What a Mother Knows by Leslie Lehr Page B

now and then.”
    â€œEverybody doesn’t have a genetic predisposition for depression, Mother. And most kids don’t refuse to go to school on their birthday. But I remember now. I took her home, but she just curled up in her bed and cried more. She put on those stupid disco earrings and got out her paintings of ponies and ripped them all up. People do things like that before killing themselves!”
    â€œSo, she felt bad about the trouble at school and decided to clean up her act.”
    â€œNo, she was so miserable that I was afraid to leave her here alone. But I had to go to work. That must be why I brought her to the set. She had been crying all night, every night, for weeks. Just like you!” Michelle dissolved into tears. “What if she…”
    Elyse wrapped her arms around Michelle. “Shhh. Nikki would never hurt herself. She’s much stronger than I was.”
    Michelle broke free. “She’d better be. Because if anything happens to her, I’m blaming you.”
    Elyse held Michelle’s glare. “It’s you I’m worried about, ma chérie .”
    â€œMe?” Michelle grabbed a paper towel and dabbed at her eyes.
    â€œYou need to rest. Let me help you.”
    â€œI don’t want your help,” Michelle insisted. “I’m not a child.”
    â€œYou’ve never been a child, that’s the problem.”
    â€œWhose fault is that?” Michelle asked.
    Elyse stiffened. “Don’t make me say something we’ll both regret.”
    â€œThen don’t say anything at all. Just get the hell out!”
    The coffee maker gurgled. Elyse yanked the carafe out, then dumped the steaming liquid in the sink. She opened the trashcan and dropped the carafe in. The glass shattered against the side.
    Tyler entered, rubbing his eyes. Bella bounded in after him. “What’s up?”
    â€œI’m afraid I must go,” Elyse said.
    â€œIs something wrong?” Tyler asked.
    â€œNo,” the women said in unison. Elyse pivoted and went to pack.
    â€œGo back to sleep, honey,” Michelle said. She heard them say their good-byes as she opened the window. Elyse was right that she needed rest, but exhausted or not, Michelle had meant what she said. She just shouldn’t have said it aloud.
    Michelle was still stewing when a taxi pulled up in the driveway. The driver, whose head was wrapped in a white turban, trudged to the porch. He saw her and shouted, “Does a Madame Deveraux live here?”
    Michelle shook her head. “No, thank goodness, but she’ll be out shortly.”
    The wheels of Elyse’s suitcase rolled down the hall like an aftershock, getting louder as they approached. Elyse set another shopping bag in the kitchen. “Here are some other items you won’t like. Feel free to return them—or give them to Lexi, for putting up with you. Also, Dr. Palmer’s office called.” She tapped a note pinned on the refrigerator beneath the green plaster fin, all that was left of the turtle magnet.
    Michelle looked around. “You didn’t happen to see an envelope from Nikki’s school, did you? With clothes from her locker?”
    Elyse pointed across the room at the laundry basket on the couch.
    Michelle rushed over and dug through the folded pile for the hand-stenciled T-shirt that Nikki had worn in the Roadhouse video. She tossed Tyler’s jeans aside and pulled out a black rag held together with safety pins. Sure enough, Elyse had washed it. Michelle held it to her face and sniffed, but her daughter’s scent was gone. Michelle shook it in the air. “Mother!”
    Elyse sighed. “A good deed never goes unpunished, mais ou i ? ” The house was quiet as she slipped out, then Michelle heard laughter outside.
    Michelle nearly tripped over a shopping bag on her way to the window. When she spied the beautiful leather purse inside, she felt a pang of guilt. She shook it