On the porch of the house, she flung her arms around me and I put mine around her, and we stood there in the darkness for a little while, just holding onto each other. Then, she sort of pushed me away, and I couldn’t see her expression, but somehow I knew she was frowning.

“Nick,” she said. “Nick, this is terrible!”

I said, “Yeah, I guess I have kind of messed things up, all right. I guess I’ve been nine kinds of fool, lettin’ Myra scare me into marryin’ her and—”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. That could be solved with money, and I have money. But—but—”

“Then, what’s botherin’ you?” I said. “What’s so terrible, honey?”

“I—I’m not sure.” She shook her head. “I know ‘what’, but I don’t know why. And I’m not positive it would make any difference if I did know. I—can’t talk about it now! I don’t even want to think about it! I—Oh, Nick! ‘Nick!’”

She buried her face against my chest. I held her tighter, stroking her head and whispering that everything was all right, that nothing could be so very terrible as long as we were together again.

“Now, it just couldn’t, honey,” I said. “You just tell me what it is, and I’ll show you it don’t really amount to nothin’ at all.”

She clung to me a little tighter, still not saying anything. I said, well, to heck with it; maybe we could save it for another time, when I didn’t have to be in kind of a rush like I was tonight.

“You remember how I used to go night-fishin’?” I said. “Well, I was thinkin’ maybe I might go tomorrow night, and it’d be kind of a natural mistake if I should wind up here instead of the river, because you ain’t so awful far from it.”

Amy sniffled, then laughed.

“Oh, Nick! There’s just no one like you!”

“Well, I should hope not,” I said. “The world’d be in a heck of a mess if there was.”

I said I’d see her the next night, just as soon as it was good and dark. She shivered against me, and said that would be fine.

“But do you have to go now, darling?”

“Well, I guess I kind of should,” I said. “Myra’ll be wonderin’ what happened, and I got to see Miz Hauck home yet tonight.”

Amy said, “Oh, I see. I’d almost forgotten about Rose.”

“Yeah, I got to take her home,” I said, kind of grumbling about it. “Myra has done promised her I would.”

“Poor Nick!” Amy patted my cheek. “Everyone’s always imposing on him.”

“Aw, I don’t really mind,” I said. “After all, someone’s got to take care of poor Miz Hauck.”

“How true! And isn’t it fortunate that she has someone so willing to take care of her! You know, Nick, poor ol’ Mrs. Hauck seems to be bearing up remarkably well under her troubles. She looked positively blooming, like a woman in love, one might say.”