Blaire came and sat next to them for a little while. Sam had been noticing how unhappy she looked ever since her ratings had gone down. She was really upset about it. The show meant a lot to her and she'd worked hard on it for nine years. Seeing it slowly fall apart as she watched was like watching an old friend die of cancer.

And, of course, all day long, they all talked about the wedding, how many people they were going to have, whether or not there would be a tent, who was catering it, whose music they would be dancing to. It seemed like it was all anyone talked about. Then, in the late afternoon, Simon made a point of talking to Jeff alone. He had meant to call him for weeks, but he'd been too busy.

I've been meaning to talk to you. He finally cornered him near the ice cream. They'd all done nothing but eat all day, and Sam swore to Jimmy that if she ate another thing, she'd have the baby right then and there.

Jeff was eating a last Eskimo bar and looking extremely happy. Great picnic, he complimented them. He thoroughly enjoyed being part of their family. Not like Allegra's weekend in Southampton with his mother. That had been a fiasco. You did a great job with the barbecue. You have to teach me your secret, and come out to Malibu to visit us sometime. I'm not the master that you are though, Jeff said warmly, and Simon smiled. He really liked Allegra's future husband. She'd made a wise choice, and he thought they were both very lucky.

I think you may have other talents than barbecuing, Simon reassured him. That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I read your second book, and I really liked it. I mean, really liked it.

That's encouraging. Jeff smiled up at him, not expecting anything more than that. It was just nice of Simon to tell him.

What are you doing about the screenplay?

Nothing yet, Jeff said honestly. I've talked to a couple of people about buying it, but they didn't really suggest anything I wanted. I don't want to produce the next one myself. It's just been too consuming and I want to get back to writing. I'm waiting for the right offer to sell the next movie, and maybe just do the screenplay.

That's my point, Simon said simply, which was how he always did business. I'd like to make you an offer. If you have time this week, why don't we get together and talk. Jeff was beaming at him, unable to believe what he was hearing. Simon was one of the most important producers in Hollywood and he wanted to make Jeff's next movie. And the fact that he was marrying his daughter didn't hurt him any. Or that was what people would say anyway. But Jeff knew Simon well enough now to know that if Simon didn't like Jeff's book, he wouldn't buy it, no matter who he was married to, or how closely related.

That's the best news I've had in ages. Jeff beamed at him.

What's that? Allegra joined them, curious about what they'd been saying.

Your dad likes my new book. He might want to do something with it, he said humbly. And then he turned to his future wife with a broad grin. Why don't we keep it in the family? Will you negotiate it for me, Allie?

Talk about conflict of interest. She laughed out loud. But she was thrilled for Jeff. She couldn't think of a better business combination than Jeff and her father. They were perfectly suited to each other.

And at the end of the afternoon, Allegra regretfully looked at her watch. They had to get going. They were going to Bram Morrison's Fourth of July concert. It was the high point of his tour before he left for Japan, and although Jeff wasn't crazy about concerts, she had promised they'd go. It was going to be a mob scene. She knew that the promoters had hired eight bodyguards, just to keep the crowd from crawling all over him. Bram had been a huge success on his tour so far, and more and more he was becoming a cult figure for all ages.

Where are you two off to in such a hurry? Sam inquired as she saw Jeff and Allegra pickup their things and start to get ready to leave them.

Bram Morrison's concert at the Great Western Forum.

Oh, you are so lucky! Sam said enviously, and Jimmy looked like he would have loved to go. Sam and he had agreed it was too dangerous for her to be in crowds like that in her condition.

I'll get you a ticket next time, Allegra promised, and a few minutes later they left to dress at her Beverly Hills house. She was going to put it on the market, and they were going to try to buy a bigger one in Malibu than the one Jeff rented.

At six o'clock, she and Jeff were ready. She had rented a limo for them, and the promoters said they'd provide a bodyguard if she needed one, but she doubted they would. It was a benign crowd, just a very big one. The fans loved him, and sometimes they got too close or touched too much. But they were harmless.

