“Yes, my brother Jack and his wife, Mary, live there. My brother’s the vice president at my father’s bank.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize—” She cut herself off.

“Didn’t realize what?”

She looked in her wineglass again. “That you came from a wealthy family. Not that it matters, it’s—Well, I guess I should have known, since you went to college in spite of the Depression and all. My brother should have gone to college, he’s so smart and such a good writer, but he had to go to work on the railroad until the war—and he was lucky to get that.”

Harry reached across the table and touched her hand with his fingertips. “Anne, there’s something you should know.”

“What is it?”

“First,” he said, “my family’s not that wealthy anymore, and even if they were I wouldn’t get a cent of it. And second, I graduated from college in 1925. Twenty years ago.”

“You—what?” She tried to do the math, but she couldn’t make sense of it.

“I just want to be honest with you, Anne. I was flattered the other night when you guessed I was—what was it, thirty-five? Thirty-two?”

“Well—I didn’t know.”

“But the truth is, I’m forty-two. That probably sounds old as a dinosaur to you.”

“But you don’t seem that old!”

Harry laughed, and withdrew his hand. “Well, it’s the truth. My older brothers fought in the Great War, and I was just a couple years too young to go with them. My nephew, JJ, is the same age as you, and my niece Elissa is only a little younger.”

Anne looked at him carefully. “But you don’t—think I’m too young?”

“I think you’re perfect,” he said. “But I wouldn’t blame you if you thought I was too old.”

She paused, considering it, then said, “Why would a number change my mind? I thought you were a dreamboat before and I still do. My friends do, too!”

He laughed. “A dreamboat? You’re kidding.”

“Yes. Or—I mean—no, I’m not kidding. I’m just glad you aren’t one of those men who’s more worried about what people think he is than about what he really is. You have—substance.”

“Substance and experience,” Harry joked, taking a sip of his beer.

Anne laughed. “Yes, just think of all I could learn from you.”

Harry raised an eyebrow and smiled a little. “I’ve never been called a dreamboat before.”

“I’ll bet you just didn’t know it. No other girl was bold enough to say it to your face. I’ll bet you’ve been one your whole life.”

“My whole, long life.”

“Yes, your whole, long life,” she said, laughing.