~~Then he kissed her. At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete. ~~ - F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Hart Mansion
Evergreen, New York

Elizabeth stepped out their limousine and bumped the shiny, black door closed with her rear. She leaned up against the back door and listened as Alex barked orders at everyone from the driver to the gardener. They'd been on the grounds for less than 5 minutes and already two staff members had flipped him the bird. These vulgarities had been discretely executed behind his back of course while Elizabeth had struggled to stifle the laughter that rose within her.

Fortunately for her, she'd had tons of practice concealing her feelings.

She rolled her eyes at the sight of Alex trying to heft both of their monstrous suitcases over the threshold. "Hey! Frank!...I know you just work here, but could you please GET THE DAMN DOOR!"

Frank, tipped his hat to his boss and quickly opened the double doors leading into the mansion. "Good afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Hart...I trust you had a wonderful trip?"

Alex grumbled something indistinguishable and ambled across the startling white, marble floor of the foyer. He dropped the luggage at the foot of the grand staircase and bellowed for the butler once again.

Elizabeth flashed an apologetic smile and threw her arms up in exasperation behind him. Frank winked at her, letting her know it was all in days work. Thankfully the staff didn't usually hold her responsible for her husbands' foul moods, even if they were her fault 90% of the time.

As was, currently the case.

Alex had woken the morning before, in as foul a mood as she'd ever seen him in. Putting the kibosh on their entire trip. He'd yelled about her not wanting to be there with him in the first place and how it would be no big loss, even as she 'wholeheartedly' protested otherwise. Assuring him that she did indeed want to stay. That she'd try not to be so 'distracted.'

The words had sounded false to even her own ears. Her impression of a happy, vacationing wife at it's very worst.

She had Lucky to thank for that.

Never before had she encountered problems convincing Alex of her devotion. Of course he'd never been that tough to persuade. Anyone, who WANTED to believe something, would believe it.

"What's the use, Bethie?" Alex had asked. "It's not like we're actually having a good time. I might as well go home, where I can NOT have a good time...and get some work done simultaneously." He'd finished the sentence with a smile. As if she should've found the barb as amusing as he had.

She often found herself wondering why she still cared if he was happy with her or not. Why it even mattered to her when he was upset with her or angry. Why she felt guilty when she hurt his feelings or did something stupid like get plastered and fall asleep when they were supposed to be having a 'romantic' vacation get-away.

'Because at one point, this man was all you had,' she reminded herself as she followed him up the stairs. 'Because you may not have ever been in love with him, but he loved you...and he took care of you when you didn't have anybody else...when you were ready to curl up and die...when you didn't have Lucky to-

'Hold it right there, Webber...you STILL don't have Lucky. And Alex is STILL all you have!

'At best - your family shows up for the annual New Year's Eve Gala, to make sure you're still filthy rich!...And you've no longer got any friends to speak of...So, just because Lucky shows up out of nowhere, claiming he loves you and he never meant to hurt you...don't think the world is suddenly sunshine and roses again ok!?

'Of course if you had given him a chance to explain, maybe you'd understand more why he felt he had to leave you- Damn it! Stop that. It doesn't matter what he says or does anymore. It's over - it's over - it's over.

'You have a life here with Alex, and it's not as bad as you're constantly making it out to be so give it a rest already.'

Elizabeth glanced around at her surroundings. The magnificent home that Alex had built for them shining and sparkling at every turn. It was a home that any sane person would kill for, and her husband would gladly give her anything she wanted.

All she had to do was NOT ask for things that didn't come in powder blue Tiffany boxes. And NOT ask for things that you could only touch with your heart and feel with your soul.

