Her body sliced through the water effortlessly, leaving barely a ripple. She began to swim the length of the pool, her long torso reaching forward with each stroke, her well-toned legs kicking ever so slightly.
Then, stretching her arms over her head, Cassandra dove in, the cool water tingling her skin all over. She stepped onto the diving board, knowing that all eyes were following her, and sauntered to the front. It fell to the floor, revealing a sleek one-piece bathing suit that struggled to contain her voluptuous curves. With a slight smile she slipped her robe down off her shoulders. Where Sara's eyes could best be described as gentle ponds, Cassandra's smoldered like coals.Ĭassandra arrived at the pool and kicked off her sandals. She differed so from Sara that no one would ever suspect that they were sisters. Most were beginning to head into the house to watch wonderful Sara's debut on News Flash But seeing Cassandra striding toward the pool, several of the men froze.Ĭassandra was tall and wild-eyed, with wavy dark hair and olive skin. The heat was stifling again today and many of the guests had escaped the humidity with a dip in the pool. It had been more than a decade now, but still the pain was fresh, constant, and occasionally all-consuming. Erin Lowell had loved Cassandra just as much as prettier, kinder, more ambitious, more hard-working, smarter Sara. "Don't play so rough with Sara." To her father, Cassandra was never as pretty, never as kind, never as ambitious, never as smart as Sara. Ibr Cassandra's whole life her younger sister's name surrounded her like thousands of tiny birds. "So I'll be able to watch my sister over an dover again. "You're going to tape the show, right?" she asked. Once again he failed to acknowledge the defiant glare in his daughter's eyes. "You should come in with the rest of us and watch Sara." All the house guests are coming inside to watch."Ĭassandra's eyes clouded over, but John did not appear to notice. "But your sister is going to be on in a few minutes. "Just taking a quick dip in the pool," she replied. John Lowell spun toward his elder daughter, Cassandra. Battle lines had been drawn on that day, and even though John was no longer surgeon general, he continued to fight.
They failed, but not from lack of trying. The tobacco industry lobbied to have John Lowell removed from office. The remark sent shock waves throughout the country. It boggles the mind how we put up with people who are so selfish and destructive." They don't care if they make other people sick with secondhand smoke or even if they give their own children a deadly disease. I feel no pity for smokers who give themselves lung cancer. He declared war on cigarette smokers, claiming in an angry remark on national television, "Cigarettes are murder weapons, plain and simple. He crusaded zealously to crush cancer, bulldozing whatever and whomever stood in his way. During his controversial tenure as surgeon general in the early eighties, John Lowell had never learned much about diplomacy or political subtlety. John would have to smile a lot and be solicitous. In a few hours, the east wing would be packed to capacity with some of the wealthiest people in the world, all of whom had donated thousands to the Erin Lowell Cancer Center for the right to attend. He made a good living, though practicing medicine was not nearly as profitable as raping and pillaging. John's father, however, chose to bypass the family business and become a surgeon. The house had been his grandfather's, a capitalist who had, according to liberal textbooks, raped and pillaged the land and its people for profits. There was a grass tennis court as well as an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, three Jacuzzis, two hot tubs, a spacious cabana, a helicopter landing pad, and more rooms than Lowell knew what to do with. The Tudor mansion sat majestically atop ten handsomely landscaped acres. John Lowell's estate in the Hamptons was enormous. "Four, three, two." The hand pointed toward the two people sitting at the desk. She forced her mouth to close, adjusted her spectacles, and waited. For a fleeting moment she almost started singing again. The announcement tightened Sara's stomach.