SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 24, 8:38 PM US EASTERN TIME

"Have I mentioned how much I hate being blindfolded?" Meg complained, sitting in the back of the rental car. Jet lag hadn't helped her mood either. "Has something to do with fear of being kidnapped. And I think I'm getting motion sick."

Sei said, "Take deep breaths."

"And stop getting kidnapped so often," Jo added, a rare touch of mirth in her voice.

"Thanks guys," Meg grumbled. "You're all heart."

Jo said, "Here we are. Pull in right there, Sei."

Meg felt the car come to a halt. She undid her seat belt and heard her door open. Someone lead her by the hand; she heard Jo say, "Watch these steps…there we are. We're here."

Jo pulled the blindfold off. Meg looked around. They were standing on the stoop of a narrow 2-story house in a row of identical two story houses. There were a half a dozen cars parked along the sidewalk. And while some of the other houses were dark, this one had lights on and a Christmas tree in the front window.

Jo rang the doorbell and they waited. A balding 40-ish man answered the door. "Yes?" he asked.

Jo said, "Is Anne Gillespie in?"

"Hold on," he said. He moved away from the door; they heard him call Anne's name…conversation…movement.

The woman who came to the door had gray hair drawn into a pony tail. She wore glasses, a purple blouse and dark pants. "Yes?" she said.

"Sorry to intrude," Jo said. "My name is Jo. My associates and I have arrived from Japan. May we have a moment of your time? It concerns your…inheritance."

The woman seemed skeptical. But she opened the outside door. "Yes, come in."

Meg followed the others into the house in almost a dream like state. She noticed the tree, a group of people standing around…some kind of party.

"You're having a family gathering?" Jo asked.

"Just some friends," Anne said. "I don't have any family. What is this about?"

Things Meg hadn't paid attention to started to register and yet didn't sink in: Sumter, South Carolina…Gillespie, Anne Gillespie… She came to a mantle and found pictures of a red-haired girl at various ages from childhood to young adulthood…in one, at age ten or so, she was dressed as a cowgirl….

Jo said, "You had a daughter named Kate?"

"My only child," Anne said. "She moved to New York City. She was killed in a hit and run accident."

"And before she died, she had a baby, did she not?"

"Yes."

"Do you remember the baby's name?"

"Meg-Megumi. Kate had always loved Japan, and she gave the girl a Japanese name. I never knew what happened to-"

Meg spun back to Jo. "Jo, what is-how could-she isn't-"

Anne's eyes found Meg, and they went wide. "No, it's a trick."

Jo smiled. "It's no trick, Mrs. Gillespie. Meet your granddaughter, Megumi Gillespie. We call her Meg."

Anne stepped forward, dozens of emotions trying to find space on her face. "You look so much like her…" she started as she reached for Meg.

Meg batted Anne's hands away. "Don't give me that!" Meg snarled, tears running down her cheeks. "You have no right. I read the court transcripts. You didn't want me. You went to court to refuse custody of me-"

"That was my husband, God rest his soul. He had disowned Kate when she left, and he wanted nothing to do with her at all. If I had had my way, I would have raised you-"

"But you didn't! And what you did is all that matters. You didn't want me? Well, I didn't need you, and I still don't! I've done all right. I don't n-n-nee-ee-ee…" Meg broke down and started crying harder than Jo had ever seen her cry. Grandmother and granddaughter fell into a hug, crying on each other's shoulders.

"I'm sorry," Anne managed, "sorry I wasn't there…"

"It's ok…" Meg squeaked.

Jo thought she saw someone out of the corner of her eye, a young woman with long red hair dressed in a fur-lined coat and a miniskirt. But when she turned to look, there was no one there. Jo smiled at the empty space anyway.

"You know," Anne said, "Kate's favorite color was yellow, too."

"Really?" Meg said.

"Mmm-hmmmm. And she ran around in her underwear too…though she grew out of it when she was 18 *months* old."

"She was just humoring you. But I'd like to know more about her….Grandma."

"Then you and your friends get comfortable, Meg, because we have a lot to talk about…"

THE END