“Key West? Do you have any idea how far that is?”

“Do you have any idea how many people have asked me that question?”

Gina gave him a dismissive wave of her hand. “Well, it is impossible.”

“Actually, my dad did it when he was my age.”

“I see.” Gina walked along beside him for a little way and then asked, “You are honoring your papa with this ride?”

“Something like that.”

“Then I will say you are doing a brave thing. You may kill yourself on that bicycle, but you will do it with courage.”

They walked silently down a side street that ran parallel to the main river road. Gina suddenly stopped walking and turned to face him. “Hey, how old are you?” she asked.

“Fifteen—sixteen in June.”

“What? I thought you were just shy of the draft!”

“Not quite.”

“Never tell your mama I had you tending bar as a bebé,” she said as they continued on their way. “You know that June starts tomorrow, right?”

“Seriously? Well then, I’ll be sixteen next month—the seventeenth, to be exact.”

“Fine. I will think good thoughts for you on June the seventeenth.”

“I’d appreciate that. How old are you?”

Gina gave him a light smack on the back of the head. “Now you are showing your youth. Never ask a woman her age.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“I forgive you. And I am nineteen.”

“Where’s your fiancé? He’s not gonna beat me up for coming to your house, is he?”

“He most definitely would,” Gina said, shadowboxing in Peyton’s direction. “If he were here. But he is in the Navy. And do you want to know how crazy that Navy is? There is a huge base in Key West. But do they send Rolando there when he signs up for another hitch? No. They send him to the Philippines. That is just the kind of silly thing men do. I will bet you there is some woman in the Philippines wondering why on earth they sent her man to Key West.”

“When does he get out?”

“Four more years. We are getting married on his next leave in August, and then I can go with him wherever they send him. I am saving to buy a wedding dress.”

“You excited about traveling?”

She looked up at the night sky, thinking it over. “Not really. I am excited about making a home for Rolando and starting a family together. I would be happy doing that anyplace, I guess.”

“You really don’t care where?”

“I really don’t. I will miss my family if we stay in the Philippines. But once you find the right person, you know your place is with them.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, how did you know—that Rolando was the one, I mean?”

“Mama always told us girls, ‘The world is full of men who expect you to put them first. You find the one who will always put you first.’ Most guys, they see a girl, they think she’s pretty—right away, they wonder what can they get from her. Maybe a kiss, maybe more . . . When we first met, Rolando says to me, ‘What would make you the happiest girl in the world right this second?’ I thought he was joking, but no. I told him I loved the water, so he rented a boat and took me on a picnic to a tiny little key not far from here. And while we are there, all he wants to talk about is me—my family, my job, what I dream of . . . and I could tell he was genuine. He was real. He put me first from the very beginning. That is how I knew. That is what makes me want to put him first. Now tell me about your Lisa.”