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glad to get back to school."
    "She's nice, Auntie Em," Debbie declared. "Thank you for bringing her over."
    "I'm glad, Deborah." Emily Harmon's face softened with unbelievable tenderness. "I'll leave you two