"Don't want to guess?" Andy asked, watching his face. She liked how he lit up when he got a new book, even if he'd read the same text from a cheap airport paperback a dozen times before. "I'll tell you...it's old," she said. Old had a peculiar meaning between them all, especially for her, so it was the perfect clue to make Booker wonder.

She sipped her drink, alternating between that and the ice cube as he pondered, and she unwound in the baking afternoon heat. Maybe they all did need a long break together. She couldn't say the vacation had had her itching to get back out into the world yet.