As long as she never asked, or longed for those things...she'd be fine.
~~~~~~~
Spoon Island
Port Charles, New York

"I can't believe this is happening."

Stephan placed a silent hand on his nephews' shoulder, as the blustering wind whipped through their hair. He hadn't realized that Nikolas was so shaken by Helena's death.

He was immediately sorry for the way he'd dismissed the gravity of what Nikolas could be feeling. "I'm sorry Nikolas, I haven't been very comforting about your grandmother's pass -

"Oh!" Nikolas exclaimed, cutting him off. He covered his mouth quickly with one hand. The smile behind it, extremely inappropriate for the occasion.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean that. I just meant that I can't believe that you're allowing her to be buried here - at Wyndemere."

Stephan looked around at the few and far between attendees of his mother's final garden party. Aside from Helena's boy toys, he and Nikolas were the only two there. Alexis would probably show up at the stroke of midnight with a bottle of Cognac and a big band orchestra to commemorate the occasion.

He was completely unaware of the presence of three other funeral goers. Three men that lurked in the shadows. Each of them eager to catch a final glimpse of Helena's rotten corpse being lowered into the ground where it would continue the rotting that had begun at birth.

He smoothed a hand over his goatee and addressed Nikolas. "My mother's final wish: to be buried here at Wyndemere...her final method of torture. She's probably laughing in her coffin this very minute."

Nikolas couldn't help but chuckle this time. He quickly looked down at his feet and then back up. "Even from the grave, grandmother has found a way to be the bane of your existence, Uncle."

It was Stephan's turn to smile. "Oh no, Nikolas. That woman is finally gone from my life. I am finally, completely free. Knowing her body is up here - overlooking the water will undoubtedly cause me some trepidation in coming here at first. But, I'm sure one day the knowledge will make me happy. Joyful even."

Nikolas dug his hands into his pockets. His uncle never ceased to amaze him. He never reacted in a way that Nikolas could predict anymore.

Even his appearance was out of the ordinary. The man had worn a black suit every day of his life for as far back as Nikolas could remember, but today...today he wore a pale gray three-piece ensemble. And dare he say it?...He looked happy. Contented even.

"Well, it looks like everything here is...ok...So, I'm gonna get out of here," Nikolas announced finally. "I'm supposed to be meeting Emily for lunch."

Stephan grinned. "Ah, Miss Quartermaine. How are things on that front?"

"Things on that front are just fine, Uncle." Nikolas answered. He wasn't really sure of his reason for not volunteering more information. Whether it was fear of jinxing what was beginning to finally happen, or the fear of his uncle's disapproval, he didn't know. But for now, that was all the info that Stephan was going to get.

"So...if you're feeling the desire break out some vintage port from the wine cellar tonight, don't hesitate - you know my number," Nikolas added, before starting to walk away.

Stephan placed a hand on his arm before he could take two steps. "Speaking of celebrating -

"What? You're ready to throw her a going away party already!?" Nikolas asked incredulously.

His uncle chuckled. "No, this is the LAST occasion where Helena will ever be the guest of honor ....No, Nikolas I am throwing YOU a party."

Nikolas' brow furrowed in confusion. "Why would you be throwing me a party? My birthday isn't for months."

Stephan nodded knowingly. "Yes, you're TWENTY-FIFTH birthday is still months away. However, there is nothing keeping you from your inheritance now Nikolas. Your grandmother is gone, and I have no desire to stand in the way of you claiming what is rightfully yours."

"Uncle...this is...Come on - I mean now? You want to throw a party now? Isn't that in bad taste...or form...or...somethin' - "

"Nothing fancy," Stephan said, interrupting his nephew's ramblings. "I know you despise the pomp and circumstance of your title with every fiber of your being...we can have something very small - intimate. Simply to announce your estate Nikolas...Just family and some of your close friends....

"We'll do something more formal when your birthday does arrive in November."

Nikolas pressed his fingertips to his temples and shook his head. His mind spinning. "Um..yeah - I guess. Can we talk about this later?"

Stephan nodded. He suddenly looked like a man that had all the time in the world. He grabbed his nephew's face in his hands enthusiastically.

"Yes," he said, placing a kiss on his forehead. "We may discuss it anytime you wish. Go have lunch - have fun."
~~~~~~~
Luke emerged from the bushes and stood behind yet another tree on the bluff, staring at the gaping hole in the Earth that now housed his nemesis. He watched as Nikolas walked away and Stephan disappeared down a path that led back to Wyndemere.

His feet led him to her. "Is it hot down there Helena?" He asked, moving closer.

She should have been roasting in the fire pit of Hell right about now. If any sort of justice or divinity did in fact exist, she was currently rotating on Satan's own rotisserie spit.

"My son is coming back," Luke began, strolling around the perimeter of the big hole. "But then...you knew that didn't you?

Luke turned towards the bushes suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling up. It felt as if someone were watching him. He walked closer to the surrounding foliage, peering into them.

Nothing.

Just his imagination? Or Helena haunting him from the grave already?

