Cedar Woman (123 page)

“
Hey,
Missy,”
Jo-Ann
i
n
terjected,
“d
o
n
’t
y
ou
dare
say n
o
.”
S
h
e s
m
iled
affecti
o
nately and
c
on
t
inu
e
d:

“
This
was
m
y
m
o
t
h
er’s,
a
n
d I
want
yo
u
t
o
have
it
.
W
ear
i
t at
y
our we
d
d
in
g
…
so
m
e
t
h
i
ng
o
l
d
a
n
d
so
m
e
t
h
i
ng
b
l
ue!
P
l
us,
I
k
n
o
w
t
h
at
i
t
is

y
o
ur
b
i
rt
h
s
t
on
e
, and so it will
b
e
g
ood
l
u
c
k
.”

Jo
-A
nn
s
to
o
d
up
a
n
d
wa
l
k
e
d
t
o
t
h
e
d
o
o
r.
B
ef
o
re
L
e
na
c
ou
l
d
say
a
w
o
r
d
, s
h
e
p
u
shed
t
h
e sc
r
een d
o
or o
p
en and
l
e
f
t.

The day was a
cr
y
s
t
al wh
it
e.
Br
ig
ht s
u
n
s
h
i
ne
sh
one
t
h
r
o
ug
h
i
ce- ri
m
ed
windows,
r
e
flecting
intrica
t
e
lace-like patterns on
the
s
h
ining
h
ard
w
ood
f
l
oo
r
s.
Li
n
e
n
d
r
aped
ta
b
les
w
e
r
e
gr
aced
w
ith
bo
u
q
u
ets
of
d
ay lilies,
Le
n
a’s fa
v
o
rite
flower.
Sil
k
y,
li
n
en
na
pk
i
n
s
in
an
a
m
b
er
c
o
l
o
r-on- c
o
lor c
h
evron
p
attern were
nestled
wit
h
i
n
s
im
p
le, sil
v
er
n
a
pk
i
n rin
g
s.

Twi
n
kle
lights
spa
r
kled
on
d
oo
rwa
y
s
a
n
d
a
s
m
all
arb
o
r,
w
h
ich Julie
c
o
nst
r
uc
t
ed
t
h
e ni
g
h
t
b
e
f
o
re
f
r
om gra
p
e
vin
e
s,
t
o
set
o
f
f
t
h
e
area
in w
h
ic
h
t
h
e
coupl
e w
o
u
l
d
b
e
w
e
d
.

T
h
e restaura
n
t was
c
l
o
sed
for
t
h
e
n
ig
h
t
to
the
g
e
n
eral pu
b
lic,
b
u
t
it w
o
u
l
d
be
f
u
l
l
n
o
net
h
eles
s
.
Mi
chael’s
fa
m
il
y
wou
l
d
be
t
h
er
e
,
as
we
l
l
a
s fa
v
o
r
it
e pat
r
o
n
s,
f
r
i
e
n
d
s of
Vi
cki’s,
an
d of
c
o
u
rse,
t
h
e
C
a
tc
hers a
n
d
t
h
eir frien
d
s
,
i
n
cludi
n
g
Dean
and Nellie
an
d
Dea
n
’s
b
r
o
t
h
e
r, Gary
w
h
o
n
o
w re
n
te
d
t
h
e a
p
ar
t
m
e
n
t
t
o
S
on
n
y.

So
nn
y wal
k
ed
t
h
r
o
ugh
t
h
e resta
u
ra
n
t,
ass
u
r
i
n
g
t
h
at
all
was
in
or
d
er. In
t
h
e
f
o
u
r
m
onths
since
t
h
e
p
ow
w
o
w
,
S
o
n
n
y
w
a
s
a
n
i
n
d
efati
g
able
he
l
p to
Michael.
He
he
l
p
ed M
i
chael
m
ov
e,
first
fr
o
m
h
i
s
a
p
art
m
e
n
t
in Keok
u
k
to
t
h
e
a
p
art
m
e
n
t
o
n
Fro
n
t
St
r
eet,
and
th
e
n
from
there
to
the c
o
ndo
in
t
h
e
S
h
ort
N
o
r
t
h
.
In
a
dd
itio
n
,
h
e
cl
o
sed
h
i
s
own
a
p
art
m
e
n
t
a
n
d
m
ov
ed
i
n
to
t
h
e
Front
Street
a
d
dress,
o
n
ce
Mi
chael
m
oved h
i
s
f
ur
n
i
sh
in
g
s to
t
h
e
con
d
o
w
h
ich
h
e
was to
s
h
are
with
Le
n
a.
T
h
e
two
t
h
en
r
oo
m
ed t
og
et
h
er
u
n
til Mic
h
ael and
Le
n
a’s
m
arria
g
e was le
g
ally sol
e
m
n
ize
d
.