Julianna smiled softly as she examined the photographs. Lovely, she thought. Charise really does look like a bride. And to think Ophelia was the photographer! Charise could be a model, and Ophelia could take care of the photo shoots.

Just then, there was a rap at the door.

“It’s Mr. Gaines to see you,” her maid, Marianne, called out.

“I know. I was expecting him,” Julianna replied. “Let him in.” She rolled her eyes a bit. She wasn’t particularly fond of Mr. Gaines, her lawyer, but she needed him to make the will official.

“So sorry I was late,” Mr. Gaines apologized. “Terrible traffic.”

“Yes, yes,” Julianna said impatiently, shoving the small stack of papers-- the will-- towards him. He scanned the will, then looked up at her. “This is highly unusual, to say the least,” he remarked.

“So are my circumstances,” Julianna shot back. “Is it all legal or not?”

“Yes, it is,” Mr. Gaines replied slowly.

“Well, then, there’s no problem.”

Mr. Gaines eyed the “wedding” photos. “Is that your daughter, Ms. Delorice?”

“Yeah, that’s Charise.”

“Rather pretty. Didn’t know she was getting married.”

“She didn’t. They were taken because I wanted to see her married before my death, and she had no wish to rush into marriage.”

Mr. Gaines nodded approvingly. “Wise,” he said. He noticed Julianna’s slight frown. “No disrespect to you, of course. But, if a lady wishes to wait until she is better capable of handling marriage--”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Gaines. I know what you mean.”


“Cassie, they’ll be here soon,” Mrs. Verona called through the door. “Are you almost dressed yet?”

S, Valo, and Grant were coming over for dinner. Mrs. Verona was anxious about meeting Valo, despite Grant’s and S’s assurance that Valo was an intelligent, well-mannered woman.

“I’m done,” Cassandra said, exiting her bedroom.

“You’re getting big so fast,” her mother gushed. “I remember when I used to wear that.”

Yeah, Ma, don’t rub it in how poor we are, Cassandra thought. Too poor to get decent clothes very often. I’m reduced to wearing Mom’s old stuff.

The doorbell rang then. “Oh, they’re here!” Mrs. Verona exclaimed. She fussed with her hair for a few seconds, then hurried to the door. “Come in,” she said cheerfully, greeting the group. Then, she took a close look at Valo.

She frowned, somewhat disapprovingly. Actually, quite disapprovingly. This was not at all how she’d imagined Grant’s girlfriend. This woman was curvaceous, shaped rather like the women in Renaissance paintings, in fact, with unusually long hair, thick glasses, and a very intense look in her eyes that was quite unsettling. A troubling blend of apparent intellect and unconscious sensuality, she seemed to be pure trouble to the rather conservative Catherine Verona.

“Mom, this is Jessica DeSidiro,” Grant spoke up. “Jess, this is my mom, Catherine Verona.”

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, ma’am,” Valo said politely, smiling warmly.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Jessica. Grant, can you help me in the kitchen?” Mrs. Verona asked, smiling wanly.

“Sure,” Grant replied.

“Oh, is there anything I can do to help out?” Valo asked.

“No, just sit and relax,” Mrs. Verona responded swiftly, hurrying her eldest son into the kitchen.

Valo watched them head into the kitchen, then looked over at S and Cassandra.

“I’ll go help,” S added, following them.


Valo smiled weakly at Cassandra, feeling a little shy around this relative of Grant’s who she didn’t know at all. “Hi,” she greeted the girl.

“Hey,” Cassandra replied. “Nice dress.”

“Eh, it’s okay,” Valo replied. “I just wore it to try and make a good impression.”

Cassandra couldn’t help but smile at the woman’s openness and honesty. “I’m Cassandra, by the way,” she said.

“Great name,” Valo remarked. “Wasn’t Cassandra a seer or something, and no one believed her predictions?”

Cassandra’s eyes lit up, impressed. “Yeah. Most people don’t know that.”

“I like researching names and their meanings,” Valo explained. “My last name means something like ‘desire.’”

