Daddy nearly came to tears. Mother reached up for Cassie’s hand, and Cassie leaned over to kiss her cheek. “Thank you, dear,” she told her.
I stood back, watching a little in awe but mostly in envy. I saw the way Mother had almost immediately changed her mood, and I saw how even Uncle Perry looked impressed with Cassie now. He glanced at me and nodded. I could hear his thoughts. See why I said she’s just like my aunt Agnes? If you’re in a crisis, they are the types of people you want.
Cassie stepped back and looked at me. It was her way of giving me permission—no, more like ordering me—to step forward, say my little piece, and retreat.
What could I say after that little speech she had made? Nothing could come up to it.
“Cassie’s right, Mother. We need you home. Please get well soon.”
I kissed her cheek, too, and then Cassie thought we should let Daddy and Mother be alone for a few minutes. She, Uncle Perry, and I said good-bye and went out into the corridor.
“I hope you really don’t mind my correcting your suggestion for the gala, Uncle Perry,” Cassie told him as we walked toward the waiting lounge.
“Why should I mind? I can see the point. After all, I want only what’s good for our business,” he said. “As your father always says, we have to keep our eyes on the bottom line.”
“Thank you,” Cassie told him. He raised his eyebrows. “After Mother is home a while, we’ll invite you out to the Heavenstone mansion for dinner.”
“Don’t you two girls become disappointed and nervous about your mother if she doesn’t snap back as quickly as you would like. She is in a very—”
“We know, emotionally fragile state. I didn’t approve of their trying to have a baby this late in their marriage,” Cassie told him. “I was afraid something like this might happen, and it has.”
“Sometimes it’s not so pleasing to be right,” Uncle Perry countered, and Cassie was speechless a moment.
She regained her composure and suggested that Uncle Perry didn’t have to wait with us. “We’ll be fine. No need for you to waste any more time.”
“I’d like to talk with your father before I leave, and I don’t consider this a waste of my time,” he said curtly.
Cassie shrugged, found a magazine, and sat. I could almost hear Uncle Perry’s blood racing angrily through his veins. His face had reddened. He looked at the soda machine and asked me if I wanted a drink. I nodded and walked over to it with him.
“I can tell you this, Semantha,” he said, “and you don’t have to reply or react in any way. Your sister is worse than Aunt Agnes when it comes to people skills. If she ends up running the Heavenstone Corporation, it won’t last.”
He punched our drink choices, gave me mine, and sipped his by a window, far from Cassie, who was already absorbed in a magazine article and couldn’t have cared less. Ten minutes or so later, Daddy came out to join us. He told us the therapist had just arrived and was speaking with Mother.
“She’s taking it all too hard,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m really worried about her. She wanted this baby even more than I did.” He smiled at Uncle Perry. “She lives to please me.”
“She’ll be okay,” Uncle Perry told him. “Give it some time, Teddy.”
Daddy nodded and looked at us. “Okay, let’s go home, girls. Maybe I’ll take you out to dinner tonight.”
“Oh, no, Daddy. I’ve already defrosted three beautiful filet mignons for us. I have it all marinating so it will be just the way you like it.”
“When did you do that?”
“While Semantha was changing to come to the hospital,” she said, making it sound as if I did frivolous things while she did meaningful ones.
“See, Perry, I’m in good hands,” Daddy told him.
Uncle Perry nodded and looked at me when he replied. “She’s just like Aunt Agnes when Uncle Leo had his first stroke, remember? You’d have thought he had nothing more than a cold.”
“Yeah, but she held them all together,” Daddy said, smiling at Cassie.
I walked with Uncle Perry, who hugged me and whispered, “Take care of your mother when she comes home, and take care of yourself, Sam.”
He kissed me and got into his car. I joined Daddy and Cassie, who were already waiting in Daddy’s car. We were all quite silent for a while as we left the hospital. Then, to my surprise, Cassie didn’t talk about the gala; she talked about the lost Asa, the so-called forbidden topic.