She and Jeff were expected backstage before the show, but by the time they arrived, the crowd was so large, they could hardly get there. Even the backstage crowd was bigger than usual. Most of them seemed to get shoved onstage, and during the show they were actually crowding the band, but there was no way to escape it. The number of fans was legendary, it was the biggest concert Allegra had ever heard of.

She and Jeff were buffeted from side to side, and more than once she thought that someone would get rough with them, but they never did. The concert went on for hours. By then, most of the crowd was pretty stoned, some were heavily drugged out, and the rest were fairly mellow. There were fireworks scheduled at eleven, and five minutes before they were due to come on, a guy with a bare chest and a vest, with long hair, got up on the stage and grabbed the mike from the drummer. He started screaming about how much he loved Bram Morrison, and how he had always loved him. How once they had been in Vietnam, and then they both died, and now they were one. It sounded like the lyrics to a song, and the man screamed again and again as security headed toward him, but there were so many gawkers onstage that they couldn't get to him. He was screaming I love you! I love you! at the top of his lungs, and then the fireworks came on and distracted everyone, and it was easy for the bodyguards to grab him. They yanked him right off the stage in one fell swoop, still yelling I love you, but now he was crying and there was a gun in his hands. It looked like a toy, and overhead you could hear the explosions and see the fireworks in the sky. And then Allegra happened to look straight ahead, and she saw Bram on his knees, with blood streaming from him. It was on his head and chest, and running down his arms, and he pitched forward as she lunged and grabbed a bodyguard. She was screaming at him to get help.

He's hurt! She pointed at Bram, and then the others saw him. His wife saw him too, and his kids, and suddenly there was a mob surrounding him again, and no one could get through at all. They lifted Bram high over their heads finally, and his music went on, as his blood dripped on the crowd, as his wife held his hand, and his children cried. He was dead before the paramedics ever touched him. And Allegra was kneeling on the ground with them, as his wife held him in her arms and begged him not to leave them. But he was long gone, his spirit high in the sky amidst the brightly colored pinwheels, and his songs playing louder than ever. The crowd didn't even know what happened. The music just went on. And at midnight they told them. They became a wild, seething mass, crying and keening, and still the music went on. It was Bram Morrison's last concert.

The man who had killed him had never seen him before, never met him, never knew him, but God had sent him to save Bram, he said. He had to save him from the people who would hurt him, and bring him back to God. And he had. His mission had been accomplished, he told the police, and now Bram was happy. But surely no one else was.

A single, lone lunatic had killed Bram Morrison, one of rock music's great heroes. And fifty thousand fans went wild, crying, screaming, sobbing. It took until the next morning to clear them from the stands of the Forum. Allegra had been awake for hours by then, her jeans and white shirt still covered in blood, as she held Jeannie's hand and found out what she wanted. She thought they wanted a simple ceremony, but the public would never allow that. In the end they settled for a private burial, and a memorial for a hundred thousand at the Coliseum. The promoters arranged that, and Allegra did the rest. The funeral, the eulogy, the legal arrangements, the untangling of the red tape involving the tour. She did everything including hold Jeannie in her arms and console the children. It was what Bram would have wanted. She had always been fond of him, not like Mai O'Donovan, who was a buffoon of sorts. Bram had been one of the great men of music.

I can't believe it, she said to Jeff when they went back to Malibu that morning. It was already noon by the time they got home. But she had wanted to go to the beach and see it. I can't believe he's gone. She just stood there and cried as she thought of him and all that had happened that night, and Jeff held her.

We live in a crazy world, Jeff said softly, full of crazy people. People who want to take your soul, or your life or your money, or your reputation, whatever they can get. He was crying too, deeply moved by the senselessness of Bram's death, and the wife and children who would miss him.

A lunatic had taken Bram's life, but not his soul. His soul would be free forever. And Allegra sat on the beach and cried, remembering him and when they had met, and all their quiet, humorous conversations. He had been such an unassuming man, such an undemanding person. And yet he was always being threatened. He was too good, too simple, and too pure. It was an invitation to the crazies.