Shadows 02 Girl in the Shadows by V. C. Andrews Page A

I said. "When I have to sell off the motor home. I'll think about her. As silly as it might sound to you," I added, looking at Destiny, "this is the only home she has ever known."
He looked at me with a slight smile on his face and then he nodded. I was sure my reactions amused him.
Afterward, we walked back to the house to continue our lessons.
"Where have you been?" Mrs. Westington asked. When we entered, it woke her.
"We'll let Echo tell you," Tyler said, and told her to do so.
She began excitedly. Most of it Mrs. Westington didn't understand or follow, but she did get the main idea.
"You put on a show for them?" she asked inc. "Using thatdoll?"
"As best I could." I said.
"When I heard April's story. I thought it would be the best way to explain that doll to Echo," Tyler added. "She saw it in action and understood its real purpose."
"Hmm," Mrs. Westington said. "Well. I guess it all worked out for the best then. You can bring it into the house whenever you want." she told me.
I thanked her and we all returned to our work until it was Tyler's time to go home. Echo was always very disappointed when the clock struck that hour. To get her off her sadness, he gave her one more thing to do, asking her to have it ready for him when next he returned and making it sound like it was very important to him. That was enough to get her started immediately. He could ask her to dig a ditch all night and she would do it for him. I thought. He kept talking to me about my own assignments and preparation for the high school equivalency exam. so I walked out with him.
"I'm glad this is turning out better than I had expected," he said. There was almost nothing else he could have said that would have made me feel as good. "I only hope I can be here long enough to help you."
After we left the house. I walked with him to his car. The late afternoon sun was threading its rays through the tops of the trees that surrounded the pond. A light, golden laver like the icing on a cake made the water glimmer,
"It looks like a pond of Chardonnay," I said, nodding at the water.
Tyler laughed. "I guess Trevor Washington and his winery are having an influence on you."
"It is interesting. I imagine this was once a very beautiful vineyard."
"Probably. My mother remembers it in its heyday. I don't." He got into his sports car and looked up at me before starting the engine. "Aren't you bored here? There's not much for you to do except prepare for your exam and help Trevor. They don't even have cable television. Their set is still attached to an old- fashioned antenna."
"I haven't had time to think about it," I said. "with my uncle's death and all that followed."
"Yes. I guess that's true." He started the engine. "'Well, maybe one night. I'll show you around the area.."
"Really?"
He shrugged. "See you. Spend some more time on those algebraic equations."
I watched him drive off. He waved just before turning at the bottom of the driveway, the sound of his car engine reverberating over the street and dying away like thunder in the distance. It was then that I realized my heart was thumping, and it was then that I vowed to myself I would go on a serious diet and begin to once again do the exercises Brenda had once designed for me.
It was as if thinking about her brought her back. As soon as I entered the house. Mrs. Westington told me Brenda was on the telephone, calling me from Europe. I hurried to take , the receiver.
"Why are you still there?' she demanded as soon as I said hello. "Why didn't you go to Cousin Pete's? I called him and he said he knew nothing about you or Uncle Palaver's death. You never even called him. I felt so stupid."
"Mrs. Westington invited me to stay here and help her with her granddaughter, who's deaf and lives here alone. She's nearly fifteen, but she's very immature. She's hired her granddaughter's tutor to coach me for the high school equivalency exam as well and I'm helping with the small vineyard and wine-making," I said, all in one