“Gladys isn’t here,” Mrs. Bradbury said. “It’s been a while since she’s been home.”

“Oh?” Bridgette said, surprised. “She’s living in Detroit, then? She must have taken the elementary teaching job there?”

“No, she lives in Fort Worth, Texas, home base for American Airlines. Our Gladys is now a stewardess for the company, would you believe? Right after…she left college, she decided to forgo teaching and try her wings at something else, literally.” Mrs. Bradbury laughed. “She’s been with them for two years now.”

Dumbfounded—Gladys, an American Airlines stewardess?—Bridgette asked, “But…who, then, is responsible for taking care of my grandmother’s house while I’ve been gone?”

“Oh, that was me. I just couldn’t bear to see Angelique’s immaculate little house at the mercy of rodents and bugs after you left, so I hired a yard man and a cleaning service to keep things up as she would have wanted. When I learned from the manager of Traverse City Light and Power Company that you were expected, I got everybody in gear to make sure all the power was on and things were ready for your return.”

“That was extremely thoughtful of you, Mrs. Bradbury, but you must let me pay you for those services.”

“No, Bridgette,” Mrs. Bradbury declined gently. “It was the least my family could do after…what happened, but more than that, because of it, our daughter finally, of her own volition, cut the umbilical cord and discovered life outside the womb. She said it was what you’d want her to do, and that it was her only way to make up to you for what she had done. So now for the first time in her life, because of you, my daughter is independent, confident, truly happy, and utterly thrilled with herself.”

“Mrs. Bradbury, I don’t know what to say…”

“It’s not necessary for you to say anything, dear. Welcome home, for however long that will be. I will tell Gladys that you called.”

Within a week of returning to the little house on Elm Street, Bridgette contacted the head of the design department at Stephens College to inquire of openings for designers in the fashion industry. Less than forty-eight hours later, she received a call from Edith Head at Paramount Studios, inviting her to come to California for an interview. She took the first flight out of Detroit to Los Angeles the next morning, met the famous costume designer that afternoon, and by cocktail time she had signed a probationary employment contract with the studio.

*  *  *