She smiled, then did a seductive turn in the lobby. “You think this is too revealing for a man of the cloth?” She stretched her arms over her head. Her breasts lifted proudly.

“You’re really shameless at times,” I told her.

She giggled. “I put it on just for you. Since I found your magazine in the trash can this morning, I thought you might need some inspiration before tonight.”

“I’m going to miss you, Lila,” I said. “And, probably, one day, when I’m hobbling around on a cane, I’m going to regret not calling your bluff.”

“I’ll be waiting, Bobo. Even then.”

She laughed and again twirled seductively. Then she pushed open the door to the dining room and disappeared.

In my room, I made two obligatory calls—to the school, explaining that I would not return to my classes until Tuesday, and then to Carolyn.

Brenda Slayton, the headmaster’s secretary, assured me that an extra day would not be a problem. Since I had been on CNN, I had become a celebrity, she teased. “Celebrities get special treatment. Besides, it’s summer, and you know how it is in summer around here. Everybody’s as languid as the weather.”

Carolyn was not so pleasant.

“I just talked to you this morning,” she said irritably. “What’re you doing? Checking up on me?”

A wave of guilt struck me. “No, I just thought I’d call. Sammy and I may be going back to Woodstock tonight and I thought if—”

“What’s going on over there?” she asked.

“Where?”

“Woodstock.”

I swallowed a cough. “An art show.”

“Well, everything’s fine here. Do you know when you’re coming home?”

“Monday, I think.”

“I’ll see you on Monday, then,” she said nonchalantly.

I paused.

“Anything else?” she asked.

“I was thinking about something this afternoon,” I said. “Do you remember anything about your visit up here?”

She laughed a short, cynical laugh. “I remember feeling like I was interfering with your life.”

“That’s it? Nothing good?”

“The trees were pretty.”

“The trees?”

“What’s wrong with that answer? I thought you liked the trees up there.”

“I do,” I said. “But I wasn’t talking about trees; I was talking about us.”

“Bobo,” she said seriously, “what’s going on up there?”

“It’s just a question, Carolyn. I was just wondering about it. It was on my mind, that’s all. I wondered if you ever thought about it, about us, I mean. You know, that summer.”

I could hear her breathing. In the background, a woman’s voice was speaking to Darby. The woman said, “I don’t know what kind of software he needs. Why don’t I have him call you?”