Michela Forsythe glanced up and groaned as she witnessed two people enter the restaurant. One was a willowy brunette woman with movie star good looks and short cropped hair that just brushed her shoulders. The other was a man, nearly twenty-five, with broad shoulders and a slim waist. He was as equally handsome as his companion. They made a striking couple.

The woman caught Michela's eye and waved. She could only offer up another groan.

"Oh, my God, please no." Michela didn't think she could take ribbing from her brother and sister, Diana and Peter, once they found out about Lucky and how she had saved his life. She was willing to do anything to side step that horror.

Lucky Faraday watched as Michela stared at two people walking toward their table. The closer the two became, the more sickened she looked. He leaned in close and put a hand on her forehead.

"You okay, sugar?"

She glanced over Lucky's shoulder, watching as the couple made their way to their table.

"I can't go through another night of this," she said. Suddenly, her eyes brightened. A new idea hit her. "Dance with me?"

"Wha...?"

Michela tugged on Lucky's arm and he rose automatically following her onto the large ballroom floor at the center of Antony's. When she finally stopped, he gathered her into his arms as if he'd been doing it all his life. As they swayed, Lucky knew this was feeling too natural. Too right.

He'd never been one to hold onto too natural, and too right so he did what he always did. He tried to make it into a joke.

"If I'd known you wanted to get your hands on me this badly..." Lucky didn't get out the remainder of his sentence. His sarcastic comment would have to wait until later.

The woman in his arms stared up at him. Her eyes were hard, like she was ready and able to bite his head off at any moment, then the anger at the edges of her eyes disappeared. All he could see in her stare now was a look of nothingness. As her eyes glazed over, her face turned a nasty ashen shade. The protective feeling welling up in his gut startled him.

"Darling. Sugar? You okay?" He caressed her face. "You don't look so well." Her eyes grew larger as they scanned his with a worry he didn't understand.

"I don't feel so good."

Michela's legs turned to jelly. Lucky was glad he was holding her at the time because if he hadn't been, he didn't want to think how hard she would have crashed onto the ballroom floor.

"Michela?" The beginnings of real worry tainted his voice. "Come on now. Don't do this to me."

He held her up and nonchalantly supported her weight on his arm. He motioned with the other to Austin McRae who was sitting only a table away.

"Thank God, you're always there when I need you," Lucky said to Austin.

"What's wrong with her?" Austin naturally asked.

"I don't know," Lucky bit out. "You're the Doc. He shifted Michela's weight to the other arm. "We have to do something about this now. I can't hold her like this much longer without people becoming suspicious."

"Suspicious? Aren't you being a little over paranoid?" Austin said, then nodded his head in agreement.

"I can't help it. Comes with the job. Plus, I'd rather not get the fifth degree from her father, if you don't mind."

Austin scanned the interior of Antony's. "There's a sitting room at the end of the hall. I can examine her there."

The three of them walked unnoticed across the ballroom floor. No one realized that one of them wasn't walking at all. Lucky made certain of that. Once they were out of sight, Lucky swung Michela's legs into his arms and carried her baby-style the rest of the way to the vacant room.

"Have I ever mentioned this knight-in-shining-armor thing is hell on the muscles?"

"Well," Austin muttered, as he began the examination. "You were the one who always wanted to be the hero. Even in first grade when you saved Mrs. Peterson's cat from certain death. She was certain Blackjack was never going to come down from that tree.

Lucky laughed. He'd forgotten about that. "Did Honor tell you all my secrets?"

"No, the story just came up in conversation once between your sister and your mother. Your mother was very proud of you for saving that cat."

"Still is. I guess I'm really lucky to have parents who love me so much that they have to tell stories about me over and over and over again."

As Austin continued the examination, the two men remained silent. Now and again, Michela's eyes fluttered, but whatever hit her on the dance floor came hard and fast.

"What's the diagnosis, Doc?"

Austin was baffled. "From what I can tell, she's fine. She should be waking up. The only thing that really bothers me is her memory. This afternoon she didn't recognize me. Which isn't that odd. But when I told her she introduced me to your sister, she looked at me as if I was the crazy one. She just kept saying "I can't remember."

"So, what does that mean? Previous head trauma?" Lucky brushed a single lock of hair out of Michela's face.

"Possibly. I'd really like to take her back to the clinic and examine her there. I could get a better idea of the situation with the proper medical tools. Take an x-ray. Maybe an MRI. The only thing that bothers me is the fact that she hasn't regained consciousness."

"You get her ready. I'll get my sister and say our good byes to Michela's father." Lucky lumbered toward the door.

"Maybe you should tell him what's going on?"

"No," Lucky said, unsure of why he was so adamant. "We can't. Not yet anyway."

Mila Ferguson remembered the delight in her employer's eyes this morning before Stone Jacobs had arrived. She was planning, or rather scheming, in her children's lives. First head on the chopping block was Rayna.

