We met in a 'fem-only' room that was open to the public and in 'private rooms' that could only be visited by people who knew their name. One of those ...ooms I called Villa, another Wintergarden. They were just little boxes on a computer's monitor, but everything you read about in this story happened there. Ah well, almost everything.Maybe I know more about Alicia than she knows about me, but then again: I only know what she told me. I know part of her 'real' name and where she lives (lived?). I. But talking about Gerald makes me feel sick and I’m digressing from my story.Gerald did play an inadvertent role in the exploit that I shared with Millington Chase, an experience that has, I’ve just found out, secured me an invitation to his famous annual party. Yippee. Sorry, I got a bit carried away there, but to say I’m chuffed is an understatement. Back to my story.After Gerald had somehow convinced my parents that I was a trustworthy, talented, a good all-round wholesome girl, they were. Yum. ********** Assuming the job of Sheriff, my father had left me with a small but competent staff that didn’t begrudge me coming in from ‘outside’ to rule over their roost. I’d gone to both middle and high school here and I knew virtually everyone worth knowing in the entire valley. I had also returned here fairly regularly for vacations and holidays to visit my dad so I’d never really been forgotten or treated like a visiting stranger. We had always been quite close. I was just enough of a. Jennie and I agreed. Monday would be the day—a big day for all of us. Sunday morning Jennie and I drove them to church and then to brunch at a nice restaurant in Myrtle Beach. We spent the afternoon at Farmstead hitting balls and practicing our putting. Andrea did quite well, especially considering that they didn’t have their own clubs and hadn’t practiced since their last visit. Allison, however, smoked the ball. ‘Gee Allison,’ her sister commented, ‘watching you makes me wonder if Daddy is.