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"No!" she said,his eyes at last She shook her head She dared to look around at the people ift shop shaped like a windmill "No I want to stay a while All day I want to have dinner in a restaurant here, not at a sidewalk café but inside, like other people do, inside, and then I want to go home after dark" She blinked and repeated those tords wonderingly, "After dark"

"All right"

"Unless, of course, you hoped to get back sooner"

"No, no," he said "I planned ona day of it"

"This is very kind of you"

Travis raised one eyebrow "What do you mean?"

"You know"

"I’up your tienerous of you"

He was astonished "Nora, let me assure you, it’s not charity work I’m involved in here!"

"I’s to do with a Sunday afternoon in May"

"Oh, yes," he said self-iven allwith a toothbrush Could have counted the number of pieces in a box of elbow macaroni"

She stared at him in disbelief

"By God, you’re serious," Travis said "You think I’m here just because I’ve taken pity on you"

She bit her lip and said, "It’s all right" She looked down at the dog again "I don’t mind"

"But I’m not here out of pity, for God’s sake! I’ with you, I really do, I like you very much"

Even with her head lowered, the blush that crept into her cheeks was visible

For a while neither of thely as she petted hih once in a while he rolled his eyes at Travis as if to say, All right, you’ve opened the door of a relationship, so don’t just sit there like a fool, say so, move forward, win her over

She scratched the retriever’s ears and stroked him for a couple of minutes, and then she said, "I’m okay now"

They left the little park and strolled past the shops again, and in a while it was as if her moment of panic and his clumsy proclamation of affection had not happened

He felt as if he were courting a nun Eventually, he realized that the situation was even worse than that Since the death of his wife three years ago, he had been celibate The whole subject of sexual relations seeain So it was al a nun

Nearly every block had a bakery, and the wares in the display s of each shop looked more delicious than what had been for sale in the previous place The scents of cinna, al air

Einstein stood on his hind feet at each bakery, paws on the sill, and stared longingly through the glass at the artfully arranged pastries But he didn’t go into any of the shops, and he never barked When he begged for a treat, his soulful whining was discreetly low, so as not to bother the sware and a sing

Ten ence to Nora He had been a good dog around her, affectionate and bright and well-behaved, and he had shown considerable initiative in chasing and cornering Arthur Streck, but he had not previously allowed her a glience And when she witnessed it, she did not at first realize what she was seeing

They were passing the town pharazines, some of which were displayed outside in a rack near the entrance Einstein surprised Nora with a sudden lurch toward the phar

his leash out of her hand Before either Nora or Travis could regain control of hiazine fro it at Nora’s feet It was Modern Bride As Travis grabbed for him, Einstein eluded capture and snatched up another copy of Modern Bride, which he deposited at Travis’s feet just as Nora was picking up her copy to return it to the rack

"You silly pooch," she said "What’s gotten into you?"

Taking up the leash, Travis stepped through the passersby and put the second copy of the ht he knew exactly what Einstein had inNora, and they resu with interest at the people who passed, and he seeotten his enthusiasm for matrimonial publications

However, they had taken fewer than twenty steps when the dog abruptly turned and ran between Travis’s legs, jerking the leash out of his hand and nearly knocking hiazine out of the rack, and returned

Modern Bride

Nora still did not get it She thought it was funny, and she stooped to ruffle the retriever’s coat "Is this your favorite reading material, you silly pooch? Read it every month, do you? You know, I’ll bet you do You strike me as a complete ro and were s, but they were even less likely than Nora to realize there was a coazine

When Travis bent down to pick up Modern Bride, intending to return it to the pharot to it first, took it in his jaws, and shook his head violently for a ," Nora said with evident surprise that Einstein had such a devilish streak in hiazine It was badly rues were torn, and here and there the paper was dauess we’ll have to buy it now," Travis said

Panting, the retriever sat on the sidewalk, cocked his head, and grinned up at Travis