he nodded," sounds perfect." he leaned in and kissed her, " how far is it from here?"

"not far," she said, kissing him back

he smiled," ok then, darling, you lead the way."

she smiled, "ok, honey." she grinned and started walking

he laced his fingers with hers as they walked. it was strange to see the dark and light mixed like that but he liked it

Sam stopped when they go to the cafe, "we made it."

he chuckled and opened the door for her, " that we did."

Sam walked in and looked around, it was a nice little cafe.

Lenny and Sam were seated and were given the little menues. he smiled over his at his love.

Sam looked up at him from her menu, she smiled.

On one of the garden walkways, Lowell saw a couple about his age or a bit younger emerging from one of the greenhouses. The woman looked uncannily familiar; yet Lowell was certain this was not any of his past sexual conquests. He didn't realize that he was seeing a family resemblance--for the woman was the sister of the despised Christian soldier Josiah Redfern.


Ranjit continued praying in his car. At one point he detected a line of sight which suggested that he might still be visible from the apartment after all; but it was no crime for him to be here, so here he stayed.


In his loving horizontal embrace with Melody, Josiah began doing intimate things for the pleasure of them both, all in a silence as perfect as if he were back in Iraq stalking a hidden enemy. But of course, in this "battle" the objective was for BOTH "opponents" to win.

Melody rolled him over so he could be on top of her " Hey," Melody said, with a smile now kissing his neck.

Lenny reached over the table taking her hand, " I love you," he siad. it sounded so wonderful to say

Lolita smiled at the couple but didn't recognize them

Glenda finally pulled away from her mother, “ Now I need to talk to you about something else.”
Her mothers brow furrowed, “ what about?”
“ living arrangements.” Glenda said plainly
“ I’m lost.,” Mrs Peters admitted
“ Mo if I move out you can’t rent this and pay for the food it takes to feed these mongrels,” she said the last word lovingly, “ without my income…” she didn’t need to say more.
“ Glenda we will manage,”
“No, no you won’t and you know it.”
her mothers hard face returned
Glenda took a deep breath, “ Ranjit and I have a proposition to make. We have friends who know people in real-estate and they said they could get us a house that ALL of us could live in comfortably. I mean Ranjit and I can’t afford a house on our own right now but with a help with the rent we could and you and the kids could move in with us.” She paused waiting for her mothers reaction.
It wasn’t negative, so she continued.
“ they said they would get us a house as soon as they could, and that might take a month or so but Ranjit and I want to get married…well as soon as possible.”
“ How soon are we talking?”
Glenda swallowed, “ days.”
Mrs. Peters shook her head
“ Listen Mom…what difference does it make. We know we are going to get married so why postpone it? its not going to be any big production I mean Ranjit nor I can afford that so something really simple. Just me him some family and a few friends and that is it.”
he mother glared at her
“ I know this is all very sudden but…mom its really what I want. I love him and I don’t’ see a reason to wait.”
“ what about the housing situation?” she was hopig to stump her there but Glenda had a plan
“ Ranjit and I have these friends and they have a very big house that they don’t even start to fill at all. They said that we could move in with them till we had a house of our own. They said all of us could move in, mom, you and the kids.”
“Absolutly not.” she said firmly
“ Mom they told us that rent would be,” here she was flying by the seat of her pants. She had not talked to them about a set rent agreement. “ three hundred. That’s loads cheaper than what you are paying here and the kids will have more room to play in.
her mother ground her teath together
“ ok..I know it sounds too good to be true but think about it. Ranjit and I will pay the six hundred that we are supposed to pay and you pay three. That adds up to nine hundred and that is about right for rent.”
The wheels were turning and Glenda continued
“ it won’t be permanent mom. Just till Ranjit and I find a place for all of us.” She hoped her mother wouldn’t be totally head strong

Once on top of his wife by her own invitation, Josiah kissed her long and well; then he began in earnest to do things which will not be specified here.

Ranjit still was praying. Suddenly he got a cellphone call. "Hi, Ranjit! This is Giulietta Lazzaro. The Lord just told me that something important is going on for you right now, so I'm praying for you." Ranjit thanked his friend heartily, promising to get word to her of how things turned out.



"Pardon my staring at those people," said Lowell to Lolita. "They just looked familiar to me, but I can't place them. Doesn't matter." As they approached the greenhouse they intended to enter first, Lowell fished in his coat pocket for the brochure he had been given when paying for admission. He didn't notice the folded slip of paper which also fell out of the pocket in the same movement.

Zach and Tiffany passed the same spot a moment later. She DID realize who Lowell Sanders was: her brother's malicious persecutor. Seeing the dropped paper, she picked it up, stuck it in her purse, and whispered to her fiancee, "Don't say anything; I want to see what this says when we're away from here."

Lolita looked at the flowers that were blooming right at the entrance, " they are so beautiful."


Glenda nearly flew down all the stairs as she darted out to the parking lot. she knew where his kia was parked and she made record time. she got to his car and fervently knocked on the window.