I opened the door for her. "I'll take you for a ride and tell you. Come on."

Everly climbed in, watched as I started the car, and every other little thing, like a photographer rapidly snapping endless shots of me as she took it all in as if committing it to memory.

I asked, "Comfortable?"

And she darted her eyes toward the windshield and said, "Yes and no."

"Why not?"

"Never had a boy take me for a ride in a fancy car."

"I'm twenty-four. Haven't been a 'boy' in a long time, Everly Anne."

"That's not helping my nerves."

"I'm not gonna try to woo you into the backseat if that's what you're worried about."

"So this will be a boring ride. Good to know."

I smiled as I put the car in reverse. "You can play with the radio if you'd like."

"Where are we going?" She leaned forward and toyed with the dial until she found an oldies station. "Oh, this is perfect." She turned "Earth Angel" up a notch.

"I'm hungry. There's a little retro diner downtown where we can keep this step-back-in-time theme running if you'll humor me."

She looked at me as we drove under the sleepy street lights. "Have you ever taken Amelia for a ride in this car?"

"No. Never. In fact, I don't even want to mention her name in this car."

"Your unwavering disinterest for the poor girl leaves me hopeful," she said. "Tell me about your history. What's the story behind your conception on a train?"

"My father tried to win my mother Julep's affection by wooing her on this fancy train called The Northern Belle." I glanced to Everly. "One ride and Julep was hooked. She had a book of all the ticket stamps they collected taking trips when my father had Christmas break. I was ticket number twelve. My father hadn't been home for more than an hour at a time in years, fresh out of med school. Noelle was like three or four years old, and you can imagine how desperate my mother was to get some alone time with my Pop." I laughed.

Everly laughed too. "I guess that plan back-fired."

"I imagine having two young kids while being married to a doctor wasn't the easiest, but she made it work."

"Dashing her dreams aside, too."

I nodded. "Yeah . . . but I never felt that from her. She never made any of us feel like she would have traded starlight for reality."

"Maybe it became her starlight. Dreams change all the time," she said.

"Maybe she was just a really good actress," I joked.

Everly countered, "Maybe she really wanted to drown you in the tub every night."

"Maybe she had a secret tunnel that led to an underground world while Noelle and I were napping."

"Maybe she was just a figment of your imagination and never existed. Maybe you don't even exist. Maybe this is all just a dream and the car is steering itself."

I laughed, but my words turned serious. "Maybe she was just a good mother."

Everly agreed, "Or you know we could be boring and say she was just a good mother."

My fingers swept across her cheek. "Forty-six? Can we pick up there? I'm pretty sure it's about right."

She looked confused. "Forty-six what?" she asked.

"Oh, I've been keeping count, ever since Montauk, of how many interesting qualities you have as evidence as to why I adore you. Figured why let a good differential go to waste. I had half a log-sheet filled out already."

At first she smiled, but then she soured. "And you're only at forty-six? I'm highly offended. I'm festooned with interesting qualities. Maybe you just have too many stars in your eyes to see them."

"Forty-seven," I added. "You know a lot of great words." Everly shook her head and relaxed into her seat. "Anyhow, that's a bit of my history."