Awake and Dreaming - Kit Pearson [66]
Skye accepted that Theo still abandoned her every Saturday to go to the Kaldors. Now she waited eagerly each Sunday afternoon to hear what Theo had done with them.
Laura kept sugggesting that Theo invite her mother for dinner, but every time she did, Theo made up an excuse. As long as she kept everything in separate boxes—Sharon and Rae, school and Skye, and the Kaldors on Saturdays—she could cope.
Spring was at its ripest. The Kaldors’ garden was thick with rhododendrons and the first fat peonies were opening. Dan told Theo that much of the garden had been planted by Cecily Stone. “Wait until you see her roses,” he said. “We have some of the oldest species in the city.”
Theo always encouraged him to talk about Cecily. “What does ‘out of print’ mean?” she asked.
“It means that no more copies of Cecily Stone’s books will ever be published. The only ones left are those that already exist. That’s why I collect them. Once I found both titles in a garage sale.”
Theo thought sadly of Cecily’s only two books being rejected in a garage sale or sitting unread on the shelf of the public library.
She hung around Cecily’s grave as much as she could. Often she called her name, but the ghost didn’t appear. Theo almost cried when she thought of never seeing Cecily again. Had she gone away for good, as she’d hinted at?
The warm days drifted by. Rae and Sharon circled each other with increasing tension in the crowded apartment. Theo knew that something was about to explode between them, that this fragile limbo couldn’t last. Often Sharon went out on mysterious errands. She didn’t say where she was going, but Theo was sure she was just trying to avoid Rae.
It wasn’t as easy for Theo. She had to spend endless evenings sitting in front of the TV with her mother. Sometimes she’d look up in a panic, afraid she was back in Vancouver.
Rae left the room often to puff and pace on the balcony. She must be trying to decide what to do. Then what would happen to Theo?
21
Rae broke the silence first. “I want to talk to you, Sharon,” she said one evening in her sweetest voice.
“Okay,” said Sharon warily. “But if it’s about Theo, I don’t think she should listen.”
“Whatever you say,” said Rae. “Why don’t you go for a ride on your bike, kid?”
“Not on her own! Theo, honey, would you mind going down the hall and having a visit with Tara while your mother and I talk? I just saw her come in.”
Theo slid out of the apartment but after she closed the door she opened it a crack and crouched by it. She wasn’t going to miss hearing them decide her future. She heard her mother and her aunt pull up chairs at the kitchen table.
“I’ve been thinking about you, Shar,” began Rae. “You’ve really been great these past months. You’ve done so much for Theo and she obviously likes you. Thanks for everything.”
“You’re welcome,” said Sharon suspiciously.
“You like Theo, don’t you?”
“I adore her! You know that.”
“She likes Victoria, too, much more than she liked Vancouver. She has friends here and she’s doing much better in school. The trouble is, I don’t like Victoria. It’s as boring as it was when I lived here. I miss the big city a lot and I’ve decided to go back.”
“But—”
“Let me finish, please.” Rae’s voice was strained. “I don’t think it would be fair to take Theo with me. You’re a much better mother to her than I am. I know I was bad about sending you money before, but if I promise to send you some regularly this time—if we put it in writing—would you keep looking after her? At least until she finishes elementary school?” Her voice became cajoling again. “Don’t you think it would be a shame to yank her out of a place she likes?”
Theo heard Sharon breathe heavily—as heavily as she herself was breathing.
Please say yes, she begged.
Then she jumped as Sharon banged her hand on the table. “That does it! Do you think you can just dump your child on people until it’s convenient for you to have her again? You listen to me, Mary Rae. I