Bed & Breakfast Next to the Pink Roses Hotel

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" ASKED GENEVA VISIBLY SURPRISED.

"Well, the fact that you didn't mind us becoming heirs, not being part of the family, was what really sounded strange to me. So your silent but clear opposition today should not have astounded me since I expected it from the beginning."

Geneva narrowed her eyes, understanding.

"Ok. But I have never opposed, neither has my uncle. And as for my mother… She… She has these odd reactions…"

"She's jealous," she continued after a pause. "Of my aunt. Always has been. And now that she's… passed away, the jealousy has even increased upon learning of my aunt's successful career. We'd never really been aware of that, not even I. I mean, I knew she had made a living on writing - my mother never wanted to admit that, preferring to think that her sister, like herself, was supported by her husband -, but when I spoke with Mrs. Steel the other day… I… I was speechless; totally surprised. And I immediately thought of responding to this gesture of love with another, so I decided what I told you yesterday."

"Then, your mother must be really angry with you now."

"Oh, she doesn't know a thing."

Kathy still wasn't sure whether she was in front of a potential friend or a potential enemy, but now she understood why she'd had a block in their previous - and first - conversation. Geneva was today, like the night before, trying too hard to sound honest. And Kathy had so often in her life felt disappointed with people, that she didn't trust apparent honesty anymore. Or, at least, she tried not to.

Saved by the bell of a phone call from her mother - who was far, far more worried about Kathy's state of mind than about the celebrated inheritance being real or not - and by Jesse's arrival, two minutes later, she again did not mention her dilemma to Geneva.

Jesse took the lead once more and she followed him. Having made the decision, after talking to her mother, of going to the island, she felt it would be wiser to let him do things his own way. After all, so far he had been the brains behind the operation. She smiled. She was finally looking on the funny side of the story. Was this what Mrs. Sloan had imagined when she modified her will?

Mrs. Schneider offered to go with her. Having her daughter wander by herself on an island far from home was not something she wanted to assume twice. But when Kathy assured her that she needed to do this on her own, all was settled. Estelle just wanted her child to know she wasn't alone - not to get in her way. Kathy loved her mother so much - and she knew her father was there, unnoticedly, supporting her likewise. She was lucky. She shouldn't forget that, especially at this crucial moment when she was trying to leave behind a downhill inertia and had unexpectedly bumped into an open window.