human accomplishment, He kissed her and she tasted salty with tears.
With surprise he felt a choke deep in his own throat.
The jaded airport crowds had to open and trickle around the two of them
like water around a rock, and they were oblivious to it all.
Even when they came out of the building into the Florida sunlight, she
had both arms around his waist, hampering his stride, as she led him to
her vehicle.
Good God! exclaimed Nicholas, and he shied when he saw it. It was a
Chevy van, but its paintwork had been restyled. What's that? 'It's a
masterpiece, she laughed. Isn't it? It was rainbowed, in layers of
vibrant colour and panels of fantastic landscapes and seascapes.
You did that? Nick asked, and he took his dark glasses . from his
breast pocket, and inspected the seagulls and palm trees and flowers
through them.
It's not that bad, she protested. I was bored and depressed without
you. I needed something to brighten my life.
One of the panels depicted the translucent green of a curling wave, and
on the face of the wave a pair of human figures on Hawaii boards and a
graceful dolphin shape flew in formation together. Nick leaned closer
and barely recognized the male figure as himself each detail of the
features had been rendered with loving attention, and he came out of it
looking something between Clark Gable and Superman - only a little more
glamorous.
From memory/ she said proudly.
It's tremendous/ he told her. But I've got bigger biceps, and I'm more
beautiful. Despite the wild choice of colour and the romantic style, he
realized she had real talent.
You don't expect me to ride in that - what if one of my creditors saw
me! Get your mind out of its stiff collar and blue suit, mister.
You have just signed on for the voyage to never-never land by way of the
moon. Before she started the engine she looked at him seriously out of
those great shining green eyes.
How long, Nicholas? she asked. How long have we got together this
time? Ten days/ he told her. Sorry, but I must be back in London by
the 25th. There is a big one coming up, the big one. I'll tell you
about it. No. She covered her ears with both hands. I don't want to
hear about it, not yet. She drove the Chevy with careless unforced
skill, very fast and efficiently, acknowledging the homage of other male
drivers with a grin and a shake of her braids.
When she slipped off highway 9 5 and parked in the lot of a supermarket,
Nicholas raised an eyebrow.
Food/ she explained, and then with a lascivious roll of her eyes, 'I
reckon to get mighty hungry later. She chose steaks, a bag full of
groceries and a jug of California Riesling, and would not let him pay.
'In this town, you are my guest. Then she paid the toll and took the
Rickenbacker causeway across the water to Virginia Key.
That's the marine division of the University of Miami and that's my lab
at the top of the jetty, just beyond that white fishing boat - see it?
The low buildings were crowded into a corner of the island, between the
sea-quarium and the wharves and jetties of the University's town lie the
