Isabelle started to giggle and couldn’t stop. “Following through,” she finally managed to gasp.

Annie sat down with a thump. “What should I wear?”

“You aren’t getting it, Annie. Zip.”

“But…”

“A promise is a promise, Annie.”

Annie rose to the occasion. “My dear, if you can make contact with Mr. Franklin, I can certainly honor my promise.” YIPPEEEEE!

Four hours later eastern standard time, Annie’s cell phone rang. She bolted upright from where she’d been dozing on the sofa. She gave Isabelle a shout to wake up where she, too, was dozing by the fire. “My phone is ringing. I think this call might be for you, honey.”

Isabelle reached for the phone and said, “Hello, this is Isabelle.”

“Well, Isabelle, this is Stu Franklin. There’s this guy standing here with a gun to my head, and he’s telling me to talk pretty to you. Not that anyone needs to tell me something like that. I’d appreciate it if you’d tell him he can leave me now so we can have a private conversation. I’m going to put him on the phone right now, before he blows my head off.”

Isabelle managed to squeak out, “Thank you for your help, sir. I appreciate your doing this for me on Thanksgiving. I hope I didn’t take you away from your dinner.”

The voice on the other end of the phone mumbled something that sounded like he was glad he didn’t have to kill anyone on Thanksgiving. Isabelle was so light-headed, she had to sit down.

Stu Franklin’s voice was soft, cultured, intimate sounding. “Somehow or other, Isabelle, I thought you would have gotten in touch with me in a more conventional way. But, I admire your aggressiveness. I’m glad you called. Are you having a nice Thanksgiving?”

“I did…I am…I was until…oh, never mind. I didn’t spoil yours, did I?”

“No. I just had a hot dog with all the trimmings on the beach. Did you have the whole enchilada, meaning a turkey with all the trimmings?”

“I did. I love hot dogs with all the trimmings, too.”

“I saw that picture you did of me. Pretty good. Are you an artist?”

“No, I’m an architect. I feel…I feel kind of foolish and pushy right now. Maybe someday I can explain what made me…what I mean is…”

“Just for the record, I would have gotten in touch, but I didn’t know how. I was hoping you might take me up on my offer one of these days.”

“That’s kind of hard, but I’m working on it. We have two feet of snow where I am right now.”