“You were very brave in there today, Daddy,” she began. “I know how much you wanted this baby, how much it meant to you to have a son.”
“No, I—”
“Yes, it did, Daddy. I understand. Men might favor their daughters, but they live for their sons, and you’ve never had one and probably won’t.”
“Cassie, don’t talk like that!” I cried. It came out before I could stop it.
She looked back at me with those dagger eyes and then continued. “I want you to know, Semantha and I understand and will help you with Mother.”
“Oh, I know you will, honey.”
“Every time she looks at you, she will see the disappointment in your eyes if you’re not careful, Daddy.”
“I understand. We’ll work it all out,” he said, and patted her on her knee. “Don’t you worry yourself sick, now.”
“I just … we just don’t want you to be dragged down by all this.”
Daddy nodded. “Yes, we wanted a son,” he said, his voice cracking a little, “but we’re grateful we have you two. We’re already blessed. Don’t worry.”
Cassie said nothing, but when she turned to me, she had a smile so deep in satisfaction that it turned my stomach.
However, I knew what was going to happen as soon as we were alone at home. Seconds after I went into my room, she followed and came at me with her eyes looking like egg yolks. I actually took a step back in anticipation of her slapping me.
“How dare you criticize something I’m saying to Daddy like that? Did you think I was trying to hurt him, hurt his feelings? Well?”
“No, but I thought it would.”
“You thought? Ha,” she said, throwing her head back. “You know nothing about human psychology. Besides, you don’t pretend something doesn’t exist just because it’s painful to acknowledge it. If you do that, it ferments inside you until it does destroy you.”
She stared at me a moment and then calmed down.
“What am I doing? You’re still a child. Of course, you wouldn’t understand any of this. Just remember, keep quiet. If you have any questions, you wait and ask me them later, and I’ll do my best to get you to understand. Understand?”
“Yes, but I’m not a child, Cassie. I’m nearly fifteen. My birthday is in two weeks.”
“There are grown men and women who are nothing more than children. Age has nothing to do with what I mean.” She paused and shook her head at me as if I was beyond help. “Forget it for now. I’ve got to do some schoolwork and get down to the kitchen.” She turned away from me but turned back quickly. “And when Daddy leaves for the hospital after dinner, don’t ask to go with him. He and Mother need time alone now.”
She left my room, and I stood gazing after her, my eyes burning with tears.
When had I been at a lower moment in my life? I wondered. I was an object of mockery at school, and with Mother in this terrible state and Daddy acting as if Cassie was his only daughter, I had never felt more alone. But I wouldn’t permit myself to cry. Sitting in my room and sobbing would be just what Cassie would expect, would justify her calling me a child. Somehow, I had to become as strong as she was, so Daddy would see that I was just as capable of rising to the occasion. I could be just as mature and responsible and dependable.
The first thing I would do would be to start the housework and chores without having Cassie tell me first. And I wouldn’t ask her for anything, especially in front of Daddy. Mother and Daddy need me as much as they need Cassie now, I thought, and so, as Daddy would say, I took a lug wrench
to my determination and tightened it so much I could barely breathe.
The next morning, I was up before Cassie. The sight of me in the kitchen stopped her dead for a moment. I already had the coffee made and the table set for breakfast, too.
“What’s gotten into you?” she asked with a half-smile.
You, I wanted to say, but I just shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I was up, so I started on things.” Then I smiled to myself and added, “I know how hard you’re working and thought I should do more.”
“Well, yes,” she agreed, nodding, “you should. That’s very admirable of you, Semantha. I guess our little chat last night did some good.”
She went right to work preparing Daddy’s breakfast. After my last attempt to do that, I wouldn’t try again. I fixed my own cereal and fruit. We both heard Daddy come down the stairs and turned to the doorway.
“Look at my elves at work. I bet Santa Claus doesn’t have it any better,” he said.
