Jim, Bill and I were sitting in the den of the Hardesty home when the female contingent returned bearing an array of colorful bags.

Jim collected a prim kiss from his wife. My wife's version was slightly more enthusiastic. "Wait'll you see what all I bought," she chirped.

"Yeah," Ann said. "Good stuff. Including a dress for that concert we're planning on going to hear, baby!"

They announced our upcoming concert weekend, based on Ann's calls to her friends from her own concert days.

"Cindy said that we could fly anywhere in a six hundred mile radius on a weekend. This one's in Atlanta," Ann said.

Cindy smiled. "We'll even let you an' Mister Jim sit in the front seats," she said.

I turned to Jim. "Looks like our wives have made plans, buddy!"

He laughed. "Mine has been making plans for me for years. Is this your first one?"

Cindy giggled.

"Come to think of it, bud," I said, "yes, it is..."

"They'll let us in on it," he said.

"I just hope we've got the weather to fly there," I said. "I'm instrument rated, but the plane's not gonna do any storm-punching or ice."

"Yeah, but still..." Jim said. "What's Cindy say? 'Another adventure?'"

Ann slid beside Jim and kissed him. "We need an adventure, huh, baby?"

"Mooo-ommmm!" Teresa whined.

"'S okay, Teresa," Cindy said, laughing.

We said goodbye to our friends and headed to our strange little nest.

We went inside. Cindy showed me her new acquisitions after I put our guns away.

"Some new panties," she smiled, holding up a pastel rainbow. "I know you like these." She pulled out a powder blue pair. "I think I was wearing some like these the third time we went out to eat."

I recalled that night. I remember that being the first time I'd seen her in a skirt, and I remember her sliding into the truck as I held the door, and seeing her skirt ride up. I remember my heart stopping. "Yes, I remember, baby," I said. "You almost killed me right then and there."

"I really didn't mean to flash you, Dan. Really. You were just my friend then. But I wore those panties after ... you know..." she smiled. "And I remember that you liked me in them."

"Or out of them, sweetie," I said.

Giggle. She leapt to wrap her arms around my neck and I held her weight off the floor as we hugged. "I missed you today, babe," she said. "I had a lot of fun with Mizz Ann an' Teresa, but I missed YOU!"

"I had fun, too, cutie," I said. "But I missed my Cindy!"

Her feet hit the floor when I released her. "So, did Bill shoot the twelve-gauge?"

"Yes, he did," I said. "He said if YOU could do it..."

"He's almost my size, Dan, " she said. "How about the AR-15?"

"His first try with it. He's been shooting a .22, though, so he knows a little about rifles. He had fun. We had fun."

"Good," she smiled. She showed me a couple of other purchases. I smiled.

"I didn't go crazy, baby," she said. "Didn't want to waste money. An' we're kinda tight for space here."

Yeah. Living in a travel trailer made one rethink the acquisition of things.

"But I bought some new perfume." Her eyebrows spoke a question.

"Yeah. Uh-huh. I smelled it. Why don't you dab a spot or two on after your shower tonight."

Giggle. "I just think I will." Twinkly eyes.

I couldn't resist. I had to kiss her, a move that apparently was quite in line with her wishes. Is it okay to say how much I enjoyed watching her disrobe for her shower?

I finished shaving just as she was putting away her hair dryer. I smelled a whiff of enticing fragrance in the air.

"I put my nightshirt beside the bed. Yours too!" She headed to the bed at the end of the trailer, looking over her shoulder, green eyes drawing me along.

I followed. One, because I'm male, apparently possessed of a brain that had a little redhead-shaped hole in it. Two, because I am totally in love with her. Saturday night coupling was a romp in pleasures. I don't pretend to know all her feelings, but as for my own, I had this magical little kitten of a partner, cute, sexy, eager, excited, and ALIVE.

I don't know that she intentionally did anything. When we were loving, it was playing, sharing, each of us bent on giving as much as we could to the other, knowing that it was in the giving that we truly received. Wow! Metaphysical, ain't it? I'm trying to say that perfection for me came in a short, redheaded package that approached lovemaking with giggles that soon morphed into sighs and ended up breathless, in my arms.

