"You heard me. And what's worse, he'll be at Jonas's party tomorrow. How on earth am I going to pull this one off? In front of my husband? In front of my kids? With half of Washington looking on?"

G.o.d Bless America, Alice thought.

Forty-two.

Jordan was the first finalist scheduled to sing. Kiley Kate would go on after her.

Alice stood close to the door, one ear tuned to the show, one to her cell as she called CJ again and again but only got voice mail.

She wondered if Elinor had lost her mind or if she really was sleeping with Joe Remillard. Holy cow. A theme-park magician, executive or not, certainly paled next to a vice president. No, make that the vice president.

"Manny's been using my phone," CJ said when she finally answered. "His battery died."

"What the h.e.l.l's going on? Has your sister gone crazy?"

"She told you."

"Yes. Do the others know? Poppy? Yolanda?"

"I don't think Poppy knows."

"Maybe we should keep it that way. You know how she gets."

"Right. As for Yolanda, well, she knows Elinor was being followed in Cayman by the Secret Service."

"Good Lord, CJ, what's going to happen?"

"I have no idea. I'm at Poppy's right now. She and Manny are upstairs looking through her magazines, to see if Duane cut out the letters for the ransom note."

"And?"

"And nothing so far. Poppy says her magazines haven't been touched by Duane or by anyone."

Alice sighed. "I'll be home tomorrow."

"Well, we won't be. We'll be off to Washington. By the way, how's Orlando?"

"Fine. Interesting. I'll tell you later." But as she clicked off, a sad, lonely feeling crept into her heart and smothered any hope for Bud and the rest. Elinor's predicament was a stiff shot of reality, a wake-up call for Alice to rea.s.sess her priorities-priorities like allowing Kiley Kate to make friends, like paying attention to what really mattered, like husbands and families and not self-centered fun.

The party was held at Planet Hollywood, where the dozen or so girls were mesmerized from the moment they walked in. They spotted celebs Monique Coleman and Ashanti, whom Alice had never heard of.

They ordered smoothies and chicken crunch and zucchini chips. And they giggled, as only nine-year-old girls do.

The fact that Kiley Kate had actually won did not seem to affect anyone, most of all Kiley Kate. She seemed to be happiest that she was there with the others.

"This is lovely," Alice said to Lorna LeDuc, who hadn't commented that Alice was a bit overdressed. Then the double chocolate brownies were served and the girls' eyes widened and they giggled some more.

"Girls," Lorna said. "I wish I'd had ten of them. But Henry and I only had Taylor, then Henry got leukemia, and died the next year."

Alice took a drink of her mango-peach smoothie. "I'm so sorry," she said. "You've raised Taylor alone?"

"Oh, we have lots of friends. We're lucky like that."

No one, of course, had to tell Alice the importance of having friends. She reached into her purse to make sure Elinor or none of the others had called. When she'd finally decided to bring Kiley Kate here rather than meeting Bud, she'd turned off her cell altogether. She'd decided that yes, her priorities were what they were. If Neal wanted a divorce, she'd deal with that, too. But she had her friends who would help. She, too, was lucky like that.

After two hours of giggles, they grabbed taxicabs back. As if she still was little, Kiley Kate snuggled up close to her grandmother. Alice kept one arm around her and one arm on the trophy. Next stop: Philadelphia, she thought with a grin.

But when they arrived at the hotel, Alice's heart turned inside out: Bud, the theme-park magician, stood on one side of a palm tree; at the registration desk, stood Neal.

It was, of course, like a scene from a very bad movie that spiraled quickly downhill as Kiley Kate spotted her grandfather in the same instant Bud approached Alice.

"h.e.l.lo," Bud said.

"h.e.l.lo," Alice replied as Kiley Kate scampered toward Neal. Please G.o.d, she prayed, please don't let this explode right here in the center court of the Grand Cypress. "Wasn't it a great performance? Good night now," she said to Bud with a halfhearted smile, then turned from him and walked toward Neal, who was walking toward her.

