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"Gonzales."
"Right, Officer Gonzales. Is he doing okay?"
"Yeah, he's good. I think he likes his new partner better than me, which kinda hurts my feelings."
"I doubt that, too."
"What? That he likes his new partner better, or that I can have my feelings hurt?"
"That he likes his new partner better."
He shrugged. "Maybe Gonzales is just trying to make me jealous." They smiled together. His faded first. "But I do have feelings, and they can get hurt."
"You wouldn't be human otherwise."
"Oh, I'm human. Real human. Very human." He looked down at her left hand, where, in the last few seconds, her engagement ring had taken on the weight of an anchor. "How are the wedding plans coming?"
The smile she flashed him felt artificial. "Great. Moving right along. Lots of details to see to."
"Parties to attend."
"Yes. There have been a few."
"Couple of weeks ago, I saw your picture in the society section of the Chronicle."
"You read the society section?"
"Didn't used to. I started scanning it a few months ago. Never read the Sunday real estate section, either. Now I never miss." He let those statements resonate for several seconds before continuing. "Anyway this picture showed you and Campton standing together under those"--he waggled his fingers above his head--"those whachamacallits hanging from the trees."
"Japanese lanterns."
"Yeah. Looked like a swell shindig. The article said the governor was there."
"Roger's parents are friends with him and his wife."
"Huh. Will they be at the wedding?"
"They're on the guest list."
"Who'll be there on your side? Your family?"
"I don't have a family. No brothers or sisters. My parents are deceased."
"Oh. Sorry."
"Don't be. I was a late-in-life child. They'd given up ever having a baby. I was a menopausal surprise."
"A good one, I'll bet."
She smiled wistfully. "Mom and Dad were very happy to have me, and I was fortunate to have them. They were middle-class wage earners and proud to be. My mother was a lady, my father a gentleman. Both had a strong work ethic. They loved God, and country, and me. They lived their life expectancy, but I was relatively young when I lost them. Being an orphan is no fun."
"It has its perks."
She looked at him with surprised puzzlement.
He rolled his shoulders as though his jacket had suddenly become too tight. "My mom was okay. She died when I was in seventh grade. My dad and I didn't get along that well, so we just tried to stay out of each other's way till I was old enough to leave home."
"How old were you?"