And that was our Saturday night. Right up to the part where we'd both expended ourselves in the happiness of each other and there I was lying on my back in the cool evening air of our little trailer and she was lying full length on top of me, her hands folded on my chest, her chin resting on them. A pair of green eyes regarded me at close range, peeking from below perfect eyebrows, shaded by perfect bangs the color of an old penny.

"Dan," she said. "D'you think life is as perfect right at this moment as I do?"

I caressed her head, drawing my fingertips slowly across her cheek. "Little one," I said. "I worry that I'm going to wake up from this dream. The only thing that saves my sanity is that I realize that my dreams were never this good."

"I know. You know how there are stories about princesses and monsters and white knights and happily ever after?" She sighed, ending her sigh in a smile. "I used to read those and think how that never happened in real life. But look at us..."

"Yeah. I've looked at us. Like from a distance, I look like a child molester."

She scooted up to kiss my lips. "I'm sooooo molested, baby." Another sigh. "Your friends ... OUR friends, they all act like they accept us. I mean, look at Mister Jim. An' Mizz Ann. And the gang at work."

Yeah, my co-workers, for the most part, were 'the gang' to Cindy.

"Uh-huh," I said.

"And how YOUR family became OUR family. An' Mizz Helen an' Mister Charlie."

"Just remember, sweetie, we had history with most of those people, so there was some incentive to think about us together. But there's gonna be some who don't react as positively."

"I've thought about that," she said. "But we DO have real friends and family behind us. And we've got this fantastically wonderful US."

"Yep, little girl! We're in it together."

She slid off to my side and wrapped a long leg over me and pressed against me. I cuddled her in my arm and we drifted off to sleep.

We woke the next morning in the chill of the winter storm. As she cuddled warmly against me, she said, "Honey, it's another one of those days."

"I know," I said. "As much misery as the summer heat is, this is just nasty." The sky was leaden., low clouds moving hurriedly north to meet the approaching front. It wasn't raining, yet.

"Are you in the mood for pancakes up the road?" I asked.

"Mmmm-hmmm... " She purred into my chest. "I guess we need to get dressed."

"Yeah, cutie ... As much as I delight in seeing you naked, I don't think you'd find it enjoyable today."

Reluctantly we unwrapped from each other and got out of bed on opposite sides. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved sweatshirt with an University of Alabama logo on it. I donned a pair of tactical pants and a flannel shirt, and we sat side by side on the sofa and pulled on socks and shoes. I tossed her that knit cap and she pulled it on, shoving her hair into a delightful disarray.

She knew what that did for me because she turned and smiled sweetly.

"Don't be too cute, there, Cindy, or we'll be eating a late breakfast..."

Her smile changed to a pink tongue sticking out at me. "Nuh-uh, love of my life! I want pancakes. And coffee!"

"I will defer my lusts until we have had breakfast, little one," I laughed. I started for the door, got grabbed and spun around, a pair of arms laced themselves around my neck, and she hauled me over to kiss me.

"We have a whole day, baby. We can put some beans on, then go play while they cook."

The nasty look of the low clouds was actually deceptive as they were pushed by a moist south wind. The temperature wasn't particularly cold as we climbed in the truck and left for breakfast.

Eight-thirty at a restaurant in Alabama, you're guaranteed to run into the church crowd, various families on the way to worship services. Such was the occupancy of the restaurant when we walked in. the hostess was a lady who knew us well as frequent customers.

"Hi, Cindy! Dan! There's a couple of booths open in the back corner. Janine's workin' that end today."

"Thank you, Mizz Lee," Cindy chirped. We threaded our way through the crowd to a corner booth and sat down. The waitress, Janine, showed up with our customary mugs of coffee.

"Ya'll doin' pancakes this mornin', hon?" she asked.

"That's perfect, Janine," I said. Cindy just smiled. We sipped our coffee while we waited on pancakes, gazing out the window at the scudding clouds.

"That front's close," I said. It's going to be a hard freeze tonight."

Giggle. "Good snuggling weather, dontcha think?" Green eyes twinkled.

We were talking about the ideas of flying in foul weather when a nicely dressed lady approached us.

"Excuse me," she said to Cindy. "Didn't you come to Sunday school at our church? Our bus picked you up at that RV park?"

Cindy smiled. "Yes, ma'am. That was the beginning of last summer. Some of ya'll were really nice to me."

