Giancarlo sighed, and gazed out the window. Outdoors, a steady rain was falling from a charcoal sky. It was inevitable that the run of gorgeous weather they had been enjoying would come to an end, but he had hoped that it might continue for at least one more day. He had awakened that morning with all good intentions of spending some time out back, tending to the flowerbeds and pruning the bushes. Not that there was a great amount of work to be done there. His little backyard was a neat, unpretentious affair. He paid a boy from the neighborhood to cut the grass once each week—Giancarlo had better things to do than push a lawnmower—but caring for the shrubs and gardens he reserved to himself. These were small and easily managed, adding just enough color to the surroundings to break up the monotony without causing him too much trouble.Though he found the brief time he devoted to tending to them somehow soothing, Giancarlo was not an enthusiastic gardener by any means. He liked to keep things simple in the garden, the same way he tried to keep everything in his life.

Turning from the window, Giancarlo considered his options for the day. He was not one to go out and stand in the rain, no matter how much the gardens might have required his attention. Just the same, the prospect of spending the day in the house held little appeal. He gave a sigh and chanced to looked into the living room. His thoughts turned to Carter and the rapid progress he had been making in his Italian lessons. It occurred then to Giancarlo that it would not be long before his pupil outran the introductory course of study that he had originally anticipated would last the summer. Very soon he would need to make plans for more advanced lessons, and to acquire materials suitable for them.This line of speculation led him to the inevitable conclusion that an excursion to a bookstore was in order. It was a happy resolution to his deliberations, for it gave his day a new purpose. Giancarlo went straightaway to the front hall closet.The gardens, he told himself as he pulled on a raincoat, would have to wait for better weather.Till then at least the flowers would not need watering.