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"Did he tell you any more about himself?" I asked cautiously.

"Oh yeah, yeah, lots of stuff. He was in the navy, you know. On a destroyer like President Kennedy! And he's seen a lot of the world. That's what I'd like to do, too, travel, see stuff. He's got so many great stories. Once, he and his buddies had a brawl in a tavern in Hong Kong. It was them against these drug dealers, and they ended up wrecking the place and having to spend a night in the jail there.

"And then he told me about this sailboat race he was in off of Gibralter. He misses the sea, but he says he's not upset because he's got lots of great

experiences to remember. That's more valuable than money in the bank, he says. You store them here." Harley declared, pointing to his temple, "and no one but you can make a withdrawal. Funny way to put it, but when you think about it, it's true.

"I learned a lot about painting today. too. Summer. Most people think you just dip a brush into a can and slop it on as evenly as you can, but there are lots of little tricks, especially when you get down to the detail work. He did most of that, but he let me try a few frames once I got the hang of it. He said I was a chip off the old block."

He smiled like a conspirator, pulling his shoulders up with manly pride.

"We had a couple of beers together. He said age shouldn't matter when it comes to a few beers, especially if you're doing a man's job.

"Oh, and I asked him about Suze," he continued, barely pausing for a breath. "where they met and all. They met when he was working in New York City. She was living in an apartment next to the one he was using. It was a friend's and he used to hear her chanting and doing other strange things through the walls. So one day he asked her about it. He said they hit it off right away, and he started to look after her, but she really looked after him, fixing all sorts of medicines for him, bringing him rod luck and such. When

his father died, they just moved up here to take over the house so it wouldn't fall into disrepair."

"Disrepair? This isn't disrepair?"

"Well, more so than it has." he added laughing. Then he stopped smiling and looked at me. "Did you get to talk to your parents?"

"No. The phone's been out of order all day and when I went down to the corner to use the pay phone, that was out of order. too. It's terrible. Harley. I've got to reach them. I'm sure they're frantic with worry."

"Sure. We'll do something about that right away," he said. "The rain's finally stopped. Maybe the phones are working again here. You get my note? I hope you understand why I asked you not to tell too much detail."

"Yes. I understood. but Harley, we've got to go home," I said.

"Well. I was thinking about that. Summer. I'm sorry I put you through all this. I shouldn't have dragged you into something."

"You didn't drag me. Harley. I came along because I wanted to. and I'm not unhappy about that, even with the accident and all."

"I appreciate that. But what I'd like to do is get you on a bus or on a plane and send you back. I want to stay a while. We're just getting to know each other and I wouldn't want to stop it abruptly."

"Harley, listen, you don't understand it all. Today. I had a chance to look around and..."

"Well. I was right," we heard. His grandfather came into the living room. "That's exactly what she went out and done. She got the ingredients she needed for lambi en sauce. You guys are in for a treat. Say, you want to see that'82 Honda Hawk cycle I have in the shed?" he asked Harley. "We've got a few minutes before we need to wash up for dinner. We can't be late for dinner," he warned. "Suze is a stickler when it comes to her dinners, especially if she makes a big effort like she's done for us tonight."

"Yeah." Harley replied with excitement. "I'd love to see that cycle."

"Maybe you can tinker with it from time to time and get it running again," his grandfather told him.

Harley smiled at me. but I didn't change my expression of worry. With my eyes. I tried to tell him to stay and talk to me, but he could only hear his own happiness. He misread my look of concern as being only for myself.

"Oh," he said. "Summer needs to call her parents right away."

"Sure. Phone's in the kitchen," his grandfather said.

"It wasn't working all day."

"That so. Well, try it now." he advised. "while I show Harley this old motorcycle of mine, Antique. I should say."

"Great," Harley said heading for the door with him. "We'll be right back. Summer.'

I heard them leave, and then I got myself up. I had to get Harley alone soon and tell him what I found. I thought. It was obvious his grandfather wasn't going to tell him. He had plenty of opportunity to do so today and hadn't. I decided it wasn't right no matter what his reasons. Harley had to know the truth even though it would be painful to him. Learning about it later would be even more unpleasant. I thought.

I made my way back to the kitchen and to the phone. Suze was working on dinner, but didn't pay much attention to me. I lifted the receiver and dialed for the operator, but still I heard nothing.

"Why isn't the phone working already?" I asked in desperation. Suze paused and thought a moment.