The Embers Restaurant was very modern on the outside, but inside it was like the house — low lighting, old furniture and dark, hard wood. The Rex Baghills were already there, in the private room they’d reserved, at a long table with a couple of seats open at their end.

The whole point was for her to meet Rex and Sheila and the kids. It was a little like a repeat of last night, with the table divided between two territories, Mr. and Mrs. Baghill and Blair at one end, David and Ella and the rest of the Baghills at the other.

Dr. Rex Baghill, who was some years older than David, sat next to Ella at the head of the table. He was a pediatrician. He said “hello” as coolly as his mother had, and at first she thought he didn’t like her.

Over the salads he mainly talked across her to David about the new house he and Sheila had bought. But then, after the steaks arrived she laughed at a joke — an awful joke about a hunter carrying a dead deer over his shoulder, but he really was funny. And suddenly he seemed to decide she was all right. He asked her about Bailey and his family and what kind of art Bailey made, and what kind of art she made, and he pronounced himself on her side when it came to realism, shaking his head every time she insisted it wasn’t about “sides” and Bailey was actually very, very good.

“Maybe you can draw Stephanie and Debbie! That would be great. We’d have an Ella Macana original! I bet it’ll be worth a lot some day! ‘That’s by Ella Macana,’ I’ll tell people. ‘I knew her before she was famous!'”

Sheila sat across from her.

She seemed nice. “Touperdu sounds so exotic and romantic,” she said. “I’ve been trying to get Rex to take us there for just ages.”

What Ella mainly remembered was the way little Stephanie kept wandering over from her seat next to Blair to stare at Ella over her mother’s shoulder. Every time Ella tried to catch her eye, she’d look away.

Debbie Baghill, on the other hand, could not seem to take her eyes off Ella, every now and then getting in a question that felt somehow unanswerable.

“Are you a natural blonde?” she asked.

“Deborah,” David said.

“Jeeze, I was only asking,”

Ella smiled. “It’s all right Debbie. Yes, my hair really is this color.” she said.

Debbie went back to staring at Ella while Sheila talked about getting auburn highlights at a salon in Wilkes-Barre.

At the next lull in the conversation, Debbie spoke up again.

“Do you live under a sun-lamp?”

Back at the house, everyone divided into groups again. David, his father and his brother walked towards the back of the house, talking about pouring drinks and catching up. Blair, Sheila, and the two girls seemed to gather around Mrs. Baghill in a clot and walk her towards the stairs. When Ella tried to follow, Mrs. Baghill looked over her shouder at her and snapped, “You can’t come. I don’t know you!”

Ella stayed in the foyer while everyone made soothing noises at Mrs. Baghill and hurried her up the stairs.

In the back room, the men were deep in conversation. Rex seemed upset about the future of medicine. “Social security was just the beginning,” he was saying. “Next we’re going to have the government telling us what to do with our patients. Just like in Russia!” David was nodding in agreement.

She could see some chairs on the back porch. It would be nice to get some fresh air. Ella stepped outside, just as she heard the sound of high heels entering the room behind her.

As she settled into a chair, Blair came out, carrying two drinks.

“Rum and Coke,” Blair said, as she sat down. “Ever had one?”

“Yes. Thanks,” said Ella sincerely. She took a long sip. It was good, but it needed a little lime.

There was the sound of small, running feet. Stephanie dashed past across the lawn, running to the other side of the house and disappearing.

Blair smiled. “Steffie’s fascinated with you, you know. She thinks you’re terribly exotic. I I noticed her wandering down to the end of the table to take a peek.”

“She wouldn’t speak to me.”.

“She’s shy, like her dad. Pretty women scare him a little, but Rex is a pussycat once he decides you’re okay…”

“….and he’s decided you’re okay. ‘A real nice girl,’ he called you in the drive over here.”

“I liked him too. And Sheila. They made me feel very welcome. I think Debbie is still kind of… Is she shy too?”

“Oh, she might take a little longer to warm up to you.”

“She’s the possessive type. When she was a little girl, she considered Uncle David her boyfriend. She’s never liked any of his girlfriends, so don’t take it too personally.”

“She’s a kid,” said Ella.

For a moment there was silence as they sipped their drinks.

“Your mother. Mrs. Baghill…” Ella said.

“I apologize for her. Without reservation.”

“It’s not about apologies. David told me she was ill a few years ago. Had to go into the hospital?”

Blair let out a brief huff of surprise. “Oh, that’s what he called it?

Well, I guess he had to say something bout that damned shrine in the back yard. ‘Hospital?’ Hah! She went to the booby-hatch, sweetie.”

“It wasn’t for the last time, either. She’s been back since then. Mother’s weak. Cracked. Everyone knows it.”

“It’s best to just ignore her when you can. That’s how the rest of us cope.”

It had been a long day. Once Ella was in her pajamas and ready for bed, she knew she’d drop off the minute her head hit the pillow.

She wished she’d handled that conversation with Blair better.

She should have said something. She should have pointed out that a “booby-hatch” was still a hospital, that people didn’t ask to be sick. She should have said Mrs. Baghill was unhappy, that the cruelest thing you could do to someone like her was just ignore her, push her aside.

She should have said something about Pop.

But what did she do? Just sat there like a stuffed owl. Allowed Blair to change the subject over to the jaunt to Pittsburgh.

Well, no point in thinking about it now. Ella yawned. What she really needed now was another good night’s sleep.

The faint knock on the door behind her startled her.

“Ella,” he said softly. “Can I come in?”

“Of course.”

He stepped in and closed the door very quietly behind him.

Her heart was suddenly pounding. “He’ll come tapping on your door at night,” Margaretmarie said. “It will be up to you. Let him in if you want. Just don’t get caught.”

“You know I love you,” he said.

“Yes,” She didn’t think she could have spoken over a whisper if she tried. She was smiling, but she knew she still looked afraid.

‘Oh sweetheart, don’t be frightened. I’m not here for that. I wouldn’t hurt you. I wouldn’t let you get in trouble.” He smiled. “You could still wear white.”

“There are so many other things we could do.”

He reached over to turn off the lamp on her dresser.

“Let me show you,” he whispered.