“Well, you are our Santa Claus, Daddy,” Cassie said quickly. I wished I could have been that witty.
“Now,” Daddy continued, looking at us both suspiciously, “who put out my clothes for this morning, had everything hanging and waiting for me when I opened my eyes, just like your mother always does? Well?”
“Maybe you have an invisible third elf working here,” Cassie told him, and he laughed.
“Everything smells good. I have a good appetite this morning.”
“Your paper’s on the table, Daddy,” I said. Cassie had forgotten that. She whipped her head around and looked at me. “I got it first thing.”
“Thank you, Semantha.”
He gave me a kiss and then kissed Cassie. Usually, he kissed her first. She continued to look strangely at me for a moment after Daddy went into the dining room.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing. Go eat your breakfast. I’ll bring the rest out to Daddy.”
“I called your mother this morning,” Daddy told me when I sat at the table. “She sounded a little stronger. I think she had a good session with the therapist.”
“When will she come home?” I asked, just as Cassie brought in his breakfast.
“We’ll see. She still has to build up a bit. That looks wonderful, Cassie. Thank you,” Daddy said when she placed his plate in front of him. She looked at me and shook her head, as if I had already done something wrong. Then she went to get her own breakfast.
“Does the doctor know yet what happened?” I asked quickly, hoping he would answer before Cassie had returned.
“Not exactly. I don’t want to have him put her through a series of tests to get to the exact causes, either,” he continued.
Cassie returned and took Mother’s seat again.
“Tests can wear you down, too,” Daddy added.
“What difference would it make now, anyway?” Cassie said. She had apparently overheard everything. “As long as she is no longer in any physical danger.”
“My sentiments exactly,” Daddy said, nodding. “Let’s just get her back on her feet as quickly as we can.”
Cassie had that self-satisfied look on her face again. Nothing pleased her as much as Daddy agreeing with something she said or suggested. I finished eating in silence while she and Daddy talked about the Lexington store.
Afterward, I did most of the cleanup, because Daddy wanted to show Cassie a new line of products he was considering for the stores before he went to work. She went with him to his den office. When I was finished, I got my things together for school. Daddy was already at the front door when I started down the stairs.
“See you guys later,” he called to me, and waved.
“Okay, Daddy. Have a good day,” I said.
Cassie came hurrying out of the kitchen. “You left the milk out,” she said.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Okay, then the container grew legs, arms, and hands, opened and closed the refrigerator door, and trotted up onto the counter. Let’s go.”
I followed her out to her car and got in. The moment she started the engine and drove off, she began her ranting.
“He has so much to do. You wouldn’t believe the list of things to cover just today. I mean, imagine having to have an entirely new staff of employees trained and ready. Each of our stores employs more than a hundred people in two shifts, you know. Imagine the payroll, the taxes, dealing with the personalities, and then reviewing new products, overseeing the orders, on and on and on.”
“You seem to know a lot about it, Cassie. Maybe you should think of becoming the CEO of the Heavenstone Corporation someday.”
She whipped her head around. “I told you. I don’t want to be a businesswoman. I’m not interested in all that, dealing with all those personalities. Mother really let him down this time,” she concluded, nodding.
“How can you say such a thing?”
“Christmas trees, Semantha, my not saying it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, does it? Besides, it’s only you and me talking. I would never say such a thing to Daddy, and you’d better not ever tell him I did.”
“Of course, I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t want to hurt him and hurt Mother.”
She smirked and nodded at me. “I would have preferred your saying you would never betray me, Semantha. That would be the first thing coming to my mind if it concerned you.”
“I meant that, too.”
“Yes, I’m sure. Anyway, here’s the plan now. We’re not returning to the hospital.”
“What?”
“We’re not going to visit Mother there.”
“Why not?”
“You want her home, don’t you?”
“Of course I do.”