First on the agenda, Mrs. Raines-Ambrose decided was to pair up her daughter Rayna with a nice man. It had to be someone who was a match for her fiery will and stubbornness. "Goodness," she sighed, talking aloud to her dear departed husband, Michael. "She gets that stubborn wild streak from you, you know."

Mila entered the room ready for another day of housework. "Talking to Michael Francis again?" Mila asked, as she flitted a feather duster over an antique bookcase.

"Of course," she said, plainly. "Don't I always?" Prudence sat in her wheelchair and regarded her petite housekeeper. "And you're a good girl not to be frightened of my eccentricities."

Prue wheeled her chair closer. "So are we still a go?"

Mrs. Raines-Ambrose glowed like an expectant child about to receive an early Christmas present.

"Yes, I told Rayna exactly what you told me and now she's completely worried about you. Are you sure this is such a good idea? They're both going to think you've gone insane."

"Oh, fiddle faddle. Let me worry about that. Both you and I know I am in complete possession of all my marbles. That's all that matters. So, shoo!" Prudence waved her hands at Mila "The games a foot. Now remember, don't spill the beans to Stone. I know you hate lying, dear one. But just think of this as lying for a good cause."

"I'll try." Mila began to exit the room and turned back toward Prudence. "You, Mrs. Raines-Ambrose are an evil, evil woman."

Prudence couldn't help but laugh. "And don't you forget it." Her employer's laughter echoed through the house as Mila ran to the porch swing. She had to be in place before Stone came up the walk.

Prudence smiled in spite of herself. It did her heart good to know her daughter, Rayna and Stone Jacobs would be walking down the isle soon.

"They may not know it yet, Michael," she said to her absent husband. "But they're about to fall hopelessly in love."

Across the sea in America, another widow was planning a matchmaking fest of his own.

"Did you see them together, Victor?” Quentin asked his black dinner companion. "He's the A to her B." The elder Forsythe smiled and pulled a cigar out of his lapel pocket. As he clipped off the end and lit up, he became lost in thought.

"Don't you think you're jumping the gun a bit, Forsythe?" Victor leaned back in his chair concerned about how attached he'd become to Quentin and his family over the years.

"Did I or did I not now the exact minute I fell in love with Joyce? You were there. I even told you I was going to marry that woman. Remember? And damned if I was right and it came true. I know what my family needs, and Michela and that young man are destined to be together."

Quentin watched as Victor shook his head.

"My wife never lived too see her children married. And if I leave them to their own devices, the Forsythe name will die out completely with Michela, Diana, Peter and Caine. I have to make sure our family keeps growing. Forsythe's are big on family, don't you know?"

Victor nodded. "Oh, yes. I remember. Looks like you have a bit of your own father's instinct in you. God rest his merry soul. He and your mother used to do the same thing. And as I remember it, David and Nora Forsythe were matchmakers in their own right. I believe they were the ones who threw you and Joyce together. Set you up perfectly as I recall."

Quentin laughed in spite of himself. He'd been called on his fish story. "You have a memory like an elephant. Did that to all of us, they did. Me, Judith, Mary and Mick. They set up every last one of us. But we can't be letting them have all the glory, now can we? I'm the master of my own family's destiny. And in staying with family tradition -- it's my turn to be Cupid."

Victor could only laugh as Quentin's Scottish burr came out more pronounced at the end of his speech. He hadn't used his native accent much since Joyce's death. Maybe this meant he was truly moving on.

Lucky Faraday made his way to his sister, Honor McRae's table. He was very conscious and making damn sure that Quentin and Victor didn't see him sneak back into the ballroom. In a flurry of words and commands, Lucky let Honor in on what had happened.

"Is she going to be all right? I thought the two of you looked kinda, well, weird out there on the dance floor. It was almost as if you were dragging her around like a doll."

"I was dragging her around! That's when she fainted. On the dance floor."

"Why do women always have this effect from you? They all fall at your feet like you're some Olympian God."

"I don't have time to exchange slams with you right now, but I'll get back to you on that one, I promise you." Lucky smiled.

"What can I do?" Honor asked. "You know, for her?" She stood up ready, willing and able to help. He loved that about her. She took everything in stride.

Lucky gave her a sheepish grin. "Could you tell Forsythe over there that Michela and I had to leave? Be real vague. No details."

"Sure," she said, drawing out the word. "Leave all the hard work to your sister. I see how you are." Honor rested her hands on her hips.

"Thank you. I love you. Bye." Lucky kissed his sister on the cheek and dashed out leaving her to sweep up his very bizarre mess.

''What am I going to do with you, brother of mine?"

Stone said his hellos to Prudence and the rest of the staff and then focused in on Mrs. Raines-Ambrose once they were alone in the parlor together. On an end table near the back of the room was a pile of prescription bottles that had gone out of date. He picked one up and studied the label. The bottle had been prescribed months ago and yet the small container was completely full. At first he considered it might be a refill, but the bottle said otherwise.

