"I'm glad you're sorry. I hope it's for the right reasons." "I'm sorry I wasn't with you." "That's not the right reason." Gabby lifted a finger to lecture. Audibon caught it and held it. "You're a schoolmarm, pet," he said, motioning to the monitor which now showed the schoolroom. "You belong on that set." He kissed the finger gallantly. Gabby reclaimed it. "I was looking at that water color you did out at Fire Island. You know I've got it hung in my shop?" "I wish you didn't," Gabby said slowly. "It isn't a happy picture." "We were happy when you painted it." "No. Not inside, Roy. That's why it turned out so badly." She looked away. "It's a happy picture. We were happy." Audibon smiled. "Do you remember ... I had an idea for a show? Following the summer around the world. I didn't want that summer to end. I wanted it to go on and on ... with you getting darker and darker, and that old shirt of mine you wore getting tattier and bleached.... What made us imagine it ended?" "You're frightening me, Roy." "Why, pet?" "I'm afraid to say." "Maybe you're afraid to remember. No. Listen to me. Looking at that water color and remembering how you looked high up on that dune, I did a take. The summer never ended. There's been a little winter-type weather, but it's only a station break. I don't think our summer will ever end." "What do you want, Roy?" Gabby asked quietly. "I'm propositioning you," Audibon smiled. He took her arms and pulled her close. "I'm asking you to make a dishonest woman of yourself and have a fling with me. It's summer in North Africa. I'm spending February in Egypt. Fly over with me, pet. Let's spend the month together. I'll bring an old shirt. You bring your brushes. We'll live in sin and improve our minds." "And afterwards?" "Why worry about afterwards? Maybe it'll be cold weather when we get back; on the other hand, maybe not. Let's enjoy our summer again and see how long it lasts this time." Gabby came around a corner abruptly. "What does this have to do with last night, Roy?" "Last night?" Audibon was taken aback. "What do you mean?" "This is the first time you've been romantic since we separated. Something special must have happened." Gabby examined him candidly. "It was last night, wasn't it?" "No, pet." "I was with Jordan Lennox and he hit you." Audibon's fists clenched. He recovered himself and abandoned the tenderness. "All right," he said crisply. "If you insist on being cerebral ... I'm worried about you. I hate the idea of you free-lancing around from job to job, never knowing where the next check is coming from. I want to offer a contract." Gabby looked at him steadily. "I want to offer security and success. Not materialistically, but Rennaissancewise. Don't waste time and talent on subsistence-type jobs to keep bread in the house. Do the creative work you're equipped to do ... and you know how stratospheric my opinion of your talent is. It needs an oxygen mask." "Thank you, Roy."