“Well, we don’t want her to get comfortable there, to think it’s all right for her to prolong her stay. This is part of that tough love I told you about the other day. She’ll see that if she doesn’t come home soon, she’ll continue disrupting our lives. It will stop her from feeling all this self-pity, wallowing in it. We won’t even call her.
“Now, what we have to do is tell Daddy we have tons of homework every night, tests, term papers. And we have the housework to do as well. He’ll understand, and he’ll tell her that, and very quickly she’ll see that she must get on her feet and put a stop to this ‘Oh, woe is me’ routine.”
“But—”
“Didn’t I tell you it would turn our world topsy-turvy? Didn’t I?”
“Yes, but whoever thought she would have a miscarriage?”
“Do you want me to quote the statistics of failed pregnancies occurring in women over forty?”
“Dr. Moffet thought it would be all right.”
She smiled. “Next time we see him, ask him why he was so confident.”
I was silent. I felt very confused. Was Cassie right? Was this the best thing to do? Ignore Mother?
“Remember when I used to tell you how we have to be special, Semantha, how we come from a very important bloodline? How we have to be perfect? Well, here’s an example of it. Just pull yourself together and follow me, and you’ll be fine. We’ll all be fine.” She smiled to herself and chanted in a whisper, “We’re the Heavenstone sisters, the Heavenstone sisters.”
It was still echoing in my brain when we pulled into the school parking lot. Since my incident with Kent and the aftermath, I had a sinking feeling whenever I thought about school. That returned in spades this morning. I hurried to my locker and then to my homeroom, not even looking to see if anyone was interested in saying good morning to me. I took my seat and waited for Mr. Wegman, our homeroom teacher, to begin taking attendance. Roxanne Peters, who sat behind me, tapped me on the shoulder. I turned, and she leaned forward.
“Jami Wright’s mother called my mother and told her your mother had a miscarriage. Is that true?”
I stared at her a moment and turned around again without speaking. For a moment, it felt as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. I felt her breath on my neck as she leaned even farther forward to whis
per.
“My mother said she wasn’t surprised and wondered why a woman your mother’s age with two fully grown daughters would start over with another baby. Was it an accident?”
“What?” I cried, spinning on her. Some of the other students stopped talking to each other and looked at us.
“I mean, her getting pregnant?”
“It’s none of your business or your mother’s business,” I said.
When she smiled, I couldn’t help myself. Something broke inside me, and I lifted her desk so that it fell back on her, knocking her and her chair to the floor. The noise was like a firecracker. Mr. Wegman stopped taking attendance. No one moved, no one spoke, until Roxanne began to cry. I was sent out with a written referral to see Mr. Hastings, the principal. Referrals from a teacher were like speeding tickets policemen gave to drivers, only we had to stand before the judge immediately. I was trembling so much when I left the homeroom I thought I would faint. Somehow, holding my breath all the way, I made it to Mr. Hastings’s office. His secretary took the referral, read it, gave me a look of surprise, and then told me to take a seat and wait. She went into his inner office with the referral.
The threads of all sorts of terrible thoughts spun in my brain. How disappointed would Daddy be when he found out? Would Mother somehow find out, and would that set her back even more? How would Cassie react? What about the rest of my teachers, who all thought good things about me? What punishment would Mr. Hastings dole out? Would Cassie be called out of class to take me home? Daddy was already in Lexington, I imagined. It would be just horrible if he had to turn back because of me.
“Mr. Hastings will see you now, Semantha,” his secretary said, and stood back in the doorway to permit me to enter. I did so slowly, probably walking like someone about to go to the electric chair.
Mr. Hastings sat back in his desk chair. I had never gotten anything but a smile or a pleasant hello from him, but I knew from the testimony of other students, students who were in trouble frequently, that he could be more like the warden of a maximum-security prison than a kind-hearted administrator in a public school. At the moment, his face didn’t show a tiny hint of disappointment or surprise. It was the face of the executioner, firm and dark.