.. sweetie." Icringed. I never used pet names with my wife. She hated them and haddrummed the habit out of me years ago. I should have mentioned this....Yeah, my boss called me just now and he said..." I cringed again."Oh, HE said, did he? And what happened to Jane? She's not your bossanymore?" It was obvious she sensed something was going on. "Why haveyou got me on speaker phone?" Umm, you're not on speaker phone, honey," Rachel lied."I can tell from the way it echoes. What's going on?" Suddenly. Once in my room, the dam burst and Brenda began to speak at close to two hundred miles per hour. Her eyes were bright and she was waving her hands about, as she tried to describe all of the things that had happened." ... and then I thought Mordew was going to run me over..." ... did you see the way the eagle caught the stone..." ... isn't Gwendolin just the nicest Grandmother ever..." ... how is it possible that the cabins are the same..."And on and on it went. Eventually I'd had enough and. ”“Did Rana say anything---anything at all?”“Oh, yes she did. She said her life was over. Samira’s life was over. And that was all she said. That’s as close a quote as I can recall. In fact those were probably her exact words.”“I’ll be a son-of-a-bitch,” Herb said aloud, but not meaning too. “I’ve never heard the like of it before!”“I think she’s in Sioux City with her aunt. That woman is connected to the Federal Government in some way. Her brother or someone in the family was the Shah of Iran. " Simon Cowl," laughed Cherie."Okay, smart ass," smiled the attractive mother."Hey, Mom, I was thinking I'd like to collect some shells along the beach and decorate that wall in my room, the one with the smaller window." Sounds like a plan." And really, I don't mind riding the bus to school." I'll probably take you up on that, but for the first week or so I'd like to take you each morning ... just until you get settled in." The village school is going to be a lot different from Shakerton HIgh.".