Francine moved away to reach for the dress she planned to wear under her gown, kicking the ruined nylons out of her way. "Who could be better than somebody I've known for years?"

The little twinges of cowardice almost sounded like a rooster crowing in the distance, or maybe that was Katchoo cackling off in the bathroom at the image of her being denied three times before sunrise.

"There's nobody I'd rather be with than Katchoo," she said, and if it wasn't explicit, at least there were no barnyard sounds in her head.