Suzy indicated my place at the patio umbrella table and I sat down next toRobert as Suzy sat next to Mark. Robert put his hand on my leg and I smiledb...ck at him.The three empty chairs at the table were soon filled as Robert's sonswalked over and took their places.Robert looked over at me and said, "DeAnn, I'd like you to meet my sons."He introduced them by age, oldest first. "This is Robert Jr., Michael, andSteven."I was having trouble meeting their eyes but I did manage to say, "Nice tomeet. “This is Mance, my fiancé,” she introduced the young man in uniform who was politely observing us.“You’re a lucky man. Taisha’s a lovely young lady,” I replied to him after the introductions.“Don’t I know it,” he grinned.“Taisha’s told us a little about you, how you met after the battle of Vircon,” Kirim chipped in.“Yes, I felt the need to thank her for keeping my squadron safe as we darted in and out of a partially activated battlestar grid. But when we met it was like I’d found the someone. Don’t spare it a single thought.”“Mostly, I don’t. But I still feel bad a little bad, for Heather...”“Feel bad for her because she was unfortunate enough to be born into a Lumen family” she responded coldly. “Not because you turned away a love-sick girl who never really knew you.”“I know you’re right ... Relationships between young couples rarely work out, even under good circumstances.”“Exactly. And that one was definitely finished once you discovered your true nature. Could you really see. It was a part of his personality that made me keep my distance whenever possible. Once he had hold of some secret that I didn’t want to get attention drawn to by the general public, I could lay book it would get to my Uncle sooner rather than later. There was no hope that it would eventually just fade away like some jaded starlet with an eye-catching ass that stayed in one’s memory far too long for good measure.When Raymond was around sticking his nose into my business, I could rest assured.