Mirror of Shadows Read Free

father which then in turn would have gone to me and then to you. The fact that your father died before your grandmother is irrelevant.”
    “Hardly.”
    “What are you saying? That you aren’t going to give me anything? I barely make ends meet. I deserve to have nice things too. I deserve to be happy. I deserve this money just as much as you.”
    Tears welled in her mother’s eyes.
    “According to Marlin, you will still receive money from the McKaye Trust. There’s more than you will ever need to live out your life comfortably. As for this,” Ella said waving her hand over the items on the table, “it’s all from Grandma’s family and she very specifically indicated it was to go to me.”
    “How specifically?”
    “It states in the will that I can’t give or even will any of it to you or the estate will go to the town and some charities. She was worried you would be tempted to get back into drugs if you had large sums of money at your disposal.”
    Patricia’s mouth dropped. “What if I need something? You’re telling me I can’t even ask my daughter for help?”
    “You can always go to Marlin, Mom. He’ll be in charge of distributing money to you or helping you if something happens,” Ella explained.
    “That nosy old bitch! How dare she!” Patricia raged. “After all I did for her. I was nothing but wonderful to her all these years out of respect for Ken. What a nasty old…”
    “Don’t say it again. I won’t have you talk about Grandma that way!” Ella yelled back, surprising herself. She’d never raised her voice to her mother—never—but this was her grandmother being defiled.
    “What? Don’t you raise your voice at me, Missy. I’ve given you everything. I gave you a roof over your head, food, and clothes. I gave you love. I sent you to college. I gave you my youth—everything.”
    “According to Marlin, Grandma gave me all those things—everything but your youth, and that I did not take; that was taken by time.”
    “You ungrateful little brat. Get out of my house. Now!” her mother screamed and pointed towards the front door.
    Ella said nothing but gathered up the items on the table and put them in the envelope. She went upstairs to her room and started stuffing things into her duffle bag. She heard stomping towards the entry when she heard her mother bellow, “I mean right now! I can’t stand to look at you!”
    Ella was relieved she hadn’t unpacked her car from leaving school. The duffle bag was all she had. She stuck her toothbrush in her mouth, her brush into her robe pocket, and grabbed her shoes and the half-zipped duffle bag and headed for the door. Almost out of places to hold things, she shifted the duffle bag to her shoulder and grabbed her purse and her keys and walked out to the car. The front door slammed so hard and so loud that old lady Bell just about tipped over her walker as she passed on the sidewalk.
    Her toothbrush still in her mouth, she waved her key-clad hand at the cute Mrs. Bell and smiled as she unlocked her car door and threw all her items in the car. By the time she got everything in the car, her slippers, hair, and robe were all soaking wet.
    She deposited the toothbrush in her duffle bag, pulled out the manila envelope that had been the cause of all the excitement this rainy, gray morning, and looked at the map. She entered the address of Grey Manor into the GPS and then called Marlin Howard from her cell phone.
    “Hello? Marlin? Hi, it’s Ella McKaye. Mom kicked me out of the house so I guess I will be moving into the estate today, now, in fact.
    “…”
    “I’m in front of Mom’s house in my car. I just entered the address into the GPS and I’m heading there now.”
    “…”
    “I can’t come and sign the papers just now. I’m still in my pajamas and I’m soaking wet,” she said, wiping the fogged up side windows as the heater roared. She turned the fan dial to divert the air to the foggy windshield and watched them slowly clear