It was like she was in a trance, her eyes half closed and a tiny smile on her face."Julie," Arnie said. "Did you hear the door? We have a customer out...front." They can wait," Julie said. "The donuts are almost done." She didn't even look at Arnie; she just kept focused on the oven."Don't worry about the donuts," Arnie said. "I'll get them out of the oven when they're done. Go wait on the customer, please." No," Julie said. She still seemed in a trancelike state, but there was an edge to her. . maybe not until the sun was sliding up to the up over the grassy rolling hills outside of Elston.The coins tinkled into the machine, he dialed the number, staring out of the glass cage, watching a VW van full of teenagers make an abrupt, illegal U-turn in the middle of the intersection. Losing count of the rings, he finally gave up and slammed the receiver back on the cradle, waiting long enough for the nickels to tinkle down into the tray, then, scraping his fingers to retrieve the change,. The scene shifted to some other nameless beach abandoned to the possession of a handful of gulls.“Kenny,” she turned away from her hands and looked at me, “do you love her?”I closed my eyes to think, listening to my heart’s rhythm.“Yes,” I paused for another thought. “More than life itself.”“Why?”“Why do you?” Another pause followed before I added, “why does Sherry?”Kim broke into a half-smile and said with a forced laugh, “she’s like that, isn’t she?”“Yes, she is.”“She loves you.”With wave. It was signed, With all my loveJohn Bartholomew Maycroft. Tears flowed, she poured herself brandy and became silent and withdrawn excusing herself for an early undisturbed night. Next day she had Mike drive her to the gatehouse, the huge and ornate gates only symbolically shut for one day each year now just to say it is no public right of way, they now stood silently open tin the sunlight he cool breeze not strong enough to rattle them in there clips. She dismissed Mike sending him to the.