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"This won't take long. School starts soon and there are a few things we need to discuss."
Phoebe's poodle scampered through the door and bounded over to Molly, who drew back and glared at her sister. "Where did that dog come from?"
"Since it looks as if I'm going to have to settle here for a while, I had Viktor put her on a plane."
Molly moved her feet away from the poodle as it began to attack her fuzzy yellow slippers. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't let it in my room. I'm highly allergic."
Phoebe sat on the edge of Molly's bed and reached down to snap her fingers for Pooh, who came to her side. "Poodles don't shed. They're good dogs for people with allergies."
"I don't care to have animals in my bedroom."
"Are you this unpleasant all the time, or is it just me?"
Molly's lips set in a mulish line. "I'm tired, and I want to go to sleep."
"It's only nine o'clock."
"I've been ill."
Phoebe watched as Molly bent her head over her book, deliberately shutting her out. Once again she experienced the familiar combination of frustration and sympathy that took hold of her whenever she tried to talk to the child. She hadn't even been back in Chicago for a week before Molly had been sent home from camp to recuperate from the flu. If anything, their relationship had grown worse in the past two days instead of improving.
She plucked at the stitching on the bedspread. "This house has to be closed soon so it can be put up for sale. Unfortunately, it seems as if I'm going to be stuck here for the next few months, so I've decided to move into a condo Bert owned that's not too far from the Stars Complex. The lawyers say I can stay there until the first of the year." She was also being provided with a living allowance to take care of her expenses, which was a good thing because her bank account had dipped alarmingly low.
"Since I'll be back at Crayton, I don't see how your living arrangements concern me."
She ignored Molly's sullenness. "I don't envy you going back. I hated it when I was there."
"I don't have much choice, do I?"
Phoebe went completely still as an eerie tingling traveled up her spine. Molly's face was stiff and inexpressive except for a small quiver at the corner of her mouth. She recognized that stubborn face, the refusal to ask for help or admit to any weakness. She had adopted some of those same strategies to survive the misery and loneliness of her own childhood. As she watched, she became even more convinced that the idea she'd been mulling over since yesterday was a good one.
"Crayton is small," she said carefully. "I always thought I'd be happier at a bigger school with a more diverse mix of students. Maybe you would, too. Maybe you'd like to go someplace coed."
Molly's head shot up. "Go to school with boys?"
"I don't see why not."
"I can't imagine what it would be like to have boys in the classroom. Wouldn't they be rowdy?"
Phoebe laughed. "I never went to school with them either, so I have no idea. Probably." Molly was exhibiting the first display of animation she had seen, and Phoebe continued cautiously. "There are some fine public schools in this area."
"A public school?" she scoffed. "The quality of education is so inferior."
"Not necessarily. Besides, anybody with your IQ could probably educate herself, so what difference would it make?" She gazed at her sister with compassion and said softly, "It seems to me that making some friends and enjoying being a teenager is more important right now than jump-starting calculus."
Molly's protective shell clamped shut. "I have dozens of friends. Dozens of them. And I happen to enjoy mathematics. I would never subject myself to an inferior education just to go to school with some silly, adolescent boys, who, I'm certain, wouldn't be nearly as mature as all my boyfriends in Connecticut."
Phoebe had to hand it to her. She was willing to brazen it out right to the end.
Molly's small lip curled. "You wouldn't understand since you're not gifted."
"I hate to disillusion you, Mol, but my IQ isn't anything to sniff at, either."
"I don't believe you."
"Pull out your notepaper then. Let's solve some integrals together."
Molly swallowed hard. "I—I haven't got that far yet."
