mistakes she might have made bringing her up and
declared that she bore some responsibility for her
whether or not she liked to admit it. In the end she
decided to pay for an attorney, not to get Rhona off
scot-free as much as to provide for her having some
hope somewhere down the line,
"It's throwing good money after bad." she told
me. "but I can't help it. You'll discover that you do many things you don't want to do because of your
parental obligations sometimes. April."
Who said I would ever be a parent? I thought.
She saw the doubt in my face.
"Don't count yourself out of anything, girl.
You're too young to come to any of those kinds of
conclusions," she advised.
Maybe she was right. I decided.
When Mrs. Westington was strong enough, we
all went to the school Echo would attend to meet with
the headmaster and some of her prospective teachers.
We were shown the dormitories as well. I watched
Mrs. Westington's face the whole time. I could see the
battle going on in her mind. She was impressed with
the facilities, the achievements of the students and
their interaction, but she also saw her granddaughter
drifting away from her. The ties that had bound them
together were snapping loose. She was wise enough to
recognize that some of those ties kept Echo far too
constricted and trapped her in a little girl's world
when she should be expanding, growing, maturing,
and becoming independent.
"Funny." she said as Trevor drove us home that