"So how did it go?" asked Rose.

"Wonderfully! What else can I say?" Lissa giggled like a crazy teenager. "As soon as I saw him again, those old feelings came right back. I was too stubborn to admit it at first, but then one day Liberty went missing - you remember Liberty - well, anyway, he went missing, and Christian went to look for him. While he was gone, it started pouring down rain. I figured he'd give up and come back home, but a long time after that, I looked out the window and here he came, soaked to the bone, leading Liberty by the bridle. As soon as I saw him, my heart just melted. He went and got himself all drenched just for the sake of my horse! I suppose you can guess what happened next!"

Rose giggled. "I have a pretty good idea."

"Well, anyway, when he finally had to go back home, it broke my heart to say good-bye to him. Now I know I have to go to Washington, D. C. soon. I don't even care about the politics anymore. I'm thinking maybe over the holidays..."

"Go for it, girl!" Rose was thrilled for her friend. Lissa's reconciliation with Christian so reminded her of her own with Dimitri. "Guess what, hon," she called to her husband in an adjoining room. A moment later, he and Marina appeared in the doorway. "christian and Lissa are together again!"

"Glad to hear it." Dimitri smiled and held his arms out to her, and she went into them. "So she's to become a card-carrying Democrat like yourself."

"I am not!" Playfully she swatted his behind.

"What's a Democrat, Papa?" asked Marina.

"The Democrats are the good guys," her father told her.

"Then who's the bad guys?"

"There aren't any bad guys," said Rose.

In August Marina started kindergarten. As Rose drove her to the large, ultra-modern building which housed a portion of the kindergartners of Hollywood, all she could think about was how different it was from the small beachfront building made of sun-baked wooden planks in which she'd attended kindergarten herself so many years ago.

Reaching the front door, she pulled it open and then walked down several long hallways until she got to Marina's classroom. She opened the door to the familiar aroma of blackboards and chalk dust and the sight of a slender blonde of about twenty-five who was sitting at a cluttered desk. The woman looked up when she entered. "Rose Hathaway! I've been looking forward to meeting you."

"Hathaway-Belikova." Rose smiled. "This is Marina."

"Hi, sweetheart."

"I'm an actress too, just like Mommy!"

Rose laughed. "She's in that commercial for Burgers Extraordinaire."

"Ah, yes! I've seen that. Well. it's an honor to have you in my class, Miss Marina, and I'm sure you've only just begun a brilliant career."

They'd almost made it back to the car when Rose heard the shutters clicking and knew they'd be in the pages of something the following weekend. She was glad she'd dressed Marina in one of her cutest outfits.

In Nebraska, Jacy cheered Justin on. "Come on, Justin! You can do it!"

After spending five years in a wheelchair, the young man's legs were stick-thin and wasted. Although a physical therapist had been working with him for weeks to strengthen the muscles in them, he had yet to take his first unassisted step. Now he stood grasping the parallel bars that had been installed inside the ranch house for his use.

He gritted his teeth and took a determined step, slowly let go of the bars, and took another, immediately slumping to the floor afterwards. "You did it, Justin! You did it!" Jacy squealed with joy as she ran to embrace the man she loved. "Hey, Mom! Justin just took his first step!" Jacy called to her mother as she helped Justin back to his feet. Lissa appeared a moment later, wiping her hands on her apron. Justin gave her a lopsided grin. "Come on! Show Mom!" Jacy urged.

Justin shook his head and gazed longingly at his wheelchair. "You're tired, aren't you." Jacy wheeled the chair around so that he could sit in it again, then looked at her mother. "He really did take a step on his own, Mom. I saw him."

"I believe you, sweetheart." Lissa wiped a tear from her eye.

Marina adjusted well to kindergarten and eagerly looked forward to it every morning. Work on Rose's new movie proceeded, and August passed smoothly into September, September into October. The weather grew cooler, and the leaves began to fall from the trees. One day, Dimitri and Rose made plans to take Marina shopping for a Halloween costume. Although feeling even more tired and weak than usual, Rose worked a full day. "You look exhausted, darling," Dimitri said when he met her after work.

"I'll be all right."

They picked Marina up from child care and headed home. "Let's just get take-out tonight," Dimitri suggested.

"Sounds great to me." Rose rested her head on his shoulder, and he kissed the top of her hair.

She picked at her dinner and then, accepting Dimitri's offer to do all the cleaning up, went to lie down on the sofa, where she promptly fell asleep. She awakened an hour or so later to find the apartment vacant except for herself and realized that, not wanting to disturb her, Dimitri had taken Marina shopping by himself. She could tell that she was lying in a pool of something wet and sticky and soon discovered that, to her horror, it was blood.