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"Yeah. Surprise."

"Is everything OK?" Marge asked.

"Everything's good. Just a bit of writer's block."

"Well, if you need inspiration you've come to the right place." Buddy raised his hand to the bartender. "Bryce, get this man a drink. What'll you have, Alec?"

"Uh… margarita?" Alec asked, not completely sure a tavern so rustic would have more than a highball.

"Coming up," said the man. He smiled and nodded, reaching for a glass.

Alec sat down, gesturing over his shoulder toward the stage. "He's pretty good."

"Hector?" said Marge. "Yes, he is. Hewinssometimes."

"And it's quite a crowd."

Buddy laughed. "This? This is nothing. Off-season. We're glad to have you here. Makes the

place look less bare."

"Well, it is theBearTavern," Alec joked.

Buddy and Marge looked at him, unsure… and then Buddy burst out laughing a little

overzealously. "You're a funny man, Alec. No wonder you're a writer."

"I don't know about that."

Hector finished his last trick and exited. A man up front jumped onto the stage and spoke into the microphone. "And now everyone, let's give a big round of applause to Miss Connie Inman!"

The bar responded with a respectable amount of applause as a young girl came out onto the

stage and sat at a piano. She briefly gathered herself, lifted her hands, and began playing a beautifully complicated piece of classical music. Alec wasn't sure, but he thought it might be Chopin.

"That's Peggy Inman's daughter," said Marge. "Peggy owns the Over Easy Diner down the street from us."

Alec didn't point out that there was only one diner in town. One of everything pretty much.

"She's avir-tu-o-so," Buddy added, emphasizing the word like an eager six-year-old.

"I'll say. Those are some complicated chops she's playing."

Bryce returned with his drink and the three of them sat there for a moment listening to Connie

play, the delicate plinking of the keys evolved into burgeoning rolls of a repeating melody that

reminded Alec of an ocean tide rolling in.

When she finished, the lights brightened and there was again applause. A lone woman stood.

"Way to go, Connie!"

"That's Peggy," Marge pointed, mouthing the words more than voicing them.

The girl, who could not have been more than twelve, stood and gave a little curtsy, before

exiting the stage.