He turned back to the dark pit before him. "Do me a favor and stay dead Helena...Believe me, if I find out you've hurt my son in any way, you won't want to come back here. Ever.

"That's a promise my dear."
~~~~~~~
Lucky watched Luke walk away. His heart leaping into his throat at the sight of the man he hadn't seen in over three years. He looked the same.

He looked like his father.

Time, and perhaps worry had aged him, but all in all...he was still Luke Spencer. The man Lucky had spent his whole childhood adoring, and a good part of his adolescence hating.

Where did they stand now? What would happen when they finally came face to face?

All he knew for sure was that the emotion that he felt now was disturbingly close to happiness. An emotion that he'd sworn to himself that he'd never feel again at the sight of his mother or his father.

If Elizabeth never forgave him, it would all lead back to them. Every battle ever waged in the Cassidine/Spencer feud had led to the place he'd been, the afternoon he'd broken her heart. If she never forgave him - God help him, they'd never be pardoned from sin either.

He knew it didn't make sense. That the logic was distorted and unfair, but he was beyond caring.

'Too much of a brat too care,' he thought. A smirk settling over his lips as he moved towards the great, dark abyss in the Earth.

Lucky hiked up his jeans and squatted next to Helena's final resting-place. He pressed his fingertips to bridge of his nose, and squeezed his eyes tight. When he opened them, he shook his head at the insanity that his life had become. Nothing was as it should have been. The whole world had spun off course. He didn't have Elizabeth. He didn't have his family. He didn't have his home.

"And I've got you to thank for that," Lucky sighed, a sadistic curve tilting his lips upward. He stood up, taking a few paces around the hole. Suddenly too close. Too near to the devil, once more. He'd never do that dance again.

He rubbed his hands together and folded his arms, looking down upon the woman that had held his life in her hands for years. Elizabeth's life.

"My hand was on the telephone, you know?" He began, brushing his hair away from his eyes in one rapid gesture. "I stood there...for a long time, after you'd fallen - thinking that I should do something, that a decent human being would call the paramedics, find your medication...something. Make some attempt to save your life.....

"But I didn't. I couldn't. Something inside me wouldn't allow it - maybe because I knew you were already dead inside. That you never had a heart in that hollow chest of yours anyway."

Lucky looked down, a strangely out of place smile gracing his face when he looked up. "I guess that makes me...what? Indecent?" He chuckled bitterly

Indecent or a wimp? One or the other. You're either an amoral jackass for allowing someone to die in front of you, without lifting a finger to help. Or you're a wimp for not taking action into your own hands, and killing her yourself long ago. Which is it?

"Bet you know the answer to that, don't you?" He asked, leaning forward. "You always knew everything about everyone. Especially when it came to my family. I bet you'd have a mouthful to say about my current dilemma right?" He shook his head again.

Why the Hell was he talking to a dead woman? A dead woman that he was only too happy to be finally rid of. 'Probably the same reason your father came here to talk to her. You can't believe she's really dead. Even though you saw her die right in front of your eyes.'

The memory of her cooling skin washed over him and caused a shiver to run up his spine like bony fingertips.

Or was it a memory it all? Maybe it was her ghost. Escaping from a brand new grave just to continue her reign of torture. The image of her limp body and clenched fists at her chest played before his eyes once again before he was able to effectively shake it off.

Lucky sighed. "Memory - the burden of a murderer."

He let out a rush of breath, and glanced around the island. There were probably ghosts at every turn here.

'Shit...shake it off Spencer...Time to stop talking to the dead...and get back to the land of the living.'

The idea of holding his baby sister in his arms again made his heart ache a little. Made him smile genuinely for the first time since he'd come back to this place. Port Charles. The place that had once been his home.

Home? Who was he kidding? No place would be home again until he had Elizabeth back in his arms. Whoever said that 'home' was wherever you hung your hat was dead wrong. He'd hung his hat in a lot of places over the last 3 years, and none of them had felt like home. None of those places had compared to the boxcar, or his small room above the bike shop, or their tiny, run-down apartment in New York.

Simply because none of them had a front door answered by Elizabeth, a wall painted in bright 'Elizabeth colors,' or a face that lit up every time you picked up your 'Elizabeth original' guitar.

Lucky closed his eyes and took a deep breath, imagining her face.

"I may not have everything that I had a few years ago Helena - everything that you took from me...But I will. You can't stand in my way anymore...

"Feel free not to write."
~~~~~~~
The Hart Mansion
Evergreen, New York

Elizabeth sighed as she ran the sterling silver brush through hair once more and placed it against the surface of her vanity. Looking up, her eyes caught her own reflection in the mirror. Her fingertips were pulled by some magnetic force to the spot where he had been. Her lips. His lips.

