They were all enjoying a light meal and conversation when Dan said he had not been this relaxed with no pressure in several years. Mrs. Patron beamed ...nd kissed him in thanks for his off axis compliment. Even LF came from her side of the table and gave a startling tongue probing kiss. Their evening together ended once more in the den with brandy. Dan brought up sleeping arrangements. Mrs. Patron’s older friend suggested that she would like to share Mrs. Patron’s bed tonight if Daniel wouldn’t. Simone brought it up. She'd found the urban legends about the Medalliononline and was fascinated by them."The stories all vary, but they have these common threads," she told me,while we drank coffee in the dim chrome interior of our regular dinerhangout. The diner was a corny '50s replica, but Simone liked the retrochic and thought it cool.I knew all about the stories, of course, but was vainly trying to lookdisinterested, using my fingernail to flick sugar grains that had fallenonto the. He turned and left Tiffany standing there.Sarah walked up to her best friend and said, "He's a jerk. Why are you talking to him?"Tiffany spun around and then turned away to wipe the tears off her cheeks. When she faced Sarah again, she said, "What do you mean? I asked him if he knew where you were." Whatever." Susan gave Tiffany's brown ponytail a tug and said, "He like blondes, like that bimbo cheerleader he's drooling all over." I told you, I was just--"Sarah grabbed Tiffany's wrist and. "Both girls looked at Jen and in unison, they replied, "We will, Jenny, and thank you for rescuing us." The girls leaned into their mother and held her in their arms.Jenny grinned as the two girls answered in the same way as Tammy and Ted."Good girls! Now, I need to go do some work, and we will be taking off soon, so I will say this to you now. You are all in for an adventure. The whole world is going to change for the three of you. If you decide to stay with us, I promise you will not regret.