“Prudence, you’re supposed to be taking this medication,” he said in a tone reserved for disruptive nieces and nephews. “It says you’re supposed to take it four times every day. It’s no wonder you’re condition has deteriorated.

Prudence clicked her tongue. She didn’t like being told what to do. Slowly, she glanced up and grimaced as if moving her body was a trial in itself. Stone took in her frail appearance and knew if someone hugged her too robustly, they’d break her fragile bones.

“I don’t want to take that medication,” she said, stubbornly. “It makes me feel loopy. And I don’t like feeling loopy. Makes things go fuzzy round the edges.”

“Loopy?” Stone settled down next to her. “Honey, if you don’t start taking this, you’re going to die.”

Prudence tried hard not to smile. It was too precious that Stone wanted to tend to her needs. He was a good boy. And a perfect match for her, Rayna. He’d be able to take care of her better than any man her daughter had ever known. She knew she had to remain calm and continue the act. Her daughter’s destiny was depending on her performance.

“My friends tell me I shouldn’t take it. They say it’s poison.”

“Friends, Prudence? Who are your friends?”

“I believe them,” she said, seriously. “They have never lied to me.”

“Them? Who is them?” Stone did not like what he was hearing from Prudence.

“My friends,” she said again. “The ones who live in the wallpaper.”

“Her friends who live in the wallpaper,” Stone muttered again. “Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? What does Rayna think of all this?” His expression was grim.

“Rayna really hasn’t been around much lately,” the housekeeper said, trying to keep her lie sounding as natural as possible. “I called her and told her what was going on with Mrs. Raines-Ambrose. I thought she deserved to know. I mean, she is her daughter.” Mila concentrated on cleaning a nearby table as Stone continued his rant of obscenities. Mila didn’t like lying and revealing Rayna’s (Prudence-concocted) secret desire to commit Mrs. Raines-Ambrose to a mental institution. But the entire prospect was outrageous and a complete and utter fabrication.

“Rayna had these drawn up.” Mila pulled out the papers Prudence had left in the drawer for her. They were exactly what they seemed to be except they were fake. Mrs. Raines-Ambrose had paid a notary public to help her in her little scheme. The fact that he was one of her best friends only sweetened the intrigue.

“Oh, my sweet, Lord.” Stone whistled. “Rayna can’t be serious. Commit her own mother? I have to talk with her immediately. Do you know where she is, Mila?”

“I don’t think she’s out of bed yet, but I’ll go and check.”

Mila stopped on the stairwell to take a few deep breaths and regain her courage to continue this ruse. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and all she could think about was: What if Prudence’s plan backfires and they really do commit her to a mental institution? She didn’t know why she was thinking so negatively but she couldn’t get the thought out of her head. Another few breaths brought up enough courage to stumble into Rayna’s room.

Rayna’s suite was dark. The outer room had the blinds closed and only a smidgeon of light passed through the thin slits. She could smell Rayna’s perfume as she passed by the wardrobe and toward her bedchamber. “Rayna?” she said, tentatively. “Are you up yet?”

There was no answer from the room, but she could swear someone was giggling on the other side of the door. She called again and when no one answered, Mila peeked into the bedroom chamber.

Their stable hand was lying on the bed with Rayna whispering sweet nothings into her ear. His hand carassed her breast and trailed upward to her face and cupped it as he pressed yet another hot, wet kiss on her mouth. Long tan legs stretched out of the covers. He was obviously naked under the sheet which strategically hid his more private parts.

Mila gasped. What were they doing?

She didn’t realize she had made a noise until the two people tangled on the bed both sat up and stared horror stricken at her.

“What are you doing here?” Rayna said, accusingly. “Get out of here this instant!” She pointed her finger and bid the servant to leave her presence. She acted just like a spoiled princess.

Mila stuffed her hand into her mouth to stifle her cries and ran from the room. Not only had Prudence’s plans been crushed with one sex act. Her own ambitions to one day go out with her Prince Charming, Alex Collins had also gone down in flames. She had been so wrong about him. He had lied to her about wanting to wait for the right woman. His Cinderella. But instead he had settled for the ugly step-sister number two. Well, Rayna wasn’t exactly ugly. But it made Mila feel better to think of her that way. The ugly, awful woman who had taken away her man. A man who had never actually been hers in the first place. Rayna and Alex were not a love connection, she decided. At least not the type of love Prudence seemed to think existed in the world.

In the parlor, Prudence and Stone watched as Mila scurried past them and ran off out the front door and toward the barn. Her eyes were wet with tears and all her hopes seemed destroyed. Prudence knew Mila had a crush on the stable boy, Alex. Mila must have witnessed something between Alex and her daughter.

It was a set back, yes, but Prudence wasn’t worried. She’d soon fix that. Rayna was going to be in love with Stone if it killed her. And on a happier second note, she felt compelled to play Cupid for Mila as well.

Somehow, deep in her heart, she knew that the only right man for her daughter was Stone and the only boy for Mila was stable boy, Alex Collins.