"I would hope so," the lady said. "Some weren't?"

Cindy's face lost a bit of its shine. "No ma'am," she said. "Some kids picked at me because of my ... well, where I lived and who my momma was..."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sweetie," the lady said. "They shouldn't've done that. Are you doing okay?"

I was sitting silent, watching my Cindy. Carefully.

"I'm doing fine, ma'am. I'm still livin' in that park, but Mom's moved away. And I'm married." She patted my hand. "This is my husband, Dan Richards. He's an engineer!"

The lady's expression as she looked at me was, shall we say, strained. She turned back to Cindy. "Baby, I thought you were a young teen."

"I'm fourteen," Cindy said.

"Ma'am," I interrupted, "would you like to sit with us for a little while?"

"Oh, mercy! I don't know..."

"Please," I said. "And I'm Dan Richards, like Cindy said. And you're... ?"

"Mona Simmons." She wasn't exactly smiling.

"Mizz Simmons," I said, "I can only imagine the things people could think about Cindy and me..."

"I've heard stories..." Mona started.

"Mizz uh ... Mona, lots of people knew about my mom. An' if they knew about 'er, it wasn't good stuff. I'm not like her."

Mona started, "But you're..."

"Fourteen," Cindy said. "A number. I've been married for," She looked at me, "two months, I'm being taken care of, I have friends who love me and my husband, I have a real family now..."

"Mizz Mona," I said. We appreciate you caring. Cindy's an unusual young lady. You might want to ask Jim Hardesty at the middle school about her education status. It's very likely she will start college in a few months. At fourteen. There's a lot..."

Cindy interrupted. "There's a lot that makes me different, Mizz Mona."

A tall man, vaguely familiar, showed up behind Mona. "Sayyyy," he said to Cindy, "Ain't you that little girl they call 'The Engineer's Apprentice' out at the new plant?" he changed his gaze to me. "An' you're what, the head electrical engineer?"

"Oh, gosh," I said. "I thought you looked familiar. I'm sorry. So many faces out there. I can't connect your first name." I stood and offered a hand.

He shook it enthusiastically. "Jeff. Jeff Simmons. I have crew of pipefitters out there. But I've seen HER!"

Mona's face was just a tiny bit uncomposed. "Jeff, you know about her?"

"Oh, yeah ... Lots of talk. She came out on one of those school visits. She's famous" He grinned at Cindy and she smiled back. "She's out there about every couple of weeks." He laughed. "You got in that boiler before Christmas and took those pictures for our engineer." Jeff turned to Mona. "Our engineer's a little too chubby to get in the boiler. Cindy wore those paper coveralls."

Mona was flabbergasted.

And our pancakes arrived. "Please, Jeff, you an' Mona join us..."

Janine set our plates down. "If you folks want to sit here..."

"Great," Jeff said.

I scooted deeper into the booth. Jeff sat next to me. Mona sat beside Cindy.

"Hon," Jeff said, "These people are the talk of the project. Cindy had it tough. Now her an' Dan..."

"Oh, dear," Mona sighed, trying to maintain her Southern persona. "I guess I've only heard what SOME people think ... Cindy, you don't look like an unfortunate..."

"Oh, no ma'am," Cindy interrupted. "I think I'm the most FORTUNATE person in the state."

Jeff and Mona's order showed up and the four of us ate. After the meal, we continued to sip coffee.

"I'm sorry, Cindy. Dan. Sometimes people get the wrong idea..." Mona said.

Jeff said, "Mona baby, you need to lighten up. What about Rick 'n Stacy's daughter?"

"Oh, dear," Mona said. She sighed. "Their daughter's fourteen. And pregnant. Tragic."

"I know her. Kelly. I help her in math class. She's broken up over it, but her mom and dad..."

"Baby," Mona said. "Her mom was almost suicidal. We prayed with 'em. That's a hard thing..."

"I can imagine," Cindy said. "I feel sorry for her. Really. But Mizz Mona, that's not ME."

"Okay, hon," Mona said. "Jeff, how come I don't know more about this? 'Engineer's Apprentice'? that's cute!"

"Aw, baby, you don't want to hear what I think is cute out at the job..." Jeff whined.

"Hmmphhh!" said Mona. "I don't want to hear stories about your guys locking some poor guy in a porta-john. You should've told me about HER!"

