He came back in about twenty minutes. “It’s good as new. See you Saturday.” As usual, he left without saying goodbye, and one day she would ask him why.

Talking about quicksand, Reid said to himself as he raced across Albemarle Heights. He knew himself and he knew that if he touched her, he’d want it all. She thought she was dressing down when she put on those jeans, but in them, she was sex personified. She hadn’t wanted to give him the wrong impression, but he couldn’t change what happened to him when he first saw her.

She’s between me and what Brown and Worley owe me. If their attorney learns that she and I are friends or even close acquaintances, I’ll lose that case before it starts. I think I’d better make myself useful around here and get the people of Queenstown on my side. Kendra’s right, because this is the jury pool.

Who would call him at nine o’clock at night? Certainly it couldn’t be Kendra. He didn’t know what he would do if she even hinted that she wanted him to go back there. He shrugged and rushed to the phone. She wouldn’t do it. The woman had strength as well as guts.

“Maguire speaking. Good evening.”

“Hey, Reid. This is Philip. How’s it going?”

“Philip!” He sat down in the nearest chair. “It’s great to hear from you. How’s your dad?”

“Dad’s fine. We’re anxious to know how it’s going with Marks and Connerly.”

“So far, so good.” He gave Philip the same information that he had given Kendra a little earlier. “It’s a chance. I’ll see the location for the airport terminal tomorrow and adjust my sketches accordingly. I like what I’ve seen of Jack, and I think we’ll get along.”

“You don’t know how much it pleases me to hear that. Do you think you can come down to the barbecue Easter Sunday? If so, we’ll be glad to see you. I’ll let them all know I’ve spoken with you.”

Reid hung up, gathered his laundry and put it in his laundry bag. He would drop it off at Royal Laundry—half the establishments in Queenstown had either royal or crown as a part of their name. He’d wash his socks, but he would gladly pay someone else to do the rest of it.

He got up early the next morning, made a cup of instant coffee, showered, shaved and dressed in an Oxford-gray business suit. How good it felt to be going to work as an architect again. If he wasn’t careful, he’d feel tears sliding down his face. He got into the station wagon, adjusted the seat to fit his height and headed for Caution Point. He’d driven twenty miles before the pangs in his belly reminded him that he hadn’t ingested anything that morning but instant coffee.

He pulled into a roadside restaurant, had a breakfast of melon, waffles, country sausage and perked coffee, and continued his journey. Remembering that he’d promised Marcus Hickson to get in touch with him when he went to Caution Point, he took out the cellular phone that he had bought the previous weekend and telephoned his old friend.

“Hello, Marcus, this is Reid. I’ll be in town today. Could we meet for lunch?”

“Yes, indeed. You don’t know Caution Point, so why don’t I pick you up at twelve-thirty? Where will you be?”

“At the corner of Bowder and Checkers.”

“Great. I’m driving a silver-gray Mercedes.”

“And I’ll be in a brown Cadillac station wagon. See you then.”

A gray Mercedes, eh? He hoped his friend hadn’t turned into a “rich man,” because he’d sworn to keep his feet on the ground and to associate only with people like himself. He remembered that women loved Marcus, but that Marcus had his eye on a tall lanky one who, in his opinion, was the epitome of frivolity. Well,we both had lousy taste in women. I sure hope he got over that one.

He loved the location for the terminal. With a minor adjustment, the terminal he’d sketched with a round dome above a square building would best fit the space and the environment. He sat in the office that Jack Marks had rented for him, and altered the sketch. Then, in case Jack preferred the structure that resembled a large private house or mansion, he made notes as to the necessary alterations, locked the office and went to meet Marcus.

When the big gray sedan drove up, Reid got out of his station wagon and walked across the street to meet the man he hadn’t seen since he left graduate school. He’d been in the School of Architecture and Engineering, and Marcus had been in the School of Music. They’d roomed two doors from each other in the men’s dormitory. He smiled when Marcus started toward him, and the years quickly vanished as they laid up high fives and then embraced each other, their old routine.

“You haven’t gained a pound, man,” Marcus said, “but I’ve put on sixteen.”

“Sixteen pounds is nothing on a six-foot-four-inch frame. If you’d lived my life—at least my life the last seven years—you wouldn’t weigh more, either. Where’ll we eat?”

“I assume you’re going to explain that, but if I remember properly, I’ll find out what it means only after I pry and insist.”

“Oh, I’m not that bad. Did you marry that tall, slim beauty?”

“Yes, but she split when the going got tough. I’ve got a real gem of a woman now, and she is definitely not the willowy type.”