There were people out on the beach, of course, but the patio had a couple of dividing walls separating it from the unit next door and the tiki-lit sidewalk was on the other side of the pool, which was now quiet. She could hear revelers, perhaps celebrating the race, perhaps vacationers. Apparently she was the only one in the house still abuzz with excitement from the astonishing experience of the day. At nine, everyone quiet in the condo, sliding doors ajar so she could hear if Winnie called for her, she fixed herself a rare glass of wine and sat on the chaise, feet up.

Her cell phone rang in the pocket of her capris and it startled her, then shocked her. She was always obsessive about charging it, but it had been in her pocket all day with no worry about that. Other than taking a few pictures of Blake at the finish, she had virtually ignored it. No one ever called her but Winnie or Charlie, on the rare occasion Grace. She pulled it out and looked at the screen. Blake?

“Hi,” she said, expecting to find no one there, a butt dial.

“Hi,” he said. “I’m just getting to bed but I wanted to call.”

“Oh, Blake, did you try Charlie’s phone and get no answer? For someone who didn’t compete in the race, he sure passed out early.”

“I didn’t try his phone,” Blake said with a slight laugh. “I’m calling you. It was so nice you were there, Lin Su.”

“We were all there,” she said.

“Yes, and you were there. I think I’m growing on you.”

“Oh, Blake, you can’t still think I don’t like you! Not now!”

“I think you’re coming around. But you’re a hard sell. I’ve had to pull out and dust off all my old guy skills and charm you to pieces. Before I fell asleep, I wanted to thank you. You were there, you were excited, you were proud. It meant a lot to me.”

“Stop,” she said, laughing at him. “You were completely mobbed by people! A lot of people were there, excited and proud!”

“I’m not ungrateful,” he said. He yawned. “I’m lucky to have sponsors, friends and acquaintances. But I want us to be better friends. To get to know each other.”

Her heart started to pound. What was he saying? That he liked her as more than a friend? The way a man likes a girlfriend, someone he has deeper feelings for? What a frightening idea! What if she took that chance and it went badly? Everyone would suffer!

In the end, the only response she could come up with was, “Why?”

Blake laughed. “You are so out of practice,” he said. “Worse than I am and I haven’t had a woman in my life in quite a while. But at least I remember. Why? Because I think, once we know more about each other, we’re going to understand each other. We’re going to see we’re a lot alike. And I bet we want many of the same things.”

“Wait,” she said. “You haven’t had a woman in your life? What about your trainer? Coach?”

“No,” he said. “And I’ve asked her to stop that proprietary touching and behavior. It gives entirely the wrong impression. I have to sleep, Lin Su. I ate, I had a beer and I’m only awake now because I was too wired to slow down. I have about thirty seconds of consciousness left. That should be enough time for you to tell me you’d like a chance to know me better, too.”

“I, ah...”

“Twenty-five seconds. Please, don’t jump to negative conclusions. I’m a very polite and considerate guy.”

“Well, of course, getting to know you better would be good,” she said. “I think. Forgive me, I’m surprised.”

“You shouldn’t be. And it’ll be good.” He yawned deeply. “Talk to you later.”

“Later,” she said. The phone went blank as he signed off and she added, “Sweet dreams...”

* * *

Seth said he dreaded his parents’ return from their Alaskan cruise, but Iris was more excited than a little kid. She was planning a nice dinner for the whole family for Saturday night so that Seth’s two brothers and their wives could help welcome Norm and Gwen home from their first real vacation ever.

“It’ll be fun,” Iris said. “Your folks get home Friday afternoon and I bet they have pictures and tall tales.”

“You do realize Gwen may come home alone,” Seth said. “I bet she threw him overboard.”

“He seemed to have a very good attitude about the cruise before they left. Gwen said he even packed a couple of the new things she bought for him.”

“I can’t think of anything that could make him more of a grump than that,” Seth said.

“But your mom will be so happy! I’m sure even if Norm was a pain in the butt, she probably had a wonderful time.”

“I wouldn’t count on that. They push each other’s buttons pretty well.”

When Iris got home from work on Friday afternoon, her in-laws’ car was in the drive. She ran into her house, dropped off her briefcase and some files she brought home and rushed over to the Sileski house. And to her thrilled surprise, Norm answered the door wearing one of his handsome new sweaters and a big smile.

“Welcome home!” Iris said.

“Come in, come in. Gwen is lying down but come in!”

“I hope she’s not too tired for a welcome-home dinner at our house tomorrow night,” Iris said. “I invited the boys. Your sons may not be interested but your daughters-in-law definitely are.”

“She’s not too tired,” he said. “It was a great cruise. Look at this boat,” he said, pulling out his phone. “There’s everything on it. Restaurants, movie theaters, everything. They even have a nursery or something for younger people with smaller kids. They never had anything like that when we were young. Not that we ever went anywhere. We took the boys to Yellowstone, you know. And Mount Rushmore. But no one gave us a hand babysitting so we could go out dancing...”

“You went out dancing?”

“I’m not that much of a dancer. That shouldn’t surprise you.”

Iris took the phone and began scrolling through the pictures while Norm talked. There was Norm practicing with his life vest, sitting around a fancy dinner table, on the deck of the boat in front of a huge glacier. There was Norm with Gwen and a bunch of other women of a certain age. “Aw, she made friends,” Iris said.

“Nice ladies,” Norm said. “Have you ever seen food like that in your life?”