"Yes, dear," Jeff exaggerated, grinning.

"You're impossible!" Mona said, feigning aggravation.

Jeff glanced at his watch. "Okay, Mona, we're gonna be late for services. Cindy, Mister Dan..."

"Just 'Dan', please, Jeff!" I said.

"Dan, we didn't mean to bother ya'll..."

"You didn't bother us," Cindy said.

I stood as Mona slid out of her seat next to Cindy. "It wasn't a bother. I know we're not the standard couple. But we're very happy."

Mona said, "Maybe ya'll can vist us sometime?"

Cindy smiled. "We'd love to..."

When Jeff and Mona departed, I sat back hard against the back of the booth.

"Baby, ' Cindy said softly, "Relax ... Take a deep breath."

"Okay, princess. But I thought..."

"You thought she was one of those who were going to get in our faces..." She smiled. "I kinda worried. But I figured that if I survived tellin' Tootie that I was fourteen, I could survive this." Giggle. "You know, we oughta show up for Sunday services at the Baptist church one Sunday."

"That's a thought," I admitted. "But I don't want to rub peoples' noses in our situation. Those that accept us, that's one thing. We shouldn't go out of our way..."

"I know, baby," she said. "But you know, we're really pretty normal..."

"For a forty-one year old guy and his cute fourteen year old wife who's four months from graduating high school. Yep. That normal..."

Janine topped off our coffee mugs. "Everything okay, hon?" she asked Cindy.

"Oh, yes, Mizz Janine. It is now..."

Janine leaned toward us in a conspiratorial stance. "I've overheard Mona an' a couple of other church women talkin' about ya'll. Not so good, either."

Cindy answered, "Well, unless she's lyin' to us, we straightened her out. Dan knows her husband from work..."

"Yeah, uh-huh," Janine said. "Jeff's just a good ol' boy. His wife, she gets kinda uppity sometimes. Likes to talk down other people sometimes."

"People ain't nice and neat, Mizz Janine," Cindy sighed.

"Mister Dan, you got a smart one here," Janine said, smiling.

We paid the ticket. And a little extra on the tip.

In the truck, on the way home, she giggled. "I WAS a little scared, Dan. I mean, she ... people like her, they can't HURT us. We're 100% legal an' all that. But I like our, what's your word? 'harmonious' life together."

"I know, princess," I said. "I like us to enjoy our pancakes without people judging us on parts of the story."

We pulled back in to the park and did domestic stuff, laundry, a pot of beans on the stove for the traditional laundry day beans and rice, and true to her word, once the process was started, she tugged my hand toward the bed for another great thing about winter days and simmering pots: plenty of time for love.

The morning romp was followed by lunch, the domesticity of folding, hanging and stowing laundry, and by now the scudding clouds from the south were replaced by pelting rain as the cold front moved through. As is typical with frontal passage, though, the rain ended almost a quickly as it started, and the moist south wind was replaced by a biting, edgy north wind driving the humid air away. Even in early afternoon the temperature was dropping. The low clouds of the front were pushed south, too, leaving high layers that were breaking up, allowing glints of sunlight to break through.

Donning jackets, I and my cutie decided a walk outside in the brisk air was a good thing, so we made a lap around the park, then another, finally stopping in the office to find Helen and Charlie and two of the retiree couples sitting in the office.

"Coffee's fresh, son," Charlie said. "And I finally talked Helen into using some better stuff."

Cindy said, "Sit, baby! I'll get you a cup." Hey! We'd been married for months now. She knew how I liked my coffee, among other things.

I sat. She brought me a mug, steaming, and squeezed beside me on the office sofa.

One of the retirees, an old, plump, bald fellow, said, "Well, that front's through."

"Yes, indeed," Charlie said. "Hard freeze tonight. In the teens." He laughed, nodding at the others. "Of course, that's cold for HERE. You folks from Minnesota..."

"Oh, certainly," one of the ladies answered. "Cold at home doesn't start until there's minus in front of the number. But that's why we're down here!"

Both couples were survivors of our gumbo and music bash, and that gave us topics for conversation. We left, promising to get them copies of the recipe we used for the gumbo.

As we were walking back to the trailer, Cindy swung her hip to bump me. "Hey," she said, "can we go fly this afternoon, or did I spend us broke yesterday?"

