But they both had strong views about how things ought to work, and those views weren’t always the same. She spent money as fast as it came in, for instance, where he socked it away whenever he could. She liked to go out and shop and hang with other people more than he did, too. If they argued about stuff like that now, wouldn’t it get worse after they tied the knot and were together all the time?

He thought he could have dealt with all that, though. Now … Between the idea / And the reality / Between the motion / and the act / Falls the Shadow. Old Thomas Stearns had got that one right. Jerry knew the Shadow’s names, too, knew them only too well. Azorian. Midlothian. Humpty Dumpty. Centaurowls.

All that flashed through his mind in some small fraction of a second, because it was very clear by the time Anna answered, “They’re all right. They’re good people. I’m not interested in a lot of the things they are, that’s all.”

“Okay.” He knew he wouldn’t get any more out of her. He was surprised he got that much. She was trying to make him happy, the same way he did with her. That had to mean something. If they kept pulling toward each other, wouldn’t they wind up meeting somewhere in the middle? Wouldn’t they?

Ben Bova bought the story for Analog. Jerry threw the check into his savings account. He mailed the story about the skeleton in seaboots to Schenectady. It came back with another note under the paper clip: This is no security risk. It is spooky. Then he sent it to Fantasy and Science Fiction. Ed Ferman promptly sent it back. His note read, Creepy, but not up my alley. Good luck with it elsewhere. Jerry sent it off to Fantastic.

He wished he were putting as much energy into his thesis. He had the data. He had everything organized. He’d lost something that might have been more important, though. He didn’t care any-more. Centaurowls again.

But days went by, whether he cared or not. Wedding rehearsal. Bachelor party, not that his was especially wild. Tim and Alex took him out for dinner and drinks. Then they went to a strip joint and watched the girls up on stage wiggle.

“Cheryl know you’re here?” Jerry asked Tim.

“Oh, sure.”

“She gonna give you a hard time?”

“Nah.” His buddy shook his head. “She says it doesn’t matter where I get my appetite as long as I eat at home.”

“Does she?” Jerry was jealous. Anna looked daggers at him, or sometimes daggered the back of his hand with a fingernail, if she noticed him noticing anyone else.