Our helicopter landed on a private pad a short distance from the main residence just after noon.
The children climbed out one by one.
I followed.
Parker and Miles wore dark wool coats.
Audrey had chosen a cream winter coat, while Willa insisted on wearing the dusty-rose coat she had picked herself.
The front door opened before we reached the steps.
Eleanor Ashby appeared first.
My former mother-in-law.
She looked almost exactly as I remembered her, only older.
Perfect hair.
Elegant clothes.
The unmistakable posture of a woman accustomed to rooms adjusting themselves around her.
Her polite smile stayed in place until she noticed the children.
Then she froze.
I watched her eyes move from Parker to Miles, then Audrey and Willa.
Her champagne glass slowly lowered.
Behind her, several relatives turned toward us.
Then Conrad appeared.
For one suspended moment, neither of us moved.