"Got the itch, babe?" I laughed. "Are we gonna fight about who gets the left seat?"

Green eyes laughed at me. "Nope. I get the left seat. No argument."

By the time we got the plane out of the hangar, the broken high cloud was down to a mere scatter overhead and to our north.

After the preflight, we were in the cockpit, the engine rumbling at idle, and I had the area chart open. "Okay, sweetie," I said into the intercom mike, "give us an hour, and let's go north or northwest. Where's that put us?"

She pointed out several airports on the chart. "And I'm thinking that this one or this one will have a bathroom and a coffee pot. Or at least a coke machine. Looks like, oh, three hundred degrees oughtta get us there."

I folded my arms. "Take us there."

She taxied us to the run-up ramp, ran through the checklist and grabbed the microphone. She looked at me. "One-twenty-two point eight?" That was the frequency. I nodded.

She pressed the transmit button on the control yoke and in a young girl's voice said, "Holt traffic, this is Cessna five five two three uniform, taking off from Holt County, north departure." Nobody replied, and off we went.

The destination did indeed have a coffee pot. Horrible, horrible coffee, but sometimes it's who you're with, after all. The guy manning the desk at the destination was amused to see Cindy climbing down out of the left door of the Cessna as the engine cooled.

We drank coffee, talked about airplanes and walked out into the big hangar with him to see a beautifully restored World War II trainer. Cindy HAD to sit in the cockpit, and that brought the stories about her and Hanna in the Extra, and it was time to go. We landed at the home field in deep dusk, put 'Sissy' away, and went home, stopping on the way for dinner at the catfish emporium.

The remainder of the evening was the kind of routine people dream of, watch a little TV, listen to a little music, bath, then into bed for love and very satisfactory sleep.

Monday's alarm got us up and going again. I was back at work, Monday morning staff meeting, then closing out equipment reports, and the afternoon was a training session with the guys who'd be running the new plant when we were done. I felt my phone buzz, and when I got to a clean stopping point, I glanced at the display. It was Jim Hardesty's work number.

Once I was clear and could call without disrupting my job, I called.

"Hey, Jim," I said. "Sorry I couldn't answer when you called."

"Oh, you know that I understand where you're at, Dan. I was wondering if you could do a visit to Auburn with Cindy and me on Friday?"

"I dunno, right now, Jim. I'll see what I can do. It's that time in the project. Lots of stuff happening." I was being truthful. All of my utility substations were hot, but there was new process equipment constantly rolling for the first time.

"I hope you can, Dan. I'm gonna talk with Cindy before she leaves today, but if you can, how 'bout ya'll coming over for dinner..."

"On a Monday? Yeah, sure! How about pizza?"

"On Monday?" he laughed. "Either that or Ann's gonna do something with Sunday leftovers."

"Barring a disaster here, we'll be there, buddy!"

"Okay, thanks! Talk to you later."

One of my engineer co-workers overheard part of the conversation. "What's up?" he asked.

"The school guidance counselor wants to take Cindy for a visit to Auburn Friday. Wants me to go with 'em. You got anything spinning up on Friday?"

"No," he said. "The last forced draft fan is the only big one we have left, and it'll be Monday or Tuesday before we do the first run."

"Good," I said. "I think that puts me in the clear. Lemme go talk to the boss."

Bill was talking with Sara when I walked into the office trailer. I explained to him what I wanted to do. Sara listened in.

"Well, you know what we need to do," he said. "I don't see a problem, at least not right now."

"Bill, you know that if something comes up, I'll take care of things."

"Oh, I know," Bill said. "So. Auburn? That's the decision?"

"Oh, gee, Bill, I don't know. This is the first one we visited. She's scratched MIT and Stanford off her list, at least for her baccalaureate."

Sara snorted. We turned to look at her. She was smirking.

"Wha-att?" I said.

"You do realize that you just said 'baccalaureate' an' you're talking about a fourteen year old girl..." she snorted. "I know she's special, Dan. But it strikes me funny."

"Me too, sometimes, Sara," I admitted. "I was tryin' to figure out how I was going to support her move if she wanted MIT or Stanford."

Bill said, "I dunno, Dan ... I know some people. They might not know your reputation personally, but they know who they can call..."

