“I dunno, Ashe,” Lorraine said, her eyes on the laptop monitor, Ashe’s words spread across the white digital sheet of paper. “The rally’s tomorrow; I’m not sure I can remember all this.” Ashe glanced at the screen and shrugged, to which Lorraine said, “That’s true, but I don’t wanna read from a sheet of paper, it just feels…forced, y’know?” He nodded, turning his attention back to the computer.

“You won’t be mad if I just kind of wing it?” Ashe smiled and shook his head, and Lorraine gave him a little kiss on the forehead.

Griffin was reading through his own speech, printed on a single sheet of paper in his right hand. “This is great work though, Ashe, really.” Griffin stepped over Ashe to put a loving hand on his cheek. Ashe looked up at his father, Griffin looked down, and the silent love that passed between them was palpable.

Lorraine only hoped they couldn’t see her staring so adoringly at them.

Missus B. stepped into the living room from her little bedroom down the hall. “Excuse me, Mr. Phoenix,” she said, very timid and sweet. “May we three have a moment…in private?”

Griffin and Lorraine glanced at one another before Griffin said, “Why not take your laptop into your room, Ashe? I’ll have a look in a few minutes.” Ashe looked at him, then at both Mrs. B. and Lorraine. He sensed what Lorraine did, that something was wrong, that something very bad was going to happen.

Ashe scooped up his laptop, pausing to give Lorraine an additional little glance, hope and sadness competing for control of his expression. But she offered him a reassuring smile, brushing his hair back and whispering, “Go on, we’ll see you soon.”

Ashe slumped off with the laptop under his arm, the three adults watching him go.

Griffin turned to Mrs. B. “What can we do for you?”

“Well, Mr. Phoenix, it’s…it’s my broach, it’s gone missing. You know the one, the ruby. It was a gift from you, Mr. Phoenix.”

“I remember it,” Griffin said, “your birthstone.”

“That’s right, Mr. Phoenix. You’re so kind and considerate to remember me that way.”

“All right, well, have you looked through your bedroom?”

“I have, sir, yes, all my luggage too. And it had a safety latch, sir, you remember? It wouldn’t have just fallen off.”

Lorraine’s eyes shifted from Mrs. B. to Griffin. It was quickly becoming clear what was unfolding in that room, but Lorraine was taken completely off-guard and she had no idea what to do other than stand there and let it happen.

Griffin seemed to be coming to the same ugly conclusions. “What are you saying, Mrs. B.?”

“Well, sir, I-I recall how our lovely Miss Devonshire here admired it. And unlike us, she… Well, we’re not all so fortunate as I am, or as successful as you are, sir.”

Taken aback, Lorraine said in shock, “You’re saying what, that I took your broach?”

Griffin said, “Missus B., Lorraine and I are going to be married. She’d hardly have need to steal your broach.”

“With all due respect, sir, things have happened quickly this week. Maybe earlier on she felt it wise to ensure that she’d…come out ahead, sir.”

Lorraine repeated, “Come out ahead? How dare you? I’m not here to profit in any way; I never was! This whole thing was Griffin’s idea!”

“Just as everyone is saying, dear.”

Griffin took a step forward, creating a wall between Lorraine and Mrs. B. “Okay, look, this is pointless. I’ll get you a new broach, Mrs. B.”

“It’s not just about that,” Mrs. B. said. “Shouldn’t we know for certain what kind of person is coming back to New York with us…if she is?”

“You don’t like me,” Lorraine stated, “you never have, you probably never will. What on Earth could I say or do—?”

“It could still be in your purse.” Lorraine stood stunned, Griffin watching quietly as Mrs. B. reasoned aloud, “You’ve been with us several days straight, it seems to me.”

“I’ve been in and out, Mrs. B. I could have dropped your stolen booty at my apartment, somewhere in the library—”

“Just let me take a look in your purse,” Mrs. B. said. “If it’s not there, I’ll drop the entire matter.”

But Lorraine could already guess what they’d find in her purse. But she had little choice; at that point Mrs. B. was getting into that purse one way or the other. The stronger Lorraine fought against it, the more guilty she would seem and the sooner the contents of that purse would get spread out over the coffee table.

“All right, fine.” Lorraine crossed the living room to where her purse sat near the chair. She’d been in and out of it several times over the previous few days and was confident about what was in it.

She handed Mrs. B. the purse. The old woman took the purse to the coffee table. One by one, she pulled items out of the purse: Lorraine’s wallet, keys, a compact, some lipstick and eyeliner, her smartphone.

Lorraine turned to Griffin. “See? Griffin, I never would have done such a thing.”

“I know that, Lorraine.”

But Mrs. B. dug deeper. “Wait, there’s a pocket on the side.” With a sad little smile, she pulled out a white handkerchief folded neatly in a square. Lorraine’s stomach sank as Mrs. B. unfolded the handkerchief to reveal her ruby broach. Her gray eyebrows arched up into her furrowed old brow. “Oh, dear…”

Lorraine stammered, “I… Griffin, I didn’t do it! She must have put it there, framing me. She’s hated me from the start, Griffin! This is an obvious setup!”

Missus B. just shook her head. “I’m so sorry, dear.” But Lorraine could see through her bittersweet facade to the true malice of her unspoken gloating. With every shake of her little graying head, Mrs. B. was really saying, I win, you lose. Now go to hell, bitch!

“Let’s check it for prints,” Lorraine said quickly, noting the desperation in her own voice. “You won’t find mine, not on the broach, the napkin, none of it.”

Griffin let out a long disappointed sigh and turned to Mrs. B. “How could you stoop to such a thing, Mrs. B.?”

“I… No, I didn’t, sir. She’s the one you can’t trust. I’ve been with you for two years—”

“And that’s what makes this all the more troubling. I let you look after my son, and this is the kind of thing you’re willing to stoop to?”

“Mister Phoenix, please!”

“I’m sorry, Marion Beemish—”

“No, sir, please—”

“But your services will no longer be required.”

Missus B. looked at him, then at Lorraine. Lorraine took no joy in it, but she couldn’t deny the relief that was coursing through her. Missus B. said, “I-I’m alone here, we took the private jet out from New York.”

“There’ll be a first class ticket for you with United, and a generous severance…considering the circumstances, of course.” Missus B. slumped, setting down the purse and shuffling back toward her room. “We’ll have your luggage sent down to the lobby,” Griffin added, “and have a car take you to the airport.”

Missus B. stopped and turned, nodding as she crossed slowly to the suite’s front door, pulled it open, and walked out, letting it close slowly behind her.

Lorraine slipped into Griffin’s embrace. He said, “I’m sorry, Lorraine. That shouldn’t have happened.”

She sighed. “Thank you, Griffin, for believing me…and for believing in me.” He smiled and pulled her closer. But Griffin could obviously discern a deep sense of trouble stirring within Lorraine. Lorraine wasn’t sure if it was her lingering sense of insecurity, so deeply engrained in her that even Griffin’s influence wasn’t having much effect, despite even the amazing evolution she’d enjoyed.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Don’t worry about Mrs. B.; she’ll be all right.”

Lorraine leaned her head against Griffin’s chest. “It’s not that, Griffin, it’s just, I dunno, the rally’s tomorrow; it’s a big deal. I guess I’m just nervous about it, a little intimidated maybe.”

He gave her a little kiss on the forehead. “That’s perfectly natural. But you’ve got nothing to worry about. We’ll be there together, side by side, as a family.”

“You really think it’ll be all right?”

“No,” Lorraine turned surprised, but Griffin simply smiled and said, “it’ll be amazing.”