The shower came on just as his last item of clothing came off. He walked beneath the jetting spray, reveling in the sting of water yet to warm.

The last thing he remembered was walking in on Debbie kissing his brother. And he vaguely remembered holding her and promising something about “being right back.” He grimaced as he reached for the soap and shampoo. It was obvious that he’d never made it.

He stood beneath the shower until the water got hot and then until the water ran cold because he’d emptied the tank. He exited the stall, grabbed a bath towel, and wrapped it around him as he walked back into his room to get some clean underwear.

A steaming cup of hot coffee and a plate with three cookies, still warm from the oven, sat on his bedside table. Startled, he half expected to see Debbie’s teasing face peeking out from around some door. But she was nowhere in sight. He sank down on the bed, unmindful of his still-wet body, and inhaled two cookies before he remembered to chew. The last, he savored with the coffee, thinking that a guy could get used to this kind of treatment.

He dried and dressed, gave his hair a half swipe with a comb, and gathered up his empty cup and plate.

“Got a refill?”

Debbie turned at the sink. She dropped the potato she was peeling back into the bowl and stuffed her hands into her apron pockets to keep from throwing them around his neck.

“You look better,” she said softly.

“I hope to hell I do,” he teased. “I saw myself just before I walked into the shower. It even scared me.”

She grinned. Buddy walked into the kitchen.

“Debbie made cookies,” he announced.

Cole nodded, holding up his empty plate.

“Chocolate chip is my favorite,” Buddy said.

Cole privately thought that his brother was nuts. He knew good and well that he’d just eaten oatmeal and raisin. He should. They were his favorite.

“Debbie made oatmeal and raisin,” Buddy continued.

Cole’s eyebrows shot up toward his hairline. Suddenly, he, too, was beginning to understand Buddy’s odd manner of conversation. Especially when he saw Debbie blush at Buddy’s last remark. And he knew that Buddy was explaining, in the only way Buddy knew how, that the kiss Debbie had given him had been innocent.

“I know, Robert Allen,” Cole said. “You can go to your room now.”

Buddy grinned. “I’m going to my room now,” he echoed.

They stared at each other and then burst out laughing. It was impossible not to. And for the first time since he and Debbie had parted company after their day at the beach, he felt happy inside himself.

“I’m starving,” he said. “What have you got to eat…besides oatmeal-and-raisin cookies?”