From the beginning, Lisa had not tried to hide her open contempt for Shirley, invariably addressing her as "Stepmother" whether they were alone or the house was filled with people. Shirley doubted that Frank had even noticed the venom that literally dripped from his daughter's pretty lips, or the bitterness gleaming in her lovely onyx eyes when the seventeen year old came in contact with her. There was no question but what she thought Shirley had married her father only for the money and security he offered, partial reasons the vibrant blonde woman would never deny, but never in the cold calculating light she knew that Lisa saw it all. How could she explain to an embittered girl who hated her the truth of her feelings toward Frank, and this… unexpected torment that was ruining both of their lives? God, she couldn't! No matter how hard she tried, and Lord knows, she'd never stopped trying – there was just no way of reaching Lisa. Even at that moment, the preparations she was engaged in were for her stepdaughter's graduation pool-party only a few hours off.

Shirley turned away from the counter, wishing that Frank hadn't insisted on making an almost social event of it. She, herself, had wanted to confine the affair just to Lisa's teenage friends, but her husband had felt it was a good time for parents and neighborhood friends to get together for a "blast" as he put it, and there was no reasoning with him these alcoholic days.

Actually, it hadn't been necessary for her to bother with any of the preparations. The hired help who were due any minute would have looked after it all. Frank had endowed her with ample people to keep her from ever using her dainty little hands in the kitchen, but she had done it because she wanted to! God, she had to keep doing something to occupy her mind… either that, or start running as fast and as far as she could away from there… and she wasn't quite ready to throw in the towel yet… but how much longer could she go on this way?