But the night had been long and her dreams had left her shaken. They were as if it had happened. She rolled over and reached for the knob on the nightstand. Her hand dropped and she fell back against the pillow when she remembered she had disposed of the empty bottle. Tears filled her eyes, miserable that it was gone, and hating that she would have broken her promise to Maria. The urge to wallow was tempting, but she had never been one to lie around and sulk. She flung back the covers and climbed out of bed, yanking off her pajamas on the way to the shower. * * * * Donald was off on a trip, and wasn’t due back for a week or so, and with the children busy finishing their lessons, she decided to explore the rest of the estate. She walked into the backyard, around the island of trees and across the sprawling lawn to the bushes and flowers that circled the property. She was strolling alongside the creeping vines, picking flowers when she noticed some of the branches wound around posts and through the hollows of a wooden fence.