She closed her eyes and suddenly she was kissing him again. Feeling his hands run through her hair. Feeling that familiar tingle run down her spine. God she'd missed that sensation. It had been so long since she'd been kissed like that. So long since...

Her eyes shot open and her shoulders tensed as a pair of cold hands descended upon them.

Alex leaned down and pushed her hair to the side, kissing the crook of her neck. "Hey," he whispered. "I'm sorry."

He stood behind her, watching her reflection in the mirror. "You know that right? I didn't mean to be such an ass about the whole 'kid issue'...I just - I'm under a lot of pressure right now, and that's not an excuse...but...you know I get crazy sometimes."

Elizabeth smiled slightly and nodded. Knowing that he was right on both counts. He was sorry - and he did get 'crazy' sometimes.

"I'm sorry too," she whispered, looking down at her hands.

The small scar on the top of her left hand caught her eye for a moment and she paused mid sentence. Her thumb rubbed absently across it before she suddenly looked back up, into his eyes.

"I shouldn't have done that - gotten plastered like that...when we wanted to have a good time."

Alex smiled. "Well, we both have a tendency to act like idiots when we're upset right?...No biggee."

Pressing a quick kiss to the very top of her head, he straightened and smoothed a hand over her cheek. "I've got some phone calls to make from the office, so I'm gonna be downstairs....But I won't be long, ok?"

"Ok," she smiled, trying not to wince as Alex ran his hands up and down her arms from behind. Knowing exactly what 'I won't be long,' meant.

'It means he wants to be with his wife Webber. Which most husbands want - expect... It's normal. Especially after you acted like Miss Frigid America on your trip! You're the one that's NOT normal.

You haven't slept with your husband in weeks, and before that it was highly sporadic. What the Hell is your problem?! You can't live your life in a dream anymore. Wake up! This is reality. Right here, standing behind you - reality. It's time you got used to it.'

Get used to it? When would she ever, get used to the feeling of someone else's hands on her? Someone other than Lucky, making love to her? Or TRYING to make love to her?

With Lucky it had never been about the physical. He'd made exquisite love to her body of course...but it had always been about so much more than that. It had been about mind, soul, and spirit - melding into one entity.

It was all encompassing and all consuming. It was everything.

For far too brief a moment in time, her life's meaning had been centered upon making love with Lucky. With every breath, with every laugh, with every gesture, with every smile, with every beat of her heart, there had been adoration.

How were you supposed to train your heart to beat for someone else?

Even if you knew that someone else loved you, but didn't know how to show it. Even if you knew, he could never be what you wanted - even if he ever tried.

She flashed Alex a smile once again as he exited her powder room. The breath she'd been holding quickly escaped her as he rounded the corner.

'You can make this work Elizabeth. You can. Lying used to be second nature to you...and now, suddenly you can't do it anymore? You can't pretend to love someone that you don't?....Sure you can.'

"Suck it up Webber," she whispered to herself as she reached into the drawer where she kept her cosmetics, and her birth control pills.

A small piece of paper caught the corner of her eye. She picked it up, immediately recognizing the Montgomery Hotel logo on the white stationary. How had it gotten into her drawer?

'Must've been in your toiletry bag, when you dumped it into the drawer this afternoon,' she thought quizzically. 'But how would it have gotten into your bag?'

She unfolded the sheet of paper, not remembering ever using any of it to write on during their stay in the hotel suite. Maybe Alex had written her a note?

Maybe not.

The words on the page washed over her in an instant, like a rose colored blush. The air becoming thicker as the scent of jasmine and spring filled the room. Memory personified.

She knew instantly that Alex hadn't written the meaningful words that sat before her, as a single tear slipped from the corner of her eye and traveled down her cheek to the page beneath her fingertips. It landed translucently upon the word 'forever.'

Elizabeth brushed away the next tear and read the words again. Her finger trailing longingly over the familiar phrase:

Le coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaft point.

