It was a side of her husband Grace had never seen before, and somehow it pleased her to discover that she could cause him such discomfort. Perhaps, she thought, he wasn't as cold and unemotional towards her she had supposed.

"I think I'll turn in a little early tonight," Alex announced later that evening as they were gathered together in the living room. "Two weeks of sleeping on the hard ground and rising with the birds has left me a little done in."

"The boys can do with an early bed too," Grace said, noting how the boisterous voices had geared down to a low mutter.

"Well, you heard your aunt, fellows," Alex told them, rising from the easy chair he had been sitting quietly in. "Let's go see what it feels like to sleep in a soft bed again."

Shortly after they left the room Clare volunteered to put the smaller children to bed. As Peggy had already gone up to her room this left Pat and Grace alone.

"Have you and Alex had a fight?" Pat demanded coming to sit down on the couch next to her sister.

"Why do you ask that?" Grace demanded, trying to sound amused, but failing.

"Why?" Pat echoed with a sad smile. "With Alex waiting all evening for you to give him a kind word or look, and you going about as if he weren't in existence? And then, after being away for two weeks, to go to bed early, . . . alone. What am I to think? Was the fight, . . was it about me?"

"You?" Grace asked, her brows wrinkling, and then she laughed. "Well, not directly. It seems Alex learned Tim was spending his days here and in typical male fashion added two and two and got five."

"What's wrong with his being a little jealous?" Pat demanded, leaning back in the sofa. "I should think you would be flattered. After all, Tim is very nice and quite handsome."

Grace glanced at her sister and smiled. "I'm sure he is that, but I'm married to Alex."

"Then start acting like it," the girl ordered. "After two weeks of sulking around the house, you sit down here letting him go off to bed by himself. Really, Grace, I thought you were the mature one."

"I have to look in on the children before I go to bed." Grace said lamely.

"I'll do that. I've watched you often enough to know your routine. You git! Why, Alex is probably up there waiting to apologize."

But when she opened her bedroom door there was no sign of Alex. The quiet had never seemed so empty, she thought, as she moved about getting ready for bed. To cheer herself up she slipped into her cherry red nightgown.

Not to bad, she thought as she did a half turn in front of the full-length mirror and noted the flowing skirt, dipping neckline and thin spaghetti straps.

She was sitting down before her dresser taking the pins out of her hair when the knock at their dividing door came.

"Grace may I come in for a moment?" his voice was soft and pleading, but Grace, for some reason was suddenly to speechless to tell him that the door wasn't locked.

She rose to her feet but before she could open the door she heard Alex moving away. For a moment tears prickled behind her eyes. He hadn't been all that eager to talk with her, had he, she thought, her hand dropping from the knob where she had been about to open the door that stood between them.

A cool gust of air made her aware that the balcony door was being opened. She turned and found herself facing Alex as he stepped into the room still dressed in his pale blue shirt and black slacks.

"Alex," she muttered, taking a step toward him. But as then, noting his grim face she paused, frozen in place.

"I can't rest until I know it's all right between us, Grace," he explained, moving so close that Grace could see the throbbing of the veins in his temples. His eyes burned into hers as he tried to explain. "I behaved like a fool. I should have known you'd never encourage another man. You've been such a help to me, never complaining, always willing to back me in whatever I wanted to try. Blame the trip, blame my stupid male vanity, only don't take your friendship away from me, Grace."

His hands moved out as if to implore her, but then somehow he was grabbing her arms, as though to hold her, make her listen to him. She found herself looked up into the deep, pleading eyes.

Was she moving toward him or was he drawing her? Her hands went up to his shoulders and slid higher about to encircle his neck. A loud knocking broke them apart just as Alex was bending his face toward hers. As his hands dropped to his side Grace swayed and then steadied herself.

"May I come in for a moment?" It was Peggy's voice, Peggy standing here as Alex opened the door.

"I'm sorry to disturb you," she said, stepping into the room. "I won't take but a minute. I . . I just wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I've been behaving lately. I've been awful mean to you, Uncle Alex, even though I know how much you've done for us."

"We all make mistakes, your Uncle Alex included," he said, his eyes flashing toward Grace.

"Well, I didn't have to be such a jerk. It wasn't until Aunt Pat laid some pretty heavy stuff on me that I realized what Rex was really after. Guess I was looking at the wrong side of things."

"Glad you've decided to join the family again," Alex declared, smiling. "I hope you realize that I just want the best for you kids. What say we forget the whole Massey matter?"

"Sure, Uncle Alex. Good night, Aunt Grace, I hope you sleep better tonight," she added before shutting the door quietly behind her.

There was a moments silence before Alex moved closer to Grace. But before he could reach her he paused, his face darkening as he noticed the red marks Grace had been unconsciously rubbing on her arms.

"Have you had trouble sleeping?" he asked.

"Just bad dreams about water and, and things," she said, at a lost to explain.

"Your husband's drowning?" he demanded, his face betraying none of the depression that suddenly swept over him. How could he have been such a blind idiot? To have pushed their relationship to the breaking point as he had? First by questioning her loyalty, and then by almost, almost....

"Yes, I've been dreaming about my husband," she said in response to his question, a strange change coming into her voice.

"You, you still love him very much, don't you?"

Grace didn't answer and Alex sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry Grace. What more can I say? I'm sorry."

He crossed to the door and paused. "I ... I'll try and do better from now on."

He noted the unlocked door and added stiffly,

"You'd best keep the door locked, Grace. As you've no doubt noted, I'm only human." And taking one last look at her in a way that brought the blood streaming up to her cheeks, he closed the door softly between them.

For a moment Grace stood where he had left her, and then she flung herself face down on the bed. She swallowed hard, fighting to keep back the tears.

Alex didn't love her, he had only given in to a moment of physical desire. If Peggy hadn't come when she had, Grace would have melted into his arms. Now, she must never let him know how much she really cared for him. She must go on being content to be just a good friend, and not really a wife at all.

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