I had just about talked myself into believing that I was right and that Brenda was innocent of the things my caller had been saying about her but them...I got hit in the head with a sledgehammer.At dinner, as I was asking the kids about their day at school Brenda asked me a question that made my blood turn cold."Don't you have a trip to Denver coming up soon?"I had scheduled the trip for the following week but with everything else on my mind I had forgotten to tell Brenda about it. What had. He was still going to run sometests but because of past experiences he was almostsure of his diagnosis. He asked us to come back inthree days and he could verify the facts.We went back three days later and he said she had thelate stages of cancer. There was nothing he could do.He would put her on chemo for awhile but the outlookwas very grave. At most he gave her six months to live.I just broke down and bawled. I took her in my arms andshe was the strong one. She said everything would beall. I’ve never felt so beautiful. They look at me as if I was a goddess, and it makes them both so beautiful themselves. “Christine,” Robert’s deep voice whispers, and I shake with every syllable. “Beautiful,” Helen gasps and my heart dances. I take a deep breath, my soul soaring on wings woven from their admiration, and my shaking fingers unclasp the tiny belt, removing the last resistance that keeps my dress from succumbing to gravity. A whimper escapes my throat when it slides down and cool air. Mostly. I'd been such a fool, running around like a chicken with my head cut off ever since I'd left my old apartment to go to lunch at Geno's Café with Taylor. In fact, since the news broke about my inheritance, the only time I'd stopped to think had been those first few days holed up inside my own home.Staying inside and ignoring the rest of the world was starting to sound like a very good idea. Hell, staying inside this office so I could ignore Cassandra too didn't sound too bad.The knock.