“That’s cool!” Cassandra exclaimed. “So, if you had a kid and named her Desire, her name would literally be ‘Desire Desire.’”

They chuckled at the idea. Valo peered at the photographs that Cassandra clutched tightly. “What’s that?” she asked.

Shyly, Cassandra showed Valo the pictures. “They’re my real parents,” she explained.

Valo looked closely at the pictures. “Your mom’s pretty. And your dad… he looks kind of like how my dad looked when he was my age-- long hippie hair and lots of stubble.” She chuckled. “But my dad has brown hair and green eyes, like me.”

“What a shame” Cassandra murmured. “I think I’d like having you as a sister.”


The telephone rang, and Julianna scrambled to answer it, bumping into several pieces of furniture and knocking over a few (luckily non-breakable) items to the floor.

“Hello?” she said, answering the phone. She fidgeted anxiously. “Mr. Gaines! Yeah?” Her eyes widened, horrified. “Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure?” She bit her fingernails. “Yes. This is quite a shock to me, sir. Yes. Yes, I would like that.”

They spoke for several minutes more. When their conversation had ended, she hung up the phone.

“Dear God,” she whispered.

Then, her eyes widened more. She ran to her office and dug out the photos.

“I have to get rid of these,” she whispered. “Have to keep these from getting out.”

She stuffed the photos into the bottom of her trash can, under a pile of crumpled paper. “Should be fine for now,” she whispered.


“I don’t like her,” Catherine Verona said disapprovingly.

“Why?” Grant asked, stunned.

“She…” Catherine was at a loss for words. “I just think that the differences between you two could cause problems later.”

“What differences?” Grant asked. “We like most of the same things and have similar personalities. I fail to see the problem.”

Catherine Verona blurted out, “She just doesn’t seem like a good Christian woman.”

Grant replied, in a deadpan tone, “She isn’t. She’s a good Wiccan woman.”

Catherina Verona gasped. “Like I said, problems. Differences.”

“Her religion is not an issue to me,” Grant said firmly. “She’s a good person. She’s smart and funny, and has a wonderful personality. And I love her.”

“You’re breaking my heart.”

“I don’t expect you to like her,” Grant said firmly, “but while we are here, I do expect you to treat Jessica in a civil manner.”

With that said, he turned to leave the kitchen and nearly ran into S, who had been leaning against the wall nearby, watching the argument with horrified fascination. S gave his brother’s shoulder a brief squeeze.

I like Valo just fine, S thought. She’s a great match for you. Grant smiled at S.

“Help Mom cook,” Grant said softly. “I’m going to see how Jess and Cass are doing.”


“So, what does your mom think of me?” Valo asked, as they drove back to Grant’s apartment.

Grant sighed and replied reluctantly, “She doesn’t approve.”

“Because of my religion, I bet.”

“Partially.”

“Always is,” Valo said bitterly. “What else?”

“She says you and I have differences that would cause problems.”

Valo rolled her eyes. “What differences?”

“No idea,” Grant replied. “Mothers can be pretty weird.”


“Are you sure about this?” Mr. Gaines asked.

“Yes,” Julianna replied. “It has to be Friday. This coming Friday.”

“I don’t know if all the arrangements and notices can be settled by then.”

“Money is no matter. This has to be done soon. I will gladly pay extra for the notices to be sent out overnight, the meeting place reserved, and the plane tickets to be purchased.”

Mr. Gained sighed. “You realize the consequences of this, don’t you?” he asked.

“Yes. More negative media coverage for me,” Julianna responded. “But I’ll be dead soon enough, so that doesn’t bother me.”

“This could also affect your daughter.”

“She did nothing wrong,” Julianna said firmly. “I’ll bear the bulk of the burden.”

“I hope you don’t regret this.”


Marianne, Julianna’s maid, smiled to herself. She patted the small parcel in her pocket.

A few of these to each of the major celebrity gossip magazines, and I’ll be a very rich woman, she thought. Ah, Julianna, when will you learn to shred things you toss out?

She chuckled to herself as she hurried off to present the photos to representatives of the various magazines. She had a lot of driving to do.