The attendees of John St. Clair's extraordinary wedding to Kristina and the execution of his Will, duly congregated at the large dining room. A sumptuous cold buffet was laid out with more than enough food for all of them to enjoy. A hired server was circulating with a tray full of flutes of champagne for them to imbibe.
Vickie pursuant to instructions from her mother and now her newly constituted father addressed the gathering:
"I was deputized by my parents; wow that seems so unreal for me to say that..."
Everyone chuckled at that sentiment as Vickie continued:
"Anyway they wish you to be happy in celebrating their wedding day. Although their official marriage may not last long it will be a joyous one as they believe they were meant for each other. They have really been a couple for some 37 years; that's how long they known each other.
As my mother has confessed that although she might have been intimate occasionally with other men, John William St. Clair was truly her "significant other" throughout all these years.
And my father has assured me that though he was married to another woman for the bulk of those years; my mother was his real "significant other." So let's give three cheers to the newly married couple: Hip! Hip!...:"
And everyone replied "Hurray" to Vickie's trio of "Hip! Hips!"
With the exception of Don DeGurse, the reporter, and the doctor and the nurse, the rest of those present were active members of the Texas Love Ranch. When Vickie mentioned that her mother occasionally was intimate with other men, the members chuckled nervously trying desperately to refrain from snickering. However despite such foreknowledge, no one doubted the sincerity of the genuine attachment between Kristina and St. Clair.
Besides they could not admire John St. Clair enough that despite being terminal, he was still with it enough to want to finalize his affairs while on his death bed. In addition they all knew Kristina well enough to rightly suspect on why she and the TLR cameraman remained in John's room while the rest of them congregated in the dining hall to enjoy this casual reception.
Since John St. Clair was one of the most prominent and well known men in Dallas, the Dallas Morning News dispatched DeGurse to his mansion for coverage of his final days pursuant to the invitation by Kristina. The reporter was happy to get this assignment as he was obviously enjoying a media exclusive scoop to report St. Clair's marriage and execution of his Will.
He sensed an opportunity for advancement in his career if he could ferret further information on St. Clair's motives. To this end during the reception, DeGurse interviewed everyone but basically got the same story as they all had been coached previously by Kristina and Vickie.
It was Vickie who gave the most detailed account to DeGurse as follows:
"As I understand it, my mother and Mr. St. Clair, now my father, knew each other for some years before I was born. Although my father was married, he found my mother alluring to the extent they had a long lasting love affair. In addition to being lovers, they were business partners in various enterprises including managing a vacation ranch catering to European and Japanese tourists."
Vickie was obviously alluding to the TLR and her description of the ranch was consistent to the official public records of the establishment. One had to be a member of the TLR to be aware of the true nature of its operations, and the members were dedicated to keep the Ranch activities secret from public scrutiny. Vickie continued her recitation to DeGurse:
"My mother, while in her late twenties led a somewhat hedonistic lifestyle. As a result she happened to have had other lovers besides my father when I was born so that she could not be certain as to the identity of my biological father. As all of her lovers were established married men with children of their own she had no desire to burden them with extraneous domestic problems.
Thus she did not attempt to ascertain the identity of my biological father. Besides she had adequate financial wherewithal to raise me on her own. That is why my birth certificate does not designate the identity of my male parent.
It seems that my father believed he was the most likely male responsible for my birth, but he respected my mother's wishes to preserve the anonymity of the circumstances of my birth. Besides as he was married with three adult children, my entrance to this world would be awkward to explain to his family, and thus he readily acquiesced to my mother's wishes.
Obviously he had paternal feelings towards me as he totally bore the expense of my private home schooling education. And the education I received was of such high caliber that I was able to enroll and attend the University of Texas when I was only sixteen.
Although my mother and father have engaged in a long lasting love affair, he was aware of his responsibilities to his previous wife and his children. Such responsibilities weighed heavily on his mind; especially since his wife, upon the death of their children, became despondent with grief, and remained bedridden for the rest of her life.
Given such circumstances my father did not think it was honorable to divorce her. Her relatively recent death has freed my father to arrange his personal life as he deemed fit. His own impending death has necessitated the haste to conclude such appropriate arrangements.
As to my own possible direct blood relationship with my father, we are all cognizant that a DNA test would prove one way or the other whether I am of flesh and blood to John William St. Clair. However, since he has legally adopted me with my consent, the results of a DNA test would not alter the legal fact that I am his daughter; so such results are moot. Thus there will be no DNA test and I have no qualms about being a designated heir."
