Jonathan never married--though he came close. He proposed to a young woman who had electric blue eyes and hair the color of new wheat. They both liked raw clams with cider vinegar and midnight cheese and crackers with wine.

She always asked plenty of questions; she talked quite a lot. Jon found himself uh-huhing a lot more than usual and the lights blazed his replies. They lived together only a month when he found a reason he could kiss her goodbye. An honest reason, since he'd seen the blender buzz its disapproval and the TV go black and Jon couldn't live with that.