“I’ve got to go,” Carolyn said. “I forgot to pick up the laundry, and I may go to dinner with Andrea Wright tonight.”

“Have fun,” I said.

“I’ll talk to you in a couple of days,” she mumbled.

The two older couples had checked out of the Inn and were on their quest to see America by car, leaving me as the only guest in the care of Sammy and Lila Merritt. Because she wanted a night out before a busy weekend with a marriage-renewal group booked at the Inn, dinner, Lila told me, would be at the Dollhouse Lodge and Restaurant near Phoenicia.

“Our treat,” she added.

“We’ll argue about that later,” I said. I was, in fact, glad to get away from the Inn. I had the memory of banquets for kings; in comparison, Sammy and Lila served food from the recipes of college cafeterias operating on low budgets.

We drove in my car, Lila sitting up front with me. It was early evening, when the mountains become ethereally beautiful. We did not speak for a few miles, and then Lila said, “Is something bothering you, Bobo?”

“No. Why?”

“I don’t know. You seem preoccupied,” she replied. Then, to Sammy, “Don’t you think so?”

“Naw,” Sammy said. He was curled comfortably in the backseat, a pleased smile embedded in his face. If anyone was preoccupied, it was Sammy. I knew he was dreaming of his work.

“Trouble at home?” Lila asked casually.

I shrugged.

“You always get this way when you come up here, Bobo. Do you know that?”

“What way?”

“I don’t know. Irritated, I think.”

“Carolyn’s a little miffed, that’s all,” I told her. “And I guess I don’t blame her. I did leave in a rush and there were a number of things she’s had to handle. And to make matters worse, one of her friends saw the spot on CNN about Avrum. She didn’t know about it and Carolyn’s not one who loves surprises. I should have called her.”

“Oh,” Lila said.

We rode again in silence. In the rearview mirror, I saw Sammy close his eyes and lean his head against the headrest of the seat. His lips moved to some soundless tune.

“Has she ever been up here with you?” Lila asked. “Before we took over the Inn, I mean.”

“Carolyn?” I said. “No. Except for the summer I worked here. She came up with my mother that year.”

“Why hasn’t she been back?”

For a reason that I could not explain, I wanted to tell Lila the truth—that I had never wanted Carolyn to be with me. I said instead, “I told her about you. She’s jealous.”

Lila laughed easily. “I think I’ll send her a picture of me in a bikini,” she teased. She glanced at Sammy. He was oblivious to our conversation. “No, seriously. Why?”