"Perfect weather for cuddling together and watching a movie," said Dimitri. Rose sat beside him on the sofa, her head resting on his chest, so that she could hear his heartbeat. A blanket was tucked in around both of them, and the Bolshoi Ballet was on the television. "Some day our Marina will dance for them."

"I always wanted to be a ballerina." The telephone rang and Rose groaned. "Oh, I don't want to answer it."

Dimitri picked up the receiver. "Yes?" Wordlessly he handed it to Rose.

"Rose!" She heard Lissa's excited voice. "Guess what! Justin spoke! He said Jacy's name!"

"Wow! Really?"

"She'd taken him for a walk around the mall in his wheelchair like she does every so often, you know, to try to jog his memory. They were in the CD store and she was showing him the newest CD's and talking about the different groups. They were leaving the store when it happened. She said he was kind of hard to understand but that she could definitely tell that he was trying to say her name."

"That's wonderful!" Rose exclaimed. "I'm so glad to hear it."

"How's Marina?"

"She's fine! We just had her birthday party earlier today." Rose told her about the party, and then they said good-bye to one another. "That was Lissa," she told Dimitri after hanging up the telephone. "She said that Justin said Jacy's name."

"That's nice."

"I should really go visit them again soon. It's been over a year now."

Dimitri didn't say anything.

"It's been almost six years, Dimitri. They don't blame you for what happened to Mason. They never have."

"I always admired him deep down inside, you know. I was at his funeral. I stood a far distance back because I was afraid I wouldn't have been welcome there."

"You did? But I didn't see you."

"I was too far away to really hear what you were singing."

"It was 'Amazing Grace'."

"Ah, yes." Rose knew, as did everyone, that it had been one of Ivan and Dimitri's men who'd ended the American militant's life. He'd been caught doing the wrong thing in the wrong place at the wrong time. Dimitri hadn't condoned the killing, but neither had he done anything to prevent it.

"Anyway, why don't you come with me? You haven't even been to Montana since then, have you? We'll wait and go in the spring when it's warmer."

"Why don't you and Marina go together, just the two of you? It'll be a nice break from the pace of California. I don't think I'd be able to get away for that long. The studio's going to be pretty busy."

She knew that wasn't the real reason.

The day before they left, they stayed at Disneyland from dawn until dusk and later. Marina rode all her favorite rides two or three times each and ate hot dogs and popcorn and cotton candy until she had a tummy ache. At the end of the day, Dimitri carried the exhausted little girl home in his arms. That night was one of the most passionate they'd ever shared. Aware of the approaching separation, they each took their sweet time in lavishing pleasure on the other's body and, when they'd each experienced all the euphoria they could stand, fell asleep in one another's arms.

At the airport the following morning, Rose found saying good-bye to be unexpectedly difficult. "But why can't you come too, Papa?" The look in Marina's clear blue eyes made her mother's heart melt.

"Too much work to do here, malenkaya. Be a good girl and do everything your Mama tells you to, and we'll see each other again really soon." He held her as close as he could, reluctant to let go, feeling almost as if he were losing her a second time. Rose saw the pain in his eyes and felt so sad. It doesn't have to be this way, you know.

Six Years Previously

She couldn't believe he was really gone. The great American hero who'd fought for the freedoms he believed in was gone forever, felled in his attempt to preserve them. As she and the others gathered together around the plain wooden casket, she felt an overwhelming sense of loss. Billy and Caleb had lost their father, and the country had lost one of its staunchest supporters and defenders.

They wanted her to sing. The words flowed from her lips like a healing balm over an open, gaping wound. "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me..."

Her eyes met those of Billy. A vision of her father lying in his hospital bed with his face turned to the wall flashed through her mind. I'm so sorry. Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement. Could it really be him? Could he really have come, after all?

No, of course not. The idea was absolutely preposterous.

Present Day

Rose and Marina found their seats and sat down. Marina immediately began to examine the headphones, the radio controls and various other devices designed to make their trip a little less tedious. Rose listened for the stewardess' instructions and prepared for the lift off. At last she felt movement.

"Wow, Mommy! Look at all those people down there! They look just like ants, don't they?"

"They sure do!"

"This is just like when we went to Acapulco, isn't it? 'Cept Papa was with us that time." She looked as sad as Rose felt.

"Would you like for me to tell you about the very first time I ever rode on an airplane?"

Marina nodded.

"I was a lot older than you are now. I was already a teenager. My class at school took a trip to Washington, D.C. to see the Capitol and the White House, where the President lives. I was so excited!" Marina listened with rapt attention at first but soon became bored and turned to the coloring book and crayons Rose had bought her at the gift shop. Rose put on her headphones and leaned back, prepared for several hours of relaxation before she saw her friends again.