By the end of the day, most of the elderly aunts and Susan's cousins had gone, and the house felt half-empty. With genuine relief, she abandoned the cottage and moved back into the big house, settling happily into the old single bed of her childhood room. Sleep kept slipping away from her that night, and the few moments she did drift off were saturated with the image of Alan. There was no way back now to being friends as they had been. One more bridge to her past, burned over a piece of foolishness!

By next morning she had made up her mind to call her friend Reni and accept the invitation to the seaside. Her two great-aunts and her uncles left that morning, and by lunchtime only Susan, her parents, and her grandfather remained in the house. Her grandfather lived alone most of the time. A cousin of his, who also lived in Medea, dropped by now and then; Susan's mother — his daughter — came at least once a month to tidy the house and look in on him. The rest of the family hardly came at all, except on important occasions: a major holiday, or one of the old man's anniversaries.

By lunchtime the big house had gone very quiet.

"Suzie, let's have lunch in the garden!" the old man proposed. She agreed, and went to the ground-floor kitchen to help her parents with the food.

When everything was ready, she went outside — and noticed, with surprise, two extra place settings on the table.

"Grandpa, what's this?" asked Susan, pointing at the settings. "Are we expecting someone?"

A familiar female voice answered from behind her.

"Hello!"

Susan spun around.

"Auntie Sophie!" she exclaimed at the sight of Alan's mother. Her smile melted, though, when she spotted, behind the pleasant slender woman, Alan himself.

"Hello, and welcome!" Grandpa Max greeted them from beside her. "You're all we were waiting for!"

Susan, who had gone from white to scarlet, turned away hastily and took a seat at the far end of the table. To her misfortune, her grandfather arranged the seating so that Alan landed on her right. Her appetite was irretrievably lost.

"How good it is to have the people I love around me!" the grandfather said, beaming with satisfaction from the head of the table. "It was high time my Suzie came home!"

"And I'm so glad Alan is staying with me this summer," Aunt Sophie confided. "He's been traveling so much for work lately. I never know when he'll be back, and I worry myself sick each time until he calls!"

A silence fell.

"Yes. Children are very busy these days," the grandfather observed.

Her mother, seated opposite Aunt Sophie, immediately took up the conversation — the party, the dishes, the relatives. Her father and grandfather put in the occasional word against the women. Alan and Susan said nothing.

"Children! You haven't touched your food!" the old man suddenly called from the head of the table. They both started.

"Just watching our health, Grandpa Max!" Alan smiled. "In this heat it's not wise to stuff yourself!"

"Quite right, my boy! Then let's move on to dessert and some nice cold fruit!"

"I'll bring it!" Susan offered quickly, rising from her chair.

"I'll help!" Alan stood too.

"No need!" she protested. "Guests don't help!"

"I'm not against it!"

"Suzie, Alan is practically family, not a guest!" the old man put in. "Let him help!"

Gritting her teeth, she hurried off to the kitchen. In three long strides, Alan caught up with her.

"How long do you think this can go on?"

"What?" Susan said, feigning incomprehension. She walked into the kitchen, stopped in front of the refrigerator, and opened it.

"There's no need to act like a sinner in front of everyone! You did nothing terrible! We're both adults, and adults have needs!"

"Of course! And do you plan to stay in Medea, or are you hurrying back to the capital — to someone?" she asked, taking out a bowl of ice cream and lifting the diced watermelon from the counter. Alan narrowed his eyes.

"Is that your delicate way of asking about my personal life?" he asked carefully.

"I've a right to be worried, haven't I?"

"What are you getting at?" His eyes all but threw sparks. Susan busied herself arranging watermelon pieces on the tray.

"Well... we didn't exactly take precautions, and when... that night..." She felt herself blushing, and stopped.

"No, we didn't! But don't worry about diseases — I had a full check-up two months ago, when I got back from Denmark with the team. I'm clean!"

"Good!"

" There's still a chance you could be pregnant, though!"

The lid slipped from her fingers and clattered onto the counter. "No! Impossible!" she said too quickly.

"Are you on the pill?" Alan asked suspiciously.

"No... I use something else!"

"Then there's no problem."

"Right," Susan said weakly. Oh God — she had forgotten all about that possibility! She had to do something about it, and fast! With a trembling hand she spooned the ice cream into bowls and put the tub back in the refrigerator.

"Are you always this tense after sex?" he asked suddenly.

It took Susan real effort not to say something she'd regret.

"It's none of your business!"

"Okay, I just asked!"

Alan picked up the watermelon, and a minute later the two of them left the kitchen in icy silence.

"How serious the children look!" the old man exclaimed at the sight of them. "You haven't quarreled, have you?"

"No, Grandpa!" Susan set the tray on the table.

"No one can carry something this delicious and stay angry, Grandpa Max!" Alan said with an easy smile.

"Quite so. That watermelon is from my own garden!" the grandfather boasted.

"You can tell!"

The rest of the meal passed in cheerful banter. Susan pinned a false smile to her face, and it stayed there a long, long time.

When the guests left, she hurried to call her friend Reni.

"Reni, hello, dear! How are you?"

"Oh, Suzie, is it you? Very well, and with you? How's country life?"

"It's a town, Reni!" Susan chided. "It's not bad, but... Listen, I was wondering — does your invitation to the sea still stand?"

"Oh my God!" Her friend shrieked so loudly that Susan had to hold the phone away from her ear. "Really?! You'll come? Of course it stands! Yes! You've finally decided — I can't believe it! It's going to be fantastic, Suzie! We leave next Monday. You have three days to pack, dear!"

"All right! I'll go home, pack, and set off!"

"Great! Can't wait! We'll have a lot of fun! See you soon, Suzie!"

Susan set down the phone. She wasn't sure it was the best of ideas, but it was a solution — a temporary one, at least. Her friend's enthusiasm was contagious, and tempting! Next week, she would be at the sea!

With a heavy heart, Susan went to announce her departure to Grandpa Max. She would have loved to stay here, amid all this peace and quiet... But Alan would be here too! And she couldn't endure the strain of another lunch like today's for long. No one must ever learn about that night. And she herself had to forget it — as quickly as possible!