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"When do you think you might move?" asked Jeff, becoming serious.

"I suppose, not until we get married next summer," answered Adam.

"Why?" cried Maggie.

Charlie crawled to Maggie and put her arms around her friend. Both women began to sob.

"That's what I like about your dinner parties, Adam," smiled Jeff, trying to lighten the atmosphere, "they're always so HAPPY!"

At this, the women began to laugh, in spite of their sorrow.

"Congratulations, you made them smile!" said Adam, shaking Jeff's hand.

"Uh-oh, they're starting to break down again!" warned Jeff. "Quick! Adam, tell us a joke!"

The stumped look on Adam's face made Charlie and Maggie giggle through their tears.

"Just give me a moment," said Adam, trying to think of a funny story. "Oh! I remember one! It goes like this: One night, when a man and his wife were dining at a romantic restaurant, they heard a man at the table next to theirs, let out a loud 'BRAAACK!' Embarrassed, the burping man's wife scolded him for his lack of etiquette. Undaunted, he replied, 'Tis better to belch and bear the shame, than to squelch the belch and bear the pain!'"

Upon hearing this, the room melted into peals of laughter!

When everyone calmed down, Maggie helped Charlie carry the dessert bowls into the kitchen. Since that's where the others were, Maggie and Charlie slipped outside to the darkening, cool garden.

"Just listen to those crickets!" exclaimed Charlie, as she and Maggie found a comfortable place to sit beneath the shade tree.

Just then, Kevin stepped outside, and leaned against the house, still eating his fruit cocktail. He was trying not to get in their way, but at the same time, keeping Charlie in his line of sight all the while.

"Can you believe it?" asked Charlie to Maggie. "I have a bodyguard!"

"Why do you have to leave Twin Yucca?" repeated Maggie, this time a little braver than she was before.

"It's a lot of things combined," Charlie tried to explain. "For one thing, the house is too small for Adam, me, Grandma, and Daddy. I know it seems like there should be plenty of room, but both Grandma and Daddy can't go upstairs. Then there's the fact that Adam's address was leaked onto the Internet. Fans will be forever showing up here to get an autograph, or to have their picture taken with the famous Wallace Shipley. And that wouldn't be fair to neighbors like Mr. Garth. By the time you add in last night's incident into the equation, it's painfully obvious something's got to change."

"Why do things have to change?" sighed Maggie, heavily. "Just when I finally have a best friend, you're going to move away!"

"We're not moving to the moon!" exclaimed Charlie. "We can still call each other, and I'm sure we'll come back to visit, for Adam's family is here, and so is Uncle Jerome. It's too early to start mourning my departure, yet."

"I hope you don't go too far away," said Maggie.

"I hope so, too," said Charlie.

"So there you two are!" said Adam.

Upon realizing that the women had left them, the men came outside to enjoy the pleasant evening air with the women. Suddenly, a rustling noise was heard in the oleander bushes behind Charlie. Dropping his dessert to the ground, Kevin sprang into action. Grabbing Charlie by the arm, he rushed her into the house. As the others departed, a camera flash went off from the bushes.

"I'll get a squad car over here," said Jeff, going to the kitchen telephone.

"What happened?" asked Vera.

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