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Monday morning, Vera came home to a sad sight. Charlie told her grandmother everything that had happened, and collapsed into her arms. In truth, Vera had expected Charlie to invite Maggie over for a "grown-up" dinner party. She hadn't considered Adam, and even if she had, Vera never dreamed Charlie would turn it into a romantic dinner for two!

"Pumpkin," comforted Vera, "are you sure you're not confusing admiration with what you think is love? Remember, when you were little, the daydreams you had about Wallace Shipley? Isn't this the same thing?"

Charlie dried her eyes.

"I know this isn't a crush," answered Charlie, thoughtfully, "because then, he wasn't real. I only had girlish fantasies about who Wallace Shipley was-- but I didn't KNOW him. I do now. My love for him is based upon knowledge and understanding. I only thought I knew and understood him better than this."

"What do you love about him?" asked Vera, brushing Charlie's long brown hair away from her tearstained eyes. Vera noticed a soft warm look cross Charlie's beautiful young face.

"I love his gentleness and thoughtfulness," she answered. "He doesn't get angry easily; I love the fact that, even though he's color blind, he still enjoys flowers; I love the way he never gives up fighting when he knows he's in the right; I love his sense of beauty-- you can hear it in his music; I love his sense of humor, even when the jokes aren't that funny; I love the fact that he values God's opinion above anyone else's; I love his sense of justice, and integrity-- even when he walked out that door, I knew he was doing what he thought was right," finished Charlie. "I loved him even then."

Now Vera was strangely silent.

"Grandma?" asked Charlie. "Are you all right?"

"Could it be?" whispered Vera.

"Could what be, Grandma?" asked Charlie.

"Nothing, Pumpkin," sighed Vera. "Things probably worked out for the best. He is quite older than you. How old is he, again?"

"Adam is forty-five," replied Charlie.

"Forty-five!" sighed Vera. "And you're sixteen. That's a difference of twenty-nine years! No, it's too great an age gap! It would have been impossible!" Then Vera looked into Charlie's sad brown eyes. "Still," admitted Vera, "you would have made each other happy. Why, you two do it all the time-- exchanging calls, and enjoying music together." When Vera looked away from Charlie's eyes, her senses returned. "Twenty-nine years!" she repeated. "No, it is too much!"

Charlie didn't feel like going to school, but she knew she must. The teenager was only thankful that no one outside of her small circle of friends knew what had happened.

While Charlie was away at school, Vera had a surprise, though not wholly unexpected, visitor.

"Please sit down, Adam," said Vera, inviting him to take a seat on the sofa.

"She's not here right now, is she?" asked Adam, gun-shy of the teenager. "I only came when I did, because I thought she'd be in school at this time of day," he explained.

"Charlie's in school," affirmed Vera.

"Did she... did she tell you what happened last Friday?" inquired Adam.

"She did," replied Vera.

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