Forever,
Lucky

***

Elizabeth groaned aloud and rolled her head back against his shoulder as he continued to knead his fingers into her knotted muscles.

"Come on...you've got one more Elizabeth," Lucky sighed. His fingers still pressing into her warm flesh.

She glanced backwards at him suspiciously as his fingertips came to a halt. "Oooh...you are so mean. Do I use your backrubs as blackmail when I want something?!"

Lucky looked up at the pearl white clouds and quickly back down. The corner of his mouth tilting upwards. "Um...yeah, you do. But that's besides the point..."

He continued talking as she playfully elbowed him in the stomach. "Alright - alright." He laughed, clearing his throat.

He glanced down towards her philosophy textbook, and shook his head. Why she had to take a French philosophy class at an Art Academy he'd never understand, but helping her study was usually pretty entertaining. Not to mention the killer reward he usually got for this type of thing.

A wicked smile pulled at his lips and he shook it off. "Ok, what did Bossuet mean when he said: Le couer a ses raisons que la raison ne connaft point?"

Liz leaned forward and clapped her hands together. "Oooh! Ok! Would you believe, I ACTUALLY know this one! It means 'The heart has reasons that reason knows nothing of.'

"I love that one." Elizabeth sighed, looking up towards the heavens as his fingers began massaging a little piece of their own heaven into her shoulders once again. "He actually makes sense to me."

Lucky bit his lower lip and looked down at her closed eyes. "What do you suppose that guy meant by that?"

Elizabeth opened her eyes. His voice changing suddenly. She ran her hands down the legs that flanked either side of her from behind. "I guess that sometimes people do crazy things in the name of love."

He still looked distracted.

"Why? What do YOU think it means?" She asked, turning around.

Lucky shook his head and sighed. "I guess...I don't know. It kinda - it kinda makes me think of my mom and dad," he admitted, scratching the back of his head.

"How so?"

He swallowed hard. Not truly wanting to bring up a subject that had become a thing of the past, but came back to bite him in the ass when he least expected it. "Well...my mom forgave my dad. You know...after what he did to her - the rape. I still don't understand HOW exactly...but....I don't know," he said shaking his head. "Ugh...I'm talking in riddles."

"No, you're not," she whispered, smoothing a hand over his cheek. "Go on."

Lucky licked his lips. "I mean...would that be an example of it? My mom still loving my father - the heart having reasons that reason knows nothing of?"

Elizabeth nodded. "I think that's an excellent example."

"But...is that right? Is it even really possible for someone's heart to get over something like that? I mean is it REALLY gotten over?"

She recalled him asking her something similar to this once before on a rainy night at her Gram's house, and she instantly remembered telling him that she hadn't felt comfortable comparing herself to Laura or making any sort of correlation between the two of them.

But something inside of him obviously needed some kind of an answer. Even though he and his parents had healed a lot of old wounds. His heart still craved understanding. Or maybe it was just his mind trying to rationalize a completely irrational situation.

"I think Laura would definitely say 'yes,' to that...I think forgiveness is something that comes from the heart. It's not something you can analyze or let your brain figure out...You just have to listen to what your heart tells you.

"Your mom and dad have a tremendous - amazing love for each other, Lucky..........And I guess, the more you love someone - the more you're willing to forgive."

Lucky gazed into her eyes for a long moment, causing her to grin and look down at the pattern on the quilt beneath them.

"What?" she asked childishly, upon looking up. She glanced away as his eyes continued to beam at hers.

He crooked a gentle finger under her chin, and whispered when she turned to look at him. "You're really smart - you know that?"

She smiled and looked down again. "Yeah...sure. That's me: Miss High Intelligence Quotient of America."

"Don't do that Elizabeth...Look at me," he prompted, waiting for her to look. He continued when he had her complete attention. "You are.

"You are the smartest, wisest...sexiest - person I know."

A warm blush filled her cheeks and the right end of her mouth tilted upwards just a bit. He smiled disarmingly, as her cute little dimple made it's presence known.

He hated it when she doubted herself. Her own abilities in life. And the fact that he knew exactly where it came from: her parents - made him hate it even more. Hate them even more.

Lucky brushed her hair out of her face and cupped her soft cheeks in his hands, pressing a tender kiss to her lips.

"I love you," Elizabeth whispered, as he pulled away. His hands running down her back to rest at the curve of her hips.

