"Wow, that's cool. How'd you get that gig?"

"Saw an ad and applied. I was in need of a change of pace, and the move has been good for me. What about you?"

"I have a house out here. David rents my garage apartment."

"So you're here for the summer?"

"I'm taking a little time off after a particularly rough breakup."

"Ouch, I'm sorry. That sucks."

"Sure does."

"You should come out to the lighthouse sometime. I'll give you a tour."

"I'd love to. I'll definitely take you up on that."

David, Daisy and Jared stayed for another half hour, drinking the beers Alex had provided, before Marion began to visibly tire.

Daisy kissed the older woman's cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow, Marion."

"I'll look forward to it."

"I can't thank you enough for coming by every evening," Alex said quietly to Daisy. "I'm sure you have other things you need to be doing."

"I'm very happy to give her an hour of my day." Daisy patted Alex's arm. "I've begun to look forward to seeing her, too."

"Thank you again," Alex said gruffly.

"It's my pleasure." Daisy looked at Jenny. "Will I see you guys at Blaine and Tiffany's shower?"

"I haven't told Alex about it yet, but I'll be there."

"Not sure I want to hear about this," Alex said, making the others laugh.

"Looking forward to it." Daisy leaned in to hug Jenny, whispering, "Good going, girlfriend. He's adorable."

Jenny smiled at Daisy. "I agree."

"It was good to see you again, Jenny," Jared said. "I'll be by to check out your lighthouse."

"Any time."

They waved to their friends as they drove off, and then Alex turned to his mother, his face set in a grim expression Jenny hadn't seen before. "Come on, Mom. Let's get ready for bed."

"Could I help?" Jenny asked.

"No, thanks."

"Why not?" Marion asked. "I like her. She's a nice girl. She can help me get ready for bed."

"You really don't have to," Alex said, looking less strained than he had a few minutes earlier but no less concerned about what she was offering to do.

Jenny placed two fingers on his lips to quiet him and because she felt the need to touch him. "I know I don't. If I didn't want to, I wouldn't have offered."

"Thank you," he said in the same gruff tone he'd used to thank Daisy.

"How about it, Marion?" Jenny held out a hand to her. "Shall we get you ready for bed?"

Marion reached up to take Jenny's hand. "Tell me your name again."

"It's Jenny."

"You're very pretty."

"Thank you. So are you."

"My George thinks I'm pretty."

"Tell me about him. What's he like?"

"Oh, he's so handsome. You know how handsome Alex and Paul are?"

Jenny gave Alex a saucy smile over her shoulder as he held the door for her and his mother. "I sure do."

Alex pinched her rear playfully.

"Well, they get that from my George. He has dark hair like they have and eyes so brown they remind me of dark chocolate."

"You know, it's funny, I've thought of Alex's eyes as dark chocolate."

Marion's bedroom was at the end of a long hallway. She looked around at the room as if nothing in it was familiar, and then she looked at Jenny, seeming baffled. "Who are you?"

"I'm Alex's friend Jenny. I'm here to help you get ready for bed. What can I do to help?"

"I...I don't know."

"She has trouble with buttons and snaps," Alex said from the door. "Nightgowns are in the third drawer. She needs to use the bathroom and brush her teeth, and then she has to take these pills." He put a medicine cup and a glass of water on the desk inside the door. "Sure you don't want me to do it?"

"We've got this, don't we, Marion?"

"Of course we do." She shooed her son from the room with a wave of her hand.

As Jenny helped her to unbutton her blouse and unhook her bra, her heart broke at the thought of her sons handling these tasks on most evenings. How difficult it must be for all of them. It took about twenty minutes to guide Marion through her nightly routine. At least once per minute, she had to remind Marion of who she was.

"He's a very nice boy," Marion said, taking Jenny's hand after she tucked the older woman into bed. "My Alex."

"Yes, he is."

"He watches you. Every minute, his eyes are on you."

Astounded by Marion's moment of utter clarity, Jenny said, "Are they?"

Marion nodded. "Will you take care of him for me? I wish I could, but I can't anymore."