"This is a surprise!" She tried to sound excited, which, of course, she was, not to mention that she was sweating to death. From the corner of her eye she saw Bud remain motionless, watching her watching Neal.

Neal kissed her cheek. "I flew down to see how my favorite girls were doing. I'm sorry I missed the show."

"I won, Grampy! I won!"

Alice held up the trophy with the American flag and the tiny stars all around. "She won, all right. Our Kiley Kate is the best."

Neal gave Kiley Kate a big hug, then said, "You must be tired. Let's go to bed."

"We have a pet.i.te suite, Grampy. Everything's pink!"

"Pink!" Neal replied. "Well, that's just what I've always wanted!"

"How was the dinner last night?" Alice asked, because she wanted to sound nonchalant.

"They canceled it until next week when they found out my wife couldn't make it."

If he was teasing, he was doing a great job.

"Let's go," he said. "I want to see our pink suite. By the way, I've extended our reservation until Sunday night. As long as we're in Florida, we might as well have some fun, right?" He winked at Alice, then took Kiley Kate's hand on one side and Alice's on the other, and led his girls to the bank of elevators.

Alice noticed that Bud watched a few seconds more, then turned and went out the front door.

Forty-three.

Sat.u.r.day brought a break in the humidity. CJ had taken the train out of Grand Central because the three-hour ride had seemed more endurable than the possibility of running into her sister and Mac at the airport.

She didn't, in truth, even want to go. If it were for anyone other than Jonas, CJ would have made a polite excuse and stayed far from the fray.

At Union Station, she walked along the marble floors through the magnificent domed concourse of the terminal, past the dozens and dozens of specialty shops that made this more of a tourist attraction than a train depot. CJ knew she should stop in one or two or three places and choose an appropriate gift for Jonas and Lucinda, but she had no idea what to give them, no thoughts on what could be special enough, meaningful enough. Besides, she was sidetracked by the life all around her: hustling, bustling, going-places-life. How could she think about gift-giving when right now she only wished she could fall into step behind someone, anyone, and follow them to their destination? Whatever it was, surely it would be less troublesome than hers.

But this is for Jonas! she reminded herself. A night to put all else aside and celebrate his love for Lucinda and her love for him!

Still, the gift would have to wait until she was thinking more clearly.

Juggling the garment bag and her suitcase, she stepped out onto Columbus Circle and found the queue for a cab. Elinor had suggested that Mac send a car, but CJ had declined. The less interaction she had with them now, the better. She suspected there would be drama soon enough, and until then, she had to stay focused.

Jonas. Lucinda.

At the desk of the Fairmont Washington D.C., she was told to go to reception on the Gold Floor, that her room was up there, that the cost had been taken care of. A bellman whisked away her bags, and CJ was told to "have a nice stay."

She made her way up to the coveted floor and had barely given her name when she was led to her room. Her bags were already there; her escort quickly left her alone.

CJ tried to stay in the moment.

Overlooking the lush garden courtyard, the room was s.p.a.cious and opulent, no doubt hand-selected by her sister. The large king-size bed was layered with white down; the period furnishings were tasteful and authentic. A vase filled with two dozen yellow roses stood on the polished wood desk. No matter the venue, no matter the subtext, Elinor remained the impeccable hostess.

With a small sigh, CJ slipped out of her shoes. She meandered across the thick carpet to the roses and breathed in their sweet scent. She picked up the envelope propped against the vase.

An obligatory sentiment from her sister, no doubt. Or maybe from Mac?

She laughed at her misplaced naivete, unsealed the envelope, and withdrew the card.

The handwriting was unmistakable. Her hand went slowly to her mouth, then her fingers slid to the base of her throat.

The florist said it was too late for tulips, the card read, but that roses are always in bloom. Thank you for being in my life. Thank you for being you. Much love, Jonas.

CJ sat on the bed, still holding the card. Then, one after another, tears slowly spilled from her eyes. And CJ suddenly knew the best gift she could give.

The room phone rang at six fifteen.

"Are you here? Are you ready? Why aren't you downstairs?"

It was Elinor, of course. CJ sat on the edge of the bed and tried donning her Elinor armor. "I thought the party started at seven."