"Nice to know, Bill. But Cindy's said she wants to stay in Alabama for the time being."

"Well," he said, "Bullshit aside, Auburn's a good school..." Bill was an Auburn grad.

"Oh, I know," I said, "Aside for the occasional mistake..." I smirked.

"Asshole!" he grinned.

I met Cindy at the RV park office after work. She was leaned over the counter, balanced on one foot, her other kicked up behind her, talking to Helen.

"Hi babe," I said. "Hi, Helen!"

"Hi, Dan," Helen said. "My little girl's going to interview at Auburn!"

Cindy's grin was epic. "Mister Jim talked to me about it today. Can you come with us Friday?"

"I talked with Jim today, cutie. I'm planning on going."

"Yeah, I know, honey! You have a lot of things going on the job right now. And Mister Jim says if you can't go, it'll be okay, but I'd really like you with me."

"I'll do my best babe," I said. "Jim wants us to go to their house for dinner."

"'Kay," she said, grabbing her backpack. "See you tomorrow, Mizz Helen."

"Tell Charlie she's going to talk to Auburn, Helen..." Charlie was an Auburn grad, too.

We opened up the trailer and deposited her back pack and I changed out of my workshoes, impeded by a giggly Cindy bent on kissing me into submission. Okay. I submitted. Why not?

We were out the door. I called the Hardesty house. Ann answered. "Hi, Dan! You know, I'm hurt..." she said.

"Hurt?" I asked.

"Yeah, my husband talked you into pizza instead of one of my fine and tasty 'leftover specials'."

I laughed. "Lady, I was raised like you and Jim. We lived on leftovers half the time."

"Yeah, I know," she chuckled. "The kids are happy about pizza. I'll 'leftover' 'em tomorrow."

"Okay. I'm ordering the pizza. See you in a few."

Cindy had her characteristic smile, belted in beside me. "I'm kind of excited, Dan," she said. "this visit thing makes this all seem real."

"I know, baby," I said. "But don't get expectations too high. We have no idea what to expect, really."

"You know, I was thinking about that today. D'you know you've turned me into an optimist? I mean, like, last summer, I just didn't see a whole lot to get excited about in life..."

"Baby, you were thirteen..." I said.

"Yeah, thirteen. And life was, well, baby, it was kinda scary. With mom and drugs and her boyfriends. And being an outcast a school..." she sighed. "But NOW! It's like one of those stories where somebody gets a winning lottery ticket or something..."

I smiled. I was glad she was happy. When I'd first met her, that was all I hoped for, just to help her along as I found out the circumstances in her life. And now she was my improbable, remarkable friend, partner, and wife.

We were greeted as friends by the Hardesty's, Cindy jumping in with Ann and Teresa to set the table, young Bill filling drink glasses, Jim and I sitting in the living room.

"Man, I like the chauvinist stuff, Dan," he laughed. "Of course, it only works in winter. All summer she watches me and Bill out doing yard work..."

The doorbell rang. We received pizzas and I paid the delivery driver. We all sat at the dinner table and ate and talked, just the way family and friends were supposed to do. After the dinner mess was cleared, we went back into the living room to talk.

"I got Cindy a time to chat with a few people at Auburn. They're interested in seeing what they can do for her."

"Okay," I said. "Any ideas?"

"Well, obviously her test scores impressed them. The guy I talked with said that if her ACT scores follow that pattern, they expect that she'd be a great fit in mathematics, one of the hard sciences, engineering, of course, and GET THIS, the liberal arts. Somebody's been reading her writing."

Cindy smiled. "We'll listen to what everybody has to say, but I am GOING to be an engineer. Since I'm already an apprentice!"

"Let's just keep an open mind, okay?"

Ann chimed in, "Cindy, there's always the possibility of a double major."

"Uh, yeah," I said. "I knew double majors in like something AND education, or two programs of liberal arts, but I..."

"I know of people who did double majors, Dan," Jim said. "Baby," he said to Ann, "that's an interesting idea..."

Cindy said, "Yeah, engineering and poetry..."

I laughed. "Oh, yeah ... the poet-laureate of Alabama ... That's a career option..."

"Heyyyy," Ann said, "We got culture here..."

Mid-morning Friday we were ushered into a well-appointed office on the university campus.

