Four women, three men. They all felt embarrassed. It was the kind of thing the colonists would talk about for years. Who was last. Who was second to last. Spiteful people would remember, and in a tight little community, spite took root and throve on the least misinterpreted expression or--But then, this wouldn't be a tight little community, Annie remembered. The lichen farms were spread out over the whole temperate belt of the world. Because the lichens were grown only on hills, where the sand would not cover them. And because they did a more efficient job of oxygenating the atmosphere when they were spread over a wide area. One man, hat in hand, even in the cold. A little shriveled man with a spike of dust-colored hair, but kind-looking. "Aw...." he drawled in embarrassment. He clicked his tongue. "You're both probably too good for somebody like me. I don't know. Both fine women." The two women stood in silence. "What's your name?" "Annie." "Mary." "Mary? My sister's named Mary. Fine woman." He took Mary's hand. "No disrespect to you, Annie." They were all gone. "I could take you on my Venus run," the pilot said. He, too, was embarrassed. "But I'm afraid I'll have a full ship after that. Unless you can buy the weight and space. I'd be glad to take you free. But the company...." Annie's eyes were full but she wasn't going to let them spill. Sally brought Ben by, already looking self-consciously married. "I'm sorry, honey," she said. "Look, Annie, if you want to come stay with us until another shipment of pioneers come to break ground, you're welcome. Maybe you'd--er--find one of them you liked." It was a gesture of kindness, of course, but it made Annie's eyes spill. She turned her head away, toward the red hills. Red and the cultivated ones green. Christmas colors. "Sure," Ben said. "Swell. Any friend of Sally's is a friend of mine." And the way they looked at each other made Annie's heart lurch. "Thanks, kids," she said. "But I don't believe I'll try it. And don't worry. This isn't the first time I've been stood up." "Are you coming?" the pilot shouted across the field. "Hate to rush you, but I've got a schedule to meet." Was she coming? What else could she do? "What happened to him, Ben?" Annie asked. "My--the other man that should have been here." Ben worried a hole in the sand with one foot and cleared his throat. "He stayed home." "You mean he's _alive_! Here?" "Well ... yes. But he didn't--" "Never mind. I don't need anybody to strum a guitar under my window. If he couldn't get away from the farm today I can certainly go to him. I've got a pair of legs that'll walk around the world." "You coming?" the pilot shouted. "No!" Annie cried. "I live here." The spaceship took off, a phoenix rising from the flames. Ben was shuffling his feet, hands in his pockets. "We'd be proud to have you stay with us, Annie."