"I will. Of course I will."

"Thank you. Jenny. Did I get your name right?"

Her uncertainty brought tears to Jenny's eyes. "You sure did." Jenny leaned in to kiss Marion's lined cheek. "I'll see you again soon, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good night, Marion." Jenny closed the bedroom door and took a moment to get her emotions under control before she joined Alex in the kitchen.

He stood when he saw her coming. "Everything okay?"

"Everything is fine."

"I don't even know how to properly thank you. That was way above and beyond... Well... Thank you."

Jenny went to him and put her arms around him.

He hesitated for a second, as if he thought he might not deserve the comfort she offered so willingly, before he sagged against her and held her so tightly she could barely breathe. And then he raised his head and captured her mouth in a ravaging kiss, full of all the emotion he normally kept bottled up inside. It poured forth in passionate strokes of his tongue that had Jenny on tiptoes trying to get closer to him.

"Christ," he whispered when he finally broke the kiss. "I'm all over the place tonight."

"That's okay. Kissing you is certainly no hardship."

He ran his fingers through her hair and down her neck, his touch making her tremble. "You must be hungry." He placed strategic kisses on her neck that had her wishing they were alone so she could touch him all over.

"You must be hungrier. You worked hard all day."

"Not all day," he said with a smile that she felt against her neck. "There was this one part, right in the middle... Mmm, pure pleasure. No hard work required."

Jenny let her hands slide down to his backside. "There was a little bit of hard work involved. It was awfully hot out there."

"It was some kind of hot," he said suggestively as his lips traveled from her throat to her ear, capturing her earlobe between his teeth. "Let's eat, and then we can pick up this conversation while we watch a movie."

They enjoyed Mrs. Upton's tasty lasagna, as well as salad and garlic bread that Jenny said she would only eat if he did, too.

"Sounds like you want to make out with me after dinner."

"If you're lucky," she said with a nonchalant shrug.

He covered her hand with his much larger, work-roughened hand. "I'm sorry our plans for tonight got messed up."

"Did they? I hadn't noticed."

"You are far too kind."

Jenny swirled the merlot he'd opened to go with dinner around in her glass. "Do you think I'd ever blame you because you needed to be at home with your mother when we had other plans?"

"Some women would."

"Well, I'm not some women."

"No, you certainly aren't."

"I understand what you're dealing with, Alex. I saw my mother and her sisters go through it for years with their mother. I helped where I could. I answered the same questions over and over. My heart broke when I had to identify myself to the grandmother who'd once doted on me. I get it."

"Was this before or after you lost Toby?"

"After."

"I thought about that, about him and what happened, all afternoon. I wondered..." He shook his head as if he'd reconsidered the question.

"It's okay to ask about it."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded, but her stomach knotted with nerves. Even though she'd said it was okay, it was never an easy topic for her.

"I wondered where you were that day and how you found out."

"I was at work in Midtown, and he called my cell phone. We texted but didn't call each other during the day, so I took the call even though I was in a meeting and got the stink eye from my boss. It was the hardest call I've ever received, but I'm so glad I didn't ignore it."

"Did he know how bad it was?"

"Yes," Jenny said, transported back to that horrible day and the panic she'd heard in Toby's normally calm voice. "He knew. The plane hit below his floor."

"God," Alex said with a sigh.

"Where were you that day?" she asked, turning her hand so her palm was flat against his.

"I was in California visiting a friend from college. I was supposed to fly back to Boston that day, but everything was canceled for days afterward."

"I suppose it was. The first few weeks were a bit of a blur for me. I don't remember much about it." She forced a smile for his benefit. "So how about that movie you promised me?"

"You got it. I'll even let you pick."

"Ohhh, I see a chick flick in your future."

"You wouldn't do that to me, would you?"

"Oh yes, I definitely would." Their playful banter was a welcome relief after the conversation about the worst day of her life. She appreciated that he had questions and was happy to answer them, but she also appreciated that he knew when not to linger on that topic.

They worked together to clean up from dinner, and Jenny teased Alex about his poor dishwasher-loading skills.