Of course Vickie had superficially glossed over the actual facts of her parents' personal lives in the recounting and painted the most positive picture possible. However she had no fear of obliquely describing the TLR as a tourist destination for European and Japanese tourists as already noted that is exactly the description recorded in applicable public records. Any local official that personally knew otherwise was not inclined to correct the record. So Vera had no apprehension that DeGurse would uncover the reality of the TLR.
The story as told by Vickie was compelling enough to satisfy DeGurse's reporter's curiosity and ensure riveting reporting. In any case he was not churlish to ask just how many lovers her mother had when she was born. However he was intrigued by the odd substantial bequest to Chloe Hamilton in St. Clair's Will and asked Vickie if she could elaborate.
Her reply:
"When Ms Hamilton met my father he was in very low spirits. He was over eighty years of age and his children (except for me of course) were all dead and he had no grandchildren. In addition his wife provided no marital enjoyment or companionship as she confined herself to her bed in perpetual grief. There was not much solace in his relationship with my mother either as managing the ranch made her constantly absent from Dallas and thus was not much in my father's company.
Now I don't know the details, but as I understand it, meeting Chloe and experiencing her enthusiastic youthful joie d'vivre snapped him out of his melancholy. His encounter with her made him realize he has not dead yet and it was foolish of him to squander his remaining days wallowing in misery. As a result my parents' relationship was rekindled and the past seven years have been very happy for him indeed.
Thus my father was understandably grateful to her and decided to reward her in his Will. I of course have no objection to the bequest and I'm certain my mother does not begrudge it either considering the benefits she enjoyed by Ms Hamilton's service to my father."
Don DeGurse was worldly wise enough to accurately surmise exactly what service Chloe may have provided to John St. Clair to lift him out of the melancholy he apparently experienced, and prompted the $5 million legacy. His reporter's instinct suggested there was some more sensational news that could be explored.
However it was clear he was not going to unearth anything more specific from this crowd. Besides there was no denying that John St. Clair despite his advanced age was a very important man in Dallas and for that matter all of Texas. His apparently soon forthcoming funeral would be an important event for the cream of Texan society.
Undoubtedly in particular, former President George W Bush and current Governor Rick Perry would feel compelled to attend. Therefore, he knew his editor at the newspaper would not approve of his pursuing a possible salacious expose of St. Clair's supposed secret life without something more solid to go on.
Besides, DeGurse knew he was very fortunate with his media exclusive presence at St. Clair's death bed wedding. He believed he had enough material to produce some compelling columns that would suitably enhance his own career. Consequently after partaking some of the food he left shortly after finishing questioning Vickie to write his story for the next day's edition.
When he did write his exclusive story, he was able to succeed in his ambitions. As Kristina and Vicki shunned any other media requests for interviews, the rest of the media had to rely on DeGurse's reporting.
As John St. Clair was a public figure of some national renown, his impending and subsequent death merited some national media attention but not in depth coverage. Thus any national news reports simply replied solely on DeGurse's reporting, and this naturally was very gratifying to him. DeGurse was savvy enough to realize that news cycles are very brief considering the competition amongst the internet, cable TV in addition to traditional media. As a result public interest is fleeting. So he knew he could not milk this story ad nausea, but instead decided to use this opportunity to establish a strong network of contacts for the purpose of advancing his career.
As a result Kristina was immediately elevated to social prominence and respectability. There was virtually no one alive in high Texan society who knew Kristina had been a prostitute. Anyone who did know had no appetite to make such knowledge public. Because of mutual desire for anonymity only actual members of the Texas Love Ranch knew of Kristina's proprietorship of the sex club, and obviously there was no interest in exposing her from that quarter. Thus Kristina's entry into Dallas high society was smooth without any obstacles in her path.
After DeGurse left the reception, the atmosphere lightened. The tension brought on by the necessity of being circumspect before him in protecting Kristina, dissipated. The guests were free to enjoy themselves in compliance with St. Clair's wishes notwithstanding his obviously imminent death.
Vera Starikovich sidled up to Vickie and said:
"I'm pleased to meet you Vickie at long last. I have you to thank for experiencing better sex at times when my sex life otherwise was not so much."
Viewing Vera's discernible pregnant body, Vickie quipped:
"Hmm I see your present presumably better sex life has brought you its ultimate natural reward. Anyway, I'm at a loss at your gratitude as I'm certain this is the very first time we've met, and although my Mom had mentioned you to me in consequence of you becoming her accountant, I was really unaware of your existence until today."
Vera giggled as she announced:
