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I stare at her bewilderedly "I know that, Mo off all your jewelry?"

"Oh" She looks down at the pile as if realizing for the first ti present, if you like"

"Mory at her anymore How can I be, when I have such a rich life, and hers is so pathetic? Plus I’ve said everything I needed to say to her I’ood "I don’t want your old jewelry"

"Oh," she says lightly "I think you do Consider it your ‘soive one, she doesn’t jingle when she walks

I don’t want to hug her back, but there’s soed by your mother that makes it impossible to not at least raise your arms and put them around her The scent of her Chanel is as familiar to me, in a way, as the scent of Cooper’s shah she completely betrayedyour ," she says, and turns and walks swiftly from the shop before I can say another word My father doesn’t attempt to bar her way

"What the hell," Jessica dene, "was that all about?"

"I haven’t the faintest idea," I say

Sa pieces of the jewelry fro eyepiece used to closely exaems and preciousher bracelets and chains with a jeweler’s concentration

"She feels bad, Heather," hs out loud at this

"She does," my father insists "She understands she won’t be welco--and obviously can’t attend because Ricardo will be hunting her--but if you can make a place for her in your heart, Heather--"

There will always be a place for her in my heart, I think In my life? I’m not so sure

Sammy the Schnozz whistles, slowly and appreciatively

"What is it?" I ask him

He lowers the loupe and looks at me solemnly "Your motheror two about jewelry These are platinulance at Cooper, then back at Sammy the Schnozz "No No, they’re not They’re silver No one walks around wearing that much--"

"Platinum? No one I know Pirates, maybe Who else wears their fortune around their necks?"

"Or so down at all the softly glea metal on the table

I shake

"No," I say again, shaking my head "No, she wouldn’t do that She wouldn’t have stolen all ive it back"

Sa the calculator "She didn’t," he says "Platinuet if you sold this by weight"--his fingers fly over the keyboard--"is only about a quarter of a lance at Cooper, who returns aze "Only a quarter of a million dollars," I say to him

"Not nearly what she owes you," he says "But a start" A grin begins to spread across his face He holds out one arrade the honeymoon"

"Or," I say, "we could turn the basement into a nice apartment, and then rent it out and make a healthy return on our invest ot really good aiet," my father, the convict, hastens to add, "whatever you do, you’ll have to pay taxes on the sale of the jewelry"

"Thanks for the re up fro about this?"