Jimmy nodded to the entrance, where two attractive young women were just walking in.The two sauntered past them on their way to a table on the other side of the bar. Natural instincts being what they are, Carter could not stop his eyes from watching them. He was discreet enough, however, to at least turn away and observe their passing reflections in the mirror behind the cash register. Jimmy, however, unabashedly bid them a good evening and eyed them longingly as they ambled by, turning their backs to the two young men.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” said Jimmy with a nod and a wink. He rubbed his hands together with glee. “Come on. What do you say we go over and say hello.”

“Uh-uh,” grunted Carter.

“What do you mean ‘uh-uh’?”

“I’m being good this summer,” said Carter.

Jimmy looked at him as if he hadn’t understood.

“Good for what?” he asked.

“I’m doing it for Elena. No fooling around.”

“Elena shmalena,” said Jimmy with a dismissive wave. “I don’t know what kind of spell that chick put on you, but I can tell you that right now she’s five thousand miles away on the other side of the Atlantic doing God knows what with God knows who, so forget about her.”

“Can’t do it, Jimmy,” said Carter, shaking his head.

“But why not?” he cried.

“Because, I told you, I’m trying to be better, and I don’t want to waste my time on something that’s meaningless.”

“Waste your time?” said Jimmy incredulously. “Meaningless?” He sighed, and shook his head. “Wow. Whatever you’ve got, man, you must have it bad. But all I can say is, suit yourself. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve got all the time in the world right now, and wasting a little of it with one of those two fine ladies—preferably both—sounds just fine to me.”

Later, after Jimmy had gone off to waste some time, Carter left the bar and drove home alone.When he pulled into the driveway, he sat there for a moment and gave a yawn before reaching for his gym bag. Worn out as he was by his workout, the effect on him of the relatively modest amount of beer he had consumed at the bar was considerable. The heavy weight of fatigue had settled on him, and suddenly all he wanted was to crawl into bed and close his eyes. Carter had not mentioned it to Jimmy, but the forgetfulness of sleep was the one other thing that cleared his mind. He stepped out of the car and started for the house.

“Hey, could that be the one and only Carter Quinn?” came a voice from the house next door.