"Were those his exact words?" She smiled...
"Were those his exact words?"
She smiled brilliantly"He's a Baptist, Daddy,
I'm interpretingAnyway, Carson stood his ground
and MrFor me, that's a mark
in his favor
Yes, I thought, but he's still a cheater who calls
himself Smiley"What's your next move?"
She sighedThe ponytail made her look eleven; the
sigh made her sound forty
"Then let me help youWill you do that?"
"All right
"For the time being, stay away from him," I said,
and I discovered I wanted that with all my heartWhen I thought of the Girl and
Ship paintings - especially the girl in the
rowboat - I wanted to tell her not to talk to
strangers, keep her hairdryer away from the
768
bathtub, and jog only at the college prada replica handbags trackNever
across Roger Williams Park at dusk
She was looking at me quizzically, and I managed
to get myself in gear again"Go right back to
school-"
"I wanted to talk to you about that-"
I nodded, but squeezed her arm to show her I
wasn't quite finished"Finish your semesterLet Carson finish the tourGet
perspective, then get togetherunderstand what
I'm saying?"
"Yes She understood, but didn't sound
convinced
"When you do get together, do it on neutral ground
And I don't mean to embarrass you, but it's still
just the two of us, so I'm going to say thisBed
is not neutral ground
She looked down at her swimming feetI reached
out and turned her face to mine
"When the issues aren't resolved, bed is cambon chanel a
battlegroundI wouldn't even have dinner with the
guy until you know where you stand with himSit on a park bench
and work it outGet it clear in your mind and
769
make sure it's clear in hisOr go to bed, if you think it's
the right thingJust because I don't want to
think about your sex-life doesn't mean I don't
think you should have one
She relieved me considerably by laughingAt the
sound, a waiter who still looked half-asleep came
out to ask us if we wanted coffee
When he went to get it, Ilse said: "All right,
DaddyI was going to tell you that
I'm going back this afternoon, anywayI have an
Anthro prelim at the end of the week, and there
are a bunch of us who've formed a little study
groupWe replica prada handbags call ourselves the Survivors' Club She
regarded me anxiously"Would that be okay? I know
you were planning on a couple of days, but now
there's this thing with your friend-"
"No, honey, that's fine I kissed the tip of her
nose, thinking that if I was close up, she
wouldn't see how pleased I was - pleased that
she'd come for the show, pleased that we'd had
some time together this morning, pleased most of
all that she would be a thousand miles north of
Duma Key by the time the sun went down tonight
770
Assuming she could get a flight reservation, that
was"And as for Carson?"
She sat quiet for perhaps an entire minute,
swinging her bare feet back and forth through the
waterThen she stood up tiffany jewelry us and took my arm, helping
me to my feet"I think you're rightI'll say
that if he's serious about our relationship, he'll
just have to put everything on hold until July
4th
Now that her decision was made, her eyes were
bright again
"That'll get me to the end of the semester and a
month of summer vacation besidesIt'll get him
through to his last show at the Cow Palace, plus
plenty of time to figure out if he's as finished
with Blondie as he thinks he isDoes it suit you,
father dear?"
"Down to the ground
"Here comes the coffee," she said"Now the
question is, how long until breakfast?"
ii
771
Wireman wasn't at the morning-after breakfast, but
he had reserved the Bay Island Room from eight replica rolex to