Teddy had snuggled over close to Holly Grace instead of to his father, but Francesca thought that situation would soon resolve itself and she didn't permit it to disturb her pleasure in the day. In a week
she and Dallie would be married, and she was happier than she had ever been in her life.
The President was revving up for a big finish. 'And so America is still the land of opportunity, still the home of individual initiative, as witnessed by the success of those we honor this day. We are the greatest country in the world…'
Francesca had done programs on the homeless in America, on poverty and injustice, racism and sexism. She knew all the country's flaws, but for now she could only agree with the President. America wasn't a perfect country; it was too often self-serving, violent, and greedy. But it was a country that frequently
had its heart in the right place, even if it couldn't always get all the details worked out correctly.
The President finished to a rousing ovation, captured by the network cameras for airing on the news that night. Then the Supreme Court Justice stepped forward. Although she couldn't see Ellis Island behind her, Francesca felt its presence like a blessing, and she thought of all those throngs of immigrants who had come to this land with only the clothes on their backs and the determination to make a new life for themselves. Of all the millions who had passed through these golden gates, surely she had been the most worthless.
Francesca stood along with the others, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she remembered a twenty-one-year-old girl in a pink antebellum gown trudging down a Louisiana road carrying a Louis Vuitton suitcase. She lifted her hand and began to repeat the words being spoken by the Supreme Court Justice.
'I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty…'
Good-bye, England, she thought. It wasn't your fault that I made such a muddle of things. You're a good old country, but I needed a rough, young scrapper of a place to teach me how to stand on my own.
'… that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic…'
She would try her best, even though the responsibilities of citizenship awed her. If a society was to
remain free, how could it take those duties lightly?
'… that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States…'
Gracious, she certainly hoped not!
'… that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by law…'
Next month, she was to testify before a congressional committee on the problem of runaways, and she had already started forming an organization to raise funds to build shelters. With 'Francesca Today' broadcasting only once a month, she would finally have a chance to give something back to the country that had already given her so much.
'… that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.'
As the ceremony ended, a series of Texas cheers went up from the audience. With tears in her eyes, Francesca watched her guests making spectacles of themselves. Then the President greeted the new citizens, followed by the Supreme Court Justice and the other government dignitaries. A band struck up the first bars of 'Stars and Stripes Forever,' and the White House staff member who was in charge of the ceremony began moving the participants toward bunting-draped tables set up under the trees and laden with punch and tea sandwiches, just like a Fourth of July picnic.
Dallie got through the crowd to her first, a Texas-size grin spread all over his face. 'The last thing this country needs is another voting liberal, but I'm real proud of you anyway, honey.'
Francesca laughed and hugged him. On the east side of the island there was a noisy roar from the lawn as the presidential helicopter took off, bearing away the Chief Executive and some of the ceremony's other dignitaries. With the President gone, the mood of the occasion relaxed. As the helicopter disappeared, an announcement was made that the statue had been opened for private viewing by those who wished to enter.
'I'm proud of you, Mom,' Teddy said. She gave him a squeeze.
'You looked almost as good up there as that Korean dress designer,' Holly Grace told her. 'Did you know he had on pink socks with rhinestone butterflies?' Francesca appreciated Holly Grace's attempt at good humor, especially since she knew it was mostly pretense. Too much of Holly Grace's sparkle had faded over the past few months.
'Over here, Miss Day,' one of the photographers called out.
She smiled into the camera and talked to everyone who came up to greet her. Her former runaways lined up to meet Dallie. They flirted with him outrageously, and he flirted right back until he had them all giggling. The photographers wanted pictures of Holly Grace, and each of the networks asked to film a brief interview with Francesca. After she had finished the last one, Dallie pressed a cup of punch into her hands. 'Have you seen Teddy?'
Francesca glanced around. 'Not for a while.' She turned to Holly Grace who had just come up next to them. 'Have you seen Teddy?'
Holly Grace shook her head. Dallie looked worried and Francesca smiled at him. 'We're on an island,' she said. 'He can't get into too much trouble.'
Dallie didn't seem convinced. 'Francie, he's your son, too. With a gene pool like that to draw from, it seems to me he could manage to get into trouble just about anywhere.'
'Let's go look for him.' She offered the suggestion more from a desire to be alone with Dallie than from any concern about Teddy. The island was closed to tourists for another hour. What harm could come to him?
As she set down her punch cup, she noticed that Naomi was clutching Ben Perlman's hand and looking up into the sky. Shielding her eyes, Francesca looked up, too, but all she saw was a small plane circling overhead. And then she noticed that something seemed to have dropped from the plane. As she watched, a square-canopy parachute opened. One by one, the people around her gazed up into the sky and observed the descent of the parachutist toward Liberty Island.
As he fell, a long white banner gradually unfurled behind him. It had letters printed on it in black, but they were impossible to read as the wind whipped the banner in one direction and then the other, threatening to tangle in the parachutist's rig. Suddenly the banner straightened.
Francesca felt a set of sharp fingernails digging into the sleeve of her silk shantung jacket. 'Oh, my God,' Holly Grace whispered.
The eyes of every onlooker-as well as those of the network television cameras-were glued to the banner and the message it carried:
MARRY ME, HOLLY GRACE
Although he was concealed inside a helmet and a white jumpsuit, the parachutist could only be Gerry Jaffe.
'I'm going to kill him,' Holly Grace said, venom dripping from every syllable. 'This time he's gone too far.' And then the wind shifted and the banner's other side was visible.
It held a drawing of a barbell.
Naomi came up next to Holly Grace. 'I'm sorry,' she said. 'I tried to talk him out of it, but he loves you so much, and he refuses to do anything the easy way.'
Holly Grace didn't reply. She kept her eyes glued on the descent. The parachutist dropped closer to the island and then began to drift. Naomi let out a small squeak of alarm, and Holly Grace's fingers dug deeper into Francesca's arm. 'He's going into the water,' Holly Grace cried. 'Oh, God, he'll drown. He'll get tangled in his parachute or that stupid banner-' She broke away from Francesca and began running toward the seawall, shrieking for all she was worth. 'You stupid commie! You dumb, stupid-'
Dallie draped his arm over Francesca's shoulder. 'You got any idea why he has a picture of two doorknobs on that banner?'
'It's a barbell,' she replied, holding her breath as Gerry just cleared the seawall and landed on the lawn about fifty yards away.
'Holly Grace is really going to give him hell for this,' he commented, thoroughly enjoying himself. 'Damn, she's mad.'