"I'm Doctor George Stebbins," he said. "Please call me George. And you're Miss Cynthia Richards?"

"Yessir," Cindy said. She'd dressed to kill: green, simply-cut dress of tasteful length, her hair shining perfection, held back from the sides of her face by a matching headband. "This," she said, turning to me, "is my husband, Dan Richards, electrical engineer, and this," she turned to Jim, "is Mister Jim Hardesty, our school guidance counselor."

"Please, folks, sit down." George said. "I find the 'husband' thing rather surprising, but Mister Hardesty explained to me some of the circumstances, and I find his explanation satisfactory." He paused.

Cindy's mouth was a straight line. Uncharacteristically nervous.

"I also find that I have received mail from a couple of Auburn alumni concerning Miss ... You go by 'Cindy', correct?"

"Yessir," she said.

"Please, Cindy, relax. I'm your friend, too." He smiled at her. "As I was saying, I got real letters, not that email stuff, from a couple of alumni. One's a Mr. Bill Carmody, a graduate of this college of engineering. I actually KNOW Mr. Carmody, although it's been some years since we've talked. He writes rather glowingly of you, Miss Cindy."

Cindy let her smile loose. Her face lit up.

George smiled back. The other letter is from an Alabama judge who says he's known you for some time and that he's the one who married you two. And I took it upon myself, after talking to Mr. Hardesty here, to call and talk to your current teachers."

More smiles from Cindy. Jim and I sat silent. It was George's court.

Miss Cindy, none of them had anything more negative to say than your math teacher, and the words she used were 'scary smart'. Your English teacher has created a stir among our liberal arts folks with some of your writings." He turned his attention to Jim and me. "You gentlemen are associated with an impressive young lady. We'd very much like to see her part of our programs."

"She's had an impressive year with us this year, Doctor Stebbins."

"Please! George," he said. "So here's the path, if you decide to work with us. And I do hope that is your decision." He continued, "Assuming that you meet the requirements your school has placed on you for graduation, I would like to see you enrolled with us. You might consider the summer semester, too."

Cindy fielded that one. "Sir, I, we, Dan and I, are certainly entertaining the idea of me attending Auburn. Mister Carmody is Dan's manager, and he strongly urged me to come here. But the summer semester is, well, a stretch."

"How so," George asked.

"Dan has been working on his project since last summer, and we got married in November, and when I graduate, he has promised that we'd fly the Rockies. I would happily start classes in the fall."

George bridged his fingers thoughtfully. "Would you be available for some programs, perhaps, in July? It is possible that you may be able to test out of a lot of prerequisites."

"I would certainly try that, ' Cindy said.

"It would be well for you to attempt, young lady. You're here because you are, in a word, 'gifted'. It is apparent that you've impressed a lot of people around you. I suspect that, if you can handle the environment, you will be challenged. And you will do well." He looked at me. "You're an engineer, she says?"

"Yes," I answered. "I graduated from a little university in Louisiana. I wish I'd had this opportunity."

"What discipline?" he asked.

"Electrical. I do industrial power mainly. Some controls."

He smiled. "And Miss Cindy wants to be an electrical engineer. Interesting ... If you folks want to wait a bit, some of our faculty will be here for lunch. A couple of them have heard about Miss Cindy."

"That would be fine," I said.

"Good!" George said. "Friday we have sandwiches and cookies."

On the way home, Cindy was buckled in the center spot of my truck's seat.

"Well, Cindy, what do you think?" Jim asked.

"Interesting," Cindy answered. "I was nervous."

"I could tell," Jim said. "Kind of a new thing for you, isn't it?"

"Yessir," she said. "This has to do with my future. " she turned to me. "OUR future. I didn't know what to expect."

"Me neither," I admitted.

"That makes three of us. And I talked to him on the phone."

"So you think I'm ... they'll take me?" Cindy asked Jim.

"And be happy to have you. Of course, you have your ACT next month, and then the high school exit exam in late April." Jim smiled. "You don't act like you're worried, though..."

"Not about those, Mister Jim," she said. "You know, a year ago, I didn't know ... I guess I didn't care, either."

"That was then, this is now, Cindy," he said.

She punched me. "It's HIS fault, Mister Jim. That's why I love 'im!"