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It hadn't been hard to pack his bags and chuck them out the window the day I caught him on his desk with our accountant. Watching those suitcases fall, denting the roof of his newest SUV, made me realize just how little I was losing. But it hurt all the same, and I broke down the moment Jill answered her phone. She heard me out, then laughed and said, "Honey, how did you get to be so lucky? How many women get to pick up where they left off, and have enough money to do things right this time?" I smiled for the first time that day. And when we hung up, I poured a glass of wine, called a locksmith and dug my journalism degree out the trunk where I'd buried it five years earlier, because Jill was right. That was indeed my lucky day. In the last six months, I've sold articles on gardening, pet care, and the social significance of shoe trees in cottage country. But this was the story that had my editor smiling and nodding and offering to pay travel expenses before I even asked, because Madelyn Louise Rose and Alexander Taras Szewchuk are true Canadian celebrities -- and patriots in every sense of the word. Her gown was designed in Toronto, his tux in Calgary. Jill was imported from Edmonton, the wine from Niagara and it would be grade A Alberta beef for the main course. And as if that were not enough, Madelyn Rose also owned something no American could ever buy -- property rights on the Island of Sark. Five years ago, she'd purchased a 60-acre tenement complete with an 18th-century manor house, four staff cottages and a Victorian greenhouse on an island accessible only to British Subjects and Europeans. From Texas you say? Sorry old bean, but your money's no good here. We much prefer that low and lovely Canadian loonie. Yes indeed, since taking over Rosethorn Publishing 10 years ago, Madelyn Rose has fulfilled the Great Canadian Dream. From mud wrestling in Texas, to the Howard Stern show in New York, there was nothing Madelyn wouldn't put her authors through to get the Great White North in the news, and herself in the limelight. She's tough, smart and ruthless when it comes to getting what she wants. And what she wanted today was a quiet celebration with 50 or so close friends, and no media attention. Now I ask you, is it sporting for a woman who has spent years courting the media to turn her back on them in this, her most self-indugent hour? Certainly not, but Madelyn was determined to keep today's events a secret. That's why she tied up all of the island's transportation and hired a British security team to patrol the grounds. Her only mistake was in asking Jill to be the caterer. And Jill's only mistake was in telling me. So think of me as your undercover reporter bringing you the real scoop, the whole truth, all the dirt, all the time. Too bad there won't be many pictures. Can't very well holler, "Hey, Madelyn, say cheese," and start snapping, now can I? Mind you, that oak tree would give great coverage. I could climb up, go out on a limb a little ... "Carol!" Jill obviously didn't trust me.
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