"Love you too," he sighed. His lips returning to hers. This time asking a bit more of her.

Elizabeth lips parted, allowing her lover's tongue to tenderly explore the depths of her mouth. She giggled against his lips when his fingers began to slide beneath the fabric of her top. "Lucky...Lucky...we're outside."

Lucky looked up, and squinted as a bird chirped merrily in a tree to the side of them. The grassy area around the pond completely deserted aside from the likes of them.

"Oh...you're right," he grinned mischeviously. "I think this place just brings out the best in me."

The comment garnered the exact reaction he'd hoped for. As Elizabeth laughed flirtatiously, "Oh that it does, believe me."

She remembered exactly what this place, Miller's Pond, had inspired in him a couple of months prior.

Lucky slid his hands down the front of his thighs. "Whatdya say we get out of here then? Huh?" He asked, standing up and reaching for her hand.

He let out a little yelp of surprise as she suddenly yanked him back down towards the ground and immediately back to her lips.

She instantly showered his face and neck with sweet, torturous kisses, sending Lucky into a fit of unabashed laughter.

"What are you doing?!" He asked incredulously as she lay beneath him. A throaty, seductive laugh rumbling through her as she grabbed his collar and pulled him closer.

"Le couer a ses raisons que la raison ne connaft point, Lucky....And my heart wants you right here - right now."

***
The sound of her own amusement brought her out of the thick haze that had enveloped her for a few beautiful moments.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and let the words slip beneath her fingertips once more before folding the small, white piece of paper back into the square it had been in. She placed it slowly back into the drawer and gasped the moment her eyes returned to the mirror.

Her reflection had changed, and a girl that she hadn't seen in quite some time was smiling genuinely back at her for the first time in over 3 years. She reached out to press her fingers to the glass, before the girl disappeared. Before SHE disappeared again.

Letting her hand drop slowly back to her side, she looked down and shut her eyes tight.

When she opened them again, the gleam of the diamond that adorned her finger nearly blinded her. The apparition in the mirror had vanished. The smile was gone. The expression replacing it, produced by fear. Panic.

"It was just a kiss," she said silently, her voice pleading with her to believe the words. "Let it go. Let HIM go."

With trembling hands, she reached back into the drawer that she'd just closed and pulled the pink compact of pills out.
~~~~~~~
The Hart Mansion
1st Floor, West Wing - Alex's office

"So everything went according to plan, then?" Alex asked, nervously shifting the receiver to his other ear.

"Perfectly...you didn't think he'd deny his mother's final wishes, did you?"

"Who knows what to think," Alex scoffed. "Who knows why I even care," he finished, sinking down into his coffee colored leather chair.

"Well, not many people did, I can tell you that...Just the boy and his uncle were there."

"Along with a few of her man servants I suppose," Alex smirked sarcastically. "Did anyone see you?"

The voice on the other end sighed. Alex quickly apologized. "I'm sorry...I'm just a little paranoid. I know you're more careful than that."

"Well, thank you for the vote of confidence....No, no one saw me. However, there is a matter that needs our immediate attention."

"What's that?"

"It seems that Cassidine wants to give the boy access to his estate a bit earlier than anticipated....I guess with the Queen Bee out of the way..."

Alex groaned loudly and leaned back against his chair. "You've got to be kidding me! Can he do that?!"

"Well, whether he can or he can't isn't an issue anymore, is it? Allesandro, all this means is that we have to move quicker. Don't worry about it....please."

Alex smoothed a hand over his desk and nodded. "Ok...Ok, you're right....I'll do whatever I have to do. I'm not giving up anything else."
~~~~~~~
The Spencer Residence
Port Charles, New York

"I'll get it!!!" LuLu shouted, bounding down the steps and nearly tripping over the huge old canine that got in front of her.

"Jeez, Foster would you give a girl a chance to get down the stairs before you come barreling down?! Somebody could break their neck!"

Luke smirked from his seat on the couch, recalling someone who almost had.

"Hmm...Maybe it's the Gypsy's come to take you away?"

"Luke!" Laura admonished, coming out of the kitchen. "Don't say things like that.

"Leslie Lu Spencer, I expect you to ask who it is before you op -

Too late.

The rule about opening doors only after you'd looked through the peephole had been broken. Lucky for LuLu, the rule about talking to strangers hadn't been. Lucky indeed.