I told Gloria about the night Sylvia had stayed over and how she impressed Frank and Regina. As I continued my description of her, Gloria’s face changed. She looked as if she was hearing about someone she already knew.

“I wish you could meet her sometime,” I said. “I’d love to hear your appraisal.”

“Frank’s quite fond of her?”

“He’s enamored of her social consciousness.”

“In California I’ve seen that kind of social consciousness shoplifting in stores.” She fell pensive, and I watched her.

“What are you thinking?”

“Nothing.”

“Liar.” I grinned. “You’re thinking Sylvia’s the same type he used to see before he met me.”

“Is that what you’re thinking?”

“Yes.”

“And you don’t like her being in Chicago with him?”

“I don’t like her being with him, period. Sometimes I can’t believe how naïve he is, and when I tell him he is, he just accuses me of being cynical. He has this attraction to underdogs just because they’re underdogs. That’s the way he sees Regina because of her illness.”

“You certainly don’t fit in that category.”

“Maybe I’d have more leverage if I did.”

The next morning, Frank called again.

“Is everything ironed out?” he asked almost shyly.

“She’s still mad. She’s not speaking to me. We had a quiet breakfast and she went out to play. What time are you getting here?”

“That’s what I called about. I’d like to stay a couple more days. I want to help straighten out this business with Tim.”

I asked myself whether Sylvia had talked him into this or whether he had considered what I had said the night before about giving in to Regina’s demands. I figured the least I could do was to give him the benefit of the doubt and encourage him to stay. With that settled, I still wanted to get away from the house and Regina to relax with Gloria. I called my mother and asked if I could bring Regina to Cedar Run to stay with them for a night or two. She conferred with my father and called me back to say they would come to our house because my father wanted to see an old college friend who had just been hired by the university. Regina was impassive when I announced that her grandparents would look after her for a day or two.

Gloria and I took Brian and drove eighty miles to Lake Hammond, where we got a room in a motel with a swimming pool. We had a day and a half and two nights of solid relaxation, but as we prepared to leave, a foggy depression settled over me. I knew I was going to miss her terribly and I began to resent our living so far apart.

We went directly from the motel to the airport in Detroit. We said practically nothing to each other all the way. But when we stopped for coffee in the terminal, it was Gloria who launched into resolutions for the future.