bites and chewing a long time.
âVery exciting about Ashley Ludlow marrying the presidentâs son,â Janet said.
âWhat?â Ben said, looking between them in surprise.
âOh, weâre not supposed to tell anyone,â Janet explained. âI must not have showed you the wedding invitation that just came in the mail. You donât care all that much about weddings, anyway.â
âMaybe not,â Monica said, âbut since this one will be taking place in Valentine Valley, and the president will be attending, this might be one wedding to capture your interest.â
âWow,â Ben said mildly.
âBut you really canât tell anyone,â Monica amended in a serious voice. âTheyâre trying not to make this a circus.â
âFine by me.â
âBut Ashley wants me to do the flowers for the wedding!â Monica said excitedly, and they talked for a while about her plans and how the business had been going lately. Thank goodness, nobody asked about the stranger lurking around her shop.
At last, her dad excused himself to go work on his vintage Mustang in the garage since she and her mom would be leaving for their meeting soon. He didnât ask what the meeting was about. Monica watched Janetâs eyes follow him out, and there was no disguising her troubled expression.
âWhat going on with you and Dad?â Monica asked.
Janet gave her a phony smile. âNothing at all, so donât you worry about it. Every marriage has the occasional patch where you donât get each other. Weâll be fine.â
This seemed more serious than that, and Monica felt a little lump in her stomach although she told herself sheâd just eaten too fast. âIs whateverââÂshe waved her hand toward the garage doorâÂâthe reason youâre suddenly so interested in the widowsâ latest cause? You disapproved of it when Missy and I were younger.â
âI never disapproved of the causes, â Janet said, pointing at her with a meatball on a fork. âI disapproved of the way the protests were handled, and I disapproved of your youth and how things could backfire and ruin college for you. And after that photo came out, and strangers were calling you or showing up at the door or using that photo for their own purposesâÂwell, it only made me more nervous.â
Monica sighed. âThat was one bad side effect. It didnât negate the good work we did bringing environmental issues into the public eye.â
âI see that. And now that youâre all grown-Âup, Iâd like to be a part of it.â
âI notice you didnât remind Dad of where youâre goingâÂdoes he know?â
âItâs none of his business.â
Monica straightened abruptly, no longer hungry. âNone of Dadâs business? Are you embarrassed?â
âNot a bit! But I want this to be for me. He has his friends in the vintage-Âcar-Âracing world; I need to develop my own interests. Donât think youâre the only one who was inspired by Grandpa Shawâs stories of the marches. I donât remember a lot from those days, but I do remember the occasional suspicious looks when I shopped in certain stores. And, sadly, that still happens.â
And what was Monica supposed to say to that? âI suggest you donât tell Dom unless you have to,â she finally said, taking her plate to the sink and rinsing it off. âHe still hasnât forgiven me for that photo.â
âNonsense.â Janet opened the dishwasher.
âOh, we get along, but . . .â She let her words trail off. Domâs reaction had almost made Missy come clean about the whole deception. Monica hadnât allowed it.
âI hope youâre not trying to change my mind,â Janet said softly.
âIâm not, I promise. Iâve just been curious about the