Read Honeymoon for Three for Free Online Page A

silence them. Forever.
    No. He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t kill
Penny. Gary, yes. He could kill Gary in the blink of an eye.
Easily. Without remorse. But Penny might still be his. She might
see the light. Recognize that he was the only one who truly loved
her. For months he had watched her from a distance. He had been
afraid to approach her, afraid that she would reject him. Just like
the one other girl he had been brave enough to approach had
rejected him. But now he was ready to act. He had to act—before it
was too late.
    He silently backed away from the tent until
he couldn’t hear the noises inside. Slowly his insides cooled. His
skin cooled off more rapidly, matching the temperature of the night
air. He shivered. He forced himself to start walking back toward
his car. He needed to get some sleep. If he could.

    CHAPTER 5
    Penny laughed as
she put a dime into the slot that turned on the water for the
shower. A shower with class—cobwebs,
peeling paint, and aromatic canvas curtains. What a way to start
her wedding day. A nontraditional wedding day if there ever were
one. Their conformity scores had been correct.
    She and Gary had met through a computer
matching service called Human Inventory. Although as Gary, the
IBMer, had pointed out, the probability that the service actually
used a computer in 1964 was not high. Computers were just barely up
to that kind of challenge, and the programmers who could make them
work were still too scarce for a startup company to
employ.
    The concept sounded good. Even if
they’d only used a punched card sorter, it had worked for her and
Gary. All applicants had taken a series of tests for interests and
attitudes. Interests of matched couples didn’t have to coincide
exactly; some diversity was good, but the scores should be close on
several attitudes. And they were. They had both scored very low on
conformity. Thus her easy acceptance of the current situation. And
they had both scored high on—she peeked through the curtains to
make sure nobody else was about, afraid that somebody might read
her thoughts—attitude toward sex. Those scores had also been
correct.
    ***
    Gary fired up the Coleman stove he
and Penny had purchased by pooling their Blue Chip Stamps and
pondered how his life had changed so much in four short months.
Well, okay, six months. Although it was just four months since
Penny and he had met each other face to face. But for two months
before that they had corresponded anonymously, through Human
Inventory. He was Adam plus a number, and she was Eve.
    Their letters covered a lot of
territory, and by the time they went on their first date to the San
Diego Zoo, they knew each other better than many couples do after
months—or years—or forever. Gary wondered what would have happened
if one or both of them hadn’t been truthful in the letters. They
would certainly have found out on that marathon first date which
had lasted twelve hours. It would have been two months down the
drain, but then, life was a risky business.
    Fortunately, they had been
truthful, and they were still being truthful with each other.
Although, Penny hadn’t told him about the notes and phone calls she
had received until the night before last. However, he trusted her,
and she trusted him.
    Since their families were both on
the east coast, if they were going to get married at all it was
easier to do it this way than try to coordinate from long distance.
He had mentioned the possibility of marriage to his mother on the
phone a few weeks ago. She had immediately started naming the dates
they weren’t available, including right now. They were in Europe on
an extended vacation.
    He put a pot of water on the stove
to heat for cocoa, and a frying pan for eggs. He was happier than
he’d ever been.
    ***
    Alfred didn’t know whether it was
the sunlight or the cold or the noises of other campers that woke
him, but as soon as he opened his eyes, he was startled enough to
take a quick look at his