
    Marcy all but choked. “The only difference being I know how to behave. You simply don’t. ”
    â€œSo why is it you always look envious?” Tori smiled. “What you don’t take into account is that I’m smart, and I recognise it in you. Anyway, I’m doing great! Not that it’s any of your business. And, yes—I do believe I’m family, while you’re just a visitor here. So don’t try telling me off. Or Chrissy.”
    â€œOh, my goodness!” Marcy made a face, as if she had never encountered such rudeness. “A visitor? Everyone knows I’m much more than that. Kerri and I forged our friendship in school, and Haddo and I have always been close, as it so happens. Why else would he have me here?” She gave a thin, knowing, smile. “We all have our little secrets, dear. What would you know about what’s gone on in the past few years?And what about what you have to deal with? You don’t fool me one little bit with that smart aleck manner you’ve adopted with Haddo. It’s just an act. Haddo is far more to you than you’re letting on.”
    â€œOf course he is!” Tori flashed a breezy smile. “I won’t lie. He’s Cousin Haddo, and I just adore him. But to get back to Chrissy. She was really enjoying being here until you arrived. It’s important to me we keep it that way.”
    â€œRight you are!” Marcy gave an unkind laugh. “But how could a little street person like Chrissy be at home here? As the old saying goes, you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. If she feels bad it’s because she recognises that fact. She’s totally out of place when you consider what her natural habitat has to be. She could have been doing drugs, for all you know. Or prostitution. Lovely! Her feeling bad has nothing to do with me, Victoria. Actually, I’ve made attempts to be kind to her.”
    The redhead in Tori got the upper hand. “I don’t regard barely disguised ridicule as kindness,” she said, very sharply indeed. “And, for the record, Chrissy is totally drug-free and she was never into prostitution. You think you’re so superior to the Chrissys of this world, don’t you, Marcy?”
    Marcy gave a throaty laugh, placing a hand on her