I called their home number and when Jared answered I asked, “Hi, Jared, could I speak with Shona please?”He replied, “No, sorry, Lindsey. She’...l be gone most of the day at school for those tryouts. Would you like to leave her a message?”I tried to sound very disappointed, and I also wanted to use a couple of mellow expletives when I responded, hoping that he might see me as being a little tawdry. So, I said, “Oh crap, it’s so frigging hot today and I was hoping she could come over to swim with. I could smell the scent of his cologne again, I could feel his touch on my body again, I remembered everything so vividly that it sent chills down my spine. Suddenly I heard a knock followed by the door opening as he called out, “Celeste, I’m here.” I walked out to the kitchen to go greet him. “Hey thanks for coming over. I just felt better talking about this in person,” I said to him as I walked up to him and hugged him. He hugged me back as he replied, “Well it isn’t really something you. "How many stamps would you like?" What?" I said, Frau Engelmann's question pulling me back to the present."Oh, four will be enough."I didn't really need the stamps, but I did need an excuse for being inthe post office. I took out my purse to pay, but she shook her head."No, no, Fraulein Schumacher. The Count has given instructions that allbills for anything you buy in the village should be forwarded to thecastle, and that he will cover them."So she knew my name. Not surprising that word would. Do I believe those stories? Well, that depends on who’s telling them. I was immediately a novelty in the small town of Tallassee. I’ve also been told that I was my father’s pride and joy. I worked for many years with my uncle Truman, and he and his brothers told me on many occasions how proud my father was of me. I’m not sure if that was because it was true, or if it was their polite way of saying ‘I’m sorry about your dad kiddo’. Coming up as the youngest of ten kids was often a challenge,.