He yawned. "We are?"

"Yep. I'm taking you to the Maine house for a little while."

"Okay," he said, offering no argument.

"First, we're going to treat you to a nice hot shower. Come on."

She gently helped him up and out of the room.

In the bathroom she went about undressing him.

He stood before her naked, watching her dip her hand in and out of the shower, adjusting its temperature.

"Kate," he said, his voice rubbery.

"Hmm?"

"You're an artist."

"Mm-hmm."

"Well, I was wondering. About when you've created something.

When it's something really good. You know, like a new CD. And when it's all done, you have it and hold it in your hands. And there it is. All said and done. You can keep going back to it, but no matter how great it is, it's past. History. So. What I want to know is, do you ever feel like you'll never be able to do it again? Do anything again?"

"All the time, love." She took his chin in her hand and kissed his forehead. "But no matter how hard it seems at the time, if you did it once, you can do it again."

"Promise?"

"You know it."

"Good. Will you come in here with me?"

"Yes."

PART II

Chapter 7

Eating breakfast in the cafe had become part of Peter's daily routine. The waitress greeted him as he sat with his usual pile of newspapers. She returned with a cup of coffee, a scone, and a gla.s.s of orange juice.

He was grateful for the privacy his vacation home offered. It was Matthew who had introduced him to the quaint town of Camden, Maine, a place popular in the summer with executives and their families from Boston, Philadelphia, and New York, and over the last three months he had been recognized by only a few executives around town. Today, however, anyone reading the "Wall Street Journal" would see on the front page of the business section a small picture of Peter's face, positioned three paragraphs below one of Matthew Locke's face. Perhaps, after giving it a little thought, the reader would realize that he or she had seen him there in the cafe or in one of the town's small shops, or walking along the inlet. And after reading the story, the next time they spotted him they might even feel a pang of sympathy.

It read:

WALLABY ANNOUNCES IMPROVED PORTABLE COMPUTER

SUNNYVALE, CA - Wallaby, Inc., creators of the first all-in-one portable computer, announced today an improved and more powerful version of its Joey computer, introduced just one year ago.

Wallaby's founder, the young and mercurial Peter Jones, was the inventor of the company's first computer, the Mate, nine years ago and was the driving force behind both the Joey and the enhanced version unveiled today, the Joey Plus. The new version is easier to program, offers a faster processor, and boasts more built-in memory configuration for running more powerful software programs, which are now becoming available. It also features a slim, built-in CD-ROM drive for accessing multimedia t.i.tles and reference works, a faster 14.4K data/fax modem, and a brighter backlit active-matrix display, all for the same price as the original Joey, which the new model replaces.

a.n.a.lysts view the introduction of the Joey Plus as a feather in the cap of Wallaby Chairman and CEO Matthew Locke, who took the company reins from Jones after a boardroom showdown three months ago.

"This demonstrates Locke's ability to manage a new products company," said Michael Kolohan of Quest Market Research, Inc.

"We're very excited about the Joey Plus computer," Locke said in a telephone interview. "Now there are no hurdles between developers and users in offering powerful applications that compare to those available for ICP computer users, our value-added being the easier to use design of the Joey Plus, and its more attractive, more convenient form factor."

In his new role as leader of Wallaby, Locke reorganized the formerly separate engineering groups, consolidating resources on the Joey Plus project, which accelerated the device's introduction to market by three months. To enlist the support of software developers, Locke took to the road, evangelizing with prototypes of the powerful new Joey Plus to stimulate new software development prior to today's announcement.

One developer, PowerBase, Inc. of Cupertino, California, will soon introduce an program for compound doc.u.ment and forms processing, and advanced communications abilities. Said Paul Kupiec, president of PowerBase, "Wallaby really delivered with the new Joey Plus. We're ecstatic, now that it's got so much room for bigger applications, which means corporate clients we could not previously appeal to are now more apt to consider Wallaby over ICP.

"We were all worried when Jones left the company," Kupiec continued, "but Locke came to our offices in person with his engineering managers and offered us an early prototype unit of the new Plus. We dropped everything and already have ninety-eight percent of our program completed, which we ported from our ICP BP version. I think he [Locke] may fare well in his new role."

Jones, on sabbatical in New England, was offered a "visionary at large" role after being ousted by Locke and the company's board of directors, according to one source. However, Wallaby officials declined to comment on Jones's plans for returning in his new non-management role. "Matthew Locke hopes that Peter will return to Wallaby soon," said Wallaby spokesperson Laurence Maupin. "We all miss him and look forward to having him back at work soon."

Jones could not be reached for comment.

Peter folded the newspaper and sipped his orange juice. The sun was hot and the air smelled fresh and clean. All around him, people in summer dress clothes walked leisurely about the village, and the news of Silicon Valley felt very, very far away.

He closed his eyes...and a moment later he sensed a shadow blocking the direct sunlight.

"Think you'll go back?" asked the elderly man standing before him. Beneath his arm was a folded copy of the "Journal."

Peter eyed the stranger. "I don't know."

The man placed his large, tanned and weathered hand on the back of the vacant chair beside Peter. "Okay if I join you?"

"Sure," Peter said, leaning back in his own chair.

The man removed his cap and signaled the waitress. He fixed his gaze on Peter for an instant. "Congratulations on the new product," he said with a wink. He unfolded his own newspaper and laid it over Peter's copy. "Your whiskers threw me for a second or two, but I used to slack off now and then on the shave - though not because I was masquerading."

"It wasn't my product introduction," Peter said, stroking his light beard unconsciously.

The man pulled a pen from his pocket, then lifted his thumb and winked one eye shut like an artist gauging his subject. "Hold still. I want to get this right." He proceeded to draw a mustache and beard on Peter's picture in the newspaper.

Peter was beginning to feel amused.

"Well," said the old man, taking up their conversation without looking up from his artwork, "you weren't there for the show, but it is your product just the same. Good work, son."

"Thanks."

The waitress arrived. His portrait completed, the man shoved the paper across the table for the waitress to see. "What do you think? Look like him?"