Settling into their seats, Fran turned down the radio and pulled out into traffic, and for a short while, the car was quiet.

“So, what’s her name?” Addison asked, breaking the silence.

In the back seat, Millie blanched. She could hear the slightest hint of annoyance in Addison’s voice, and it was enough to convince Millie she should remain silent. Thankfully, Fran took the lead.

“Joanna. I told you that,” Fran said, glancing at her passenger.

“No, her last name, before, of course, it gets changed to Kane.”

“Oh. Sheppard…Joanna Sheppard.”

“What does she look like?”

When Fran didn’t answer, Addison looked over and saw Fran simpering like a fool. “Wipe that smirk off your face. I just don’t want to show up at her door and scream in fright.”

“You’ll hardly do that,” Fran said with a laugh. “She’s cute, in a bedraggled kind of way.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“She works three jobs to pay the bills, so she looks a bit tired, but she’s attractive.”

Addison narrowed her eyes. “What kind of jobs?”

“During the day she works at Doyle Books, and on the weekend, she cleans some offices and a few churches.”

“She’s a cleaner?”

Fran flinched at Addison’s outburst as the volume of her voice equaled that of a crazed football fan in a stadium, but refusing to get into a verbal sparring match, Fran kept her tone low and calm. “She just does it part-time to make ends meet.”

“Turn the car around!”

“What?” Fran said, casting a quick look in Addison’s direction. “Why?”

“Jesus Christ, Fran, what the hell are you thinking? The press will have a field day with this!”

“Not necessarily.”

“Really? Kindly explain to me how one of this country’s richest women would travel in the same circles as a cleaner, let alone marry one?”

“She only does it part-time, Addison. Her full-time job is at Doyle’s, and when the press asks, we’ll just say you bumped into one another outside the store. She spilled her coffee. You got to talking, and the rest, as they say, is history.”

Addison cocked her head to the side. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t that in a movie?”

“Yes, it was, but it’ll work. Besides, you’ve always been very private about the women you date, so this being a secret shouldn’t surprise anyone. It’s the way you live your life. Yes, the press might come up with a few amusing headlines, but after a week or two, it’ll be old news. You’ve never allowed them to intrude on your life, so this won’t be any different. We keep Joanna away from them until the novelty wears off, and then life goes back to normal.”

“Define normal,” Addison groused, fumbling for her cigarettes.

“Sorry, Addison, but there’s no smoking in my car.”