"I need you now! You're my family! The Perrys have dozens of relatives who've flown in from all over creation. For G.o.d's sake, I'm all alone!"

CJ didn't mention that perhaps Elinor should have insisted that Alice and Poppy be invited after all. They might not have been blood, but they were like family, which sometimes-like now-could be even better. She also didn't mention that she'd been ready for an hour and only had to slip into her gray silk. "Have you seen anything or anyone unusual?"

"Not yet. But how will I know if anyone is unusual? Half of Washington qualifies for that."

Hopefully, not the half that would be at the party. "Shall I come down in ten minutes?"

"Make it five. Please. I'm not sure I'll survive for ten."

CJ hung up. She straightened the room, smoothed the bedcovers, took a last sniff of roses, then stepped out of her robe and into her party attire.

The band offered just the right balance of strings and bra.s.s, romance and zest. The Colonnade was a blend of Washington dignity and New York chic. If this had been Elinor's affair and not Betts Perry's, there might have been an appetizer of lemon confit chicken to accompany the champagne instead of the d.a.m.n goat cheese mousse on crostini. Chicken was so much more universal than overblown goat cheese, and lemon complemented the wine.

But what did a few menu changes matter when one considered all that might have gone wrong? Still, Elinor smiled that she'd been able to keep herself together well enough to have noticed details like that.

Jonas seemed to be having a good time, as was everyone, except perhaps Janice, who noted her surprise that Elinor's nails had been polished in ivory and not in a shade to match the peach-colored Versace. Elinor had laughed and told her daughter that was the latest in fashion, didn't she know that? She could hardly have said Yolanda hadn't brought her polish to Grand Cayman, so Elinor had done her own nails that morning.

Thankfully, Janice hadn't pressed that issue-or others-but had trotted off to the dinner bar to find the man Jonas said she'd been introducing as her boyfriend, though Elinor had not had the pleasure of meeting him. She was simply grateful that Janice had shown up at all. Just as she was grateful when Betts informed her that the vice president's wife had phoned their regrets. "Remy's down with the flu," Betts bemoaned, and Elinor said, "What a pity," then dug her heels into the travertine floor.

Across the room, Mac was occupied with a group of men and women Elinor had met, but she couldn't recall if they were family or colleagues. It was so hard these days to tell anyone apart. When they'd first come to Washington, the politicians had mostly all been men. Now, it was all too confusing, and it meant she had to be on best behavior with everyone.

Which was especially difficult to accomplish when all she wanted was to go home and cry.

As her gaze traveled the room, she saw Jonas and Lucinda standing by the pastry table, talking with CJ. Lifting an espresso from a waiter's silver tray, Elinor strolled over to join them.

"Mom," Jonas said, "you won't believe what Aunt CJ has done."

Elinor realized that when her sister was nicely dressed, it was amazing how much they still looked alike. Both had their hair pinned up tonight, both looked soft and attractive. Sometimes Elinor thought she wanted CJ to pay more attention to her appearance because it was such a reflection-literally, physically-of her. Elinor smiled. "I can't imagine what your aunt CJ has done."

"She's given us the cottage," Jonas said. "As a wedding gift."

Elinor blinked.

"Only because they've agreed it comes with a dog," CJ said. "Luna needs more people than solitary old me. She needs a real home. Hopefully, a family."

Elinor was speechless, utterly speechless.

"I know Jonas wants to work in New York," CJ continued, "so it only makes sense. Besides, this way it will stay in the family."

"Yes," Elinor said, "but-"

"But what about me?" CJ asked. "I've decided to go back to Paris. I've decided it's time to pick up where I left off so long ago."

It was all too much for Elinor to digest on top of the goat cheese mousse and the rest. "Well," she said, "what a surprise."

"We're thrilled," sweet Lucinda said.

"I'm sure," Elinor replied.

The three went back to chattering about when CJ would leave, when Jonas would move in. Elinor drifted from the group, trying to decide if this news was acceptable or if it was not, and wondering how on earth life all around her was managing to go on while hers was on breath-stopping hold.