TEN

IT TOOK all Doris' life force not to laugh her lungs out. The look on Brad's face was epic. It was one to be captured, printed, enlarged, and hung in a museum as the emblem of shock. It was a look of pure, unadulterated astonishment, the kind that could make even the most jaded person do a double-take.

Doris took a quick look around the living room. Things didn't seem to have changed that much around here, she thought, nodding in acknowledgment.

The living room was a study in contrasts, its sophisticated decor interspersed with the adorable and the whimsical. On one wall, a gorgeous oil painting hung in an ornate gilded frame, its colors rich and vibrant. On the opposite wall, a row of childlike drawings hung from tiny clothespins, their crayon strokes haphazard and uneven. In the corner, a plush toy monkey peered out from a giant potted plant, its tail curling around the leaves like a vine.

The couch was upholstered in a deep, rich velvet, its cushions plump and inviting.