"Well, I can't argue with that, but you were there to be pampered. The point of the whole vacation was not having to cook."

"What about activities? What'd you do with yourselves all day?"

William pulled out a chair for Rosie and then took a seat at the table. "It was terrific. Wonderful. We docked at various ports, maybe seven in all. When we weren't off seeing the sights, we had lectures and movies, swimming, shuffleboard, aerobics – you name it. They even had a bowling alley. At night, there was gambling and ballroom dancing. Bridge, chess tournaments. Never an idle moment. We had a ball."

"Good for you. That sounds great. How about the other sibs? Did they enjoy it?"

William said, "Well, let's see now. Charlie finally got his hearing aids adjusted and he's a changed man. You can hardly shut him up. Used to be he kept to himself since he never had a clue what anyone was saying to him. He and Nell played bridge and beat the socks off their opponents."

"And Lewis?"

"You put him around a bunch of women and he's happy as a clam. Men were outnumbered ten to one. He was the cock of the walk."

Rosie held up an index finger. "Not quite." She gave Henry a sly smile. "Tell what you did."

"No, no. Unimportant. Enough about us. What about you, Kinsey? What are you working on? Something interesting I'm sure."

"Come on, Henry. You haven't finished telling me about the trip. I've never been on a cruise. I really want to know what it was like."

"Just what William said. Little bit of everything. It was nice," he said, busy with oil and vinegar and his whisk.

Rosie leaned forward, her tone confidential. "He's pose for calendar and now all the old womens calling him night and day."

"Don't be silly," he said over his shoulder to her.

"What kind of calendar?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. The crew thought it'd be a good way to commemorate the trip. They do this all the time. It's nothing. Just a joke."

Rosie nodded, lifting one brown-penciled brow. "The 'nothing' I agree. Is what he's wearing. Our Mr. February, Kings of Heart."

"He wasn't wearing nothing," William said. "You make it sound like he was nude when he was no such thing."