“So you don’t think he cared about you at all?” said Sabrina.
“Oh, he cared about me,” said Agnes. “He cared about me in the most disturbing way possible. I was his property. How else can I explain it? I was the canvas on which he painted his masterpiece. Once the work began, no one was allowed to touch me—no one except him. He was completely devoted to me. He wiped away my tears with one hand and cut me into pieces with the other.”
Sabrina heard the tension in her voice.
“I can’t imagine how you must have felt when you realized what he was doing,” she said. “To think you were dying, and to have him be the one who was supposed to be taking care of you—how did you survive?”
“It was complicated,” said Agnes. “I was angry for a long time after it was over. The fact that I wasn’t dead was a testimony to his genius, but I didn’t want him to get any of the credit, so I almost destroyed myself. I felt like I was betraying myself by existing at all. I didn’t start to recover until I found out I was pregnant.”
“I keep on forgetting you’re a mother,” said Sabrina.
“Oh, yes,” said Agnes. “My dear son graduated from college several years ago. I’m so proud of him. He’s been through a lot. I wasn’t around much when he was growing up, and there were times when I felt like I was neglecting him, but he never held it against me. It’s hard for me to imagine him on his own, but he seems to be doing fine.”
Sabrina thought about her own children, and grief overwhelmed her. She didn’t know if she would get the chance to see them grow up. Weariness and pain assailed her. If Agnes thought the intruder had been a bad dream, then that was good enough for her. She closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
∞∞∞
Later that day, Agnes told Richard and Lisa’s father about the suspected intrusion. Richard was alarmed, but Lisa’s father dismissed the possibility. Even Richard’s account of Graham’s devious visit to his house with Uriah failed to convince him. They eventually reached a compromise which involved changing the locks and installing security cameras around the house. Lisa’s mother didn’t like the cameras. In fact, she was so annoyed about the whole thing that she became more and more reluctant to leave her room.
She appeared in the evenings to make dinner and disappeared again after the kitchen was cleaned. The only time she cheered up was when she was discussing Molly’s wedding. Not only was it a distraction, but it also annoyed Lisa’s father. That night during dinner, even though he wasn’t there, she brought it up again.
“Lisa, I talked to Molly earlier today, and she mentioned going shopping tomorrow to get some things for the wedding,” she said. “She’s worried about finding a dress on such short notice. She’ll have to buy one straight off the rack, but she’s an unusual size, so it might be difficult. She wants the two of us to go with her.”
Lisa couldn’t imagine Molly wearing a wedding dress.
“I have a lot of homework,” she said. “Does it have to be tomorrow?”
“The sooner the better,” said her mother. “I thought you would be excited to go, but even if you’re not, she’s depending on you to be there. You’re her maid of honor, after all, and she needs your support.”
Shannon, who had previously resisted the urge to retaliate against Lisa, bowed her head, wrinkled her eyebrows, and rounded her lips in a sarcastic display of sympathy that remained on her face until Josh kicked her under the table.
Lisa saw the exchange and ignored it. She knew Josh was up to something. Ever since his family had moved in, he had conducted himself in an admirable manner, almost to the point of being obnoxious. Lisa suspected he was trying to manipulate her, and she despised him for it. Her mother also noticed the contortions of Shannon’s face, but she misinterpreted their significance.
“Shannon, you’re invited, too,” she said. “We can all go together. It’ll be nice to get out of the house. We’ll have some bonding time and share some girl talk.”
Shannon was taken by surprise and forgot her manners.
“I would rather die,” she said.
Lisa’s mother looked shocked. Shannon blushed and glanced around the room, but no one vouched for her. The other adults were in the sickroom with Sabrina, and Josh was too startled to say anything. Lisa felt an ugly smile of satisfaction appearing on her face as Shannon struggled to explain herself.
“I already have a mom,” she said. “No offense, but it feels like you’re trying to take her place. You’re nothing like her. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but it’s the truth. I don’t do girl talk. I don’t even know what it is. I can’t think of anything worse than being stuck in a bridal shop with a bunch of silly women—not that you’re silly, of course. I don’t mean that. I’m just not interested in going.”
“But it might be fun,” said Lisa’s mother. “Besides, I’m sure you miss your friends.”
Shannon leaped up so violently that she knocked over her chair. Her eyes flashed with anger.
“Why would you even say something like that?” she said in a shrill voice. “You must be completely out of touch with reality. Are you brain-dead? Do you think hanging out with you and Lisa and Molly will make me feel better? You’re all so shallow!”
“Shannon, shut up,” said Josh. “She’s just trying to be friendly.”
Lisa’s mother got up and retrieved Shannon’s chair from the floor. She didn’t look angry, but Lisa could tell she was offended. She couldn’t remember anyone confronting her mother in
