Thinking, she wondered if her husband hadn't shot himself, if he might not have drunk himself to death at the rate he was going… and with never a thought or provision for his wife and daughter. Now, as she pondered over that, she couldn't help but tremble with the overwhelming fright of her sudden responsibilities. Except for their clothing, he had left them near-destitute, and once again she thanked the good Lord for her job. Of course, it wasn't much, prestige-wise… waitress work never was… but it was honest employment and the Diamond Dell was the finest dinner house in Parksburg, even if it was only a front for the gambling casino Max Bovino operated upstairs. Whether the once notorious blind-owner functioned within the law was not her concern, and it didn't seem to bother the elite country-club set who populated the haven nightly… but she was concerned with the additional money the girls 'upstairs' made hustling cocktails, in comparison to those serving dinner on the first-floor, and she had made up her mind to speak to Mr. Bovino about it. In a little while, she would call him.

Why not? it was easier work, probably more pleasant, and accordingly, more rewarding. Of course, Cal would never have allowed it; he'd always been an extremely jealous man… although God knows, she had never given him any reason to be… But Cal was gone… and she had Nadine to look to now… only her future mattered… all other things were secondary… Cal was dead! Susan wiped an uncontrollable little tear from her eye.

They were large eyes, dark and almond-shaped, long-lashed and oriental, a breathtaking contrast to her ivory complexion. She couldn't help but wonder if she would ever unravel the mysteries that enshrouded her dead husband… for surely, they existed, deep and complex she thought; she had never really known the soldier she'd married…

She'd been fifteen and they'd lived just outside of Seoul. Her father was native Korean, a farmer of some wealth, and her mother the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She was French, from Paris no less, and she'd come from her country in a missionary capacity. It was still vague in her mind how they had met, her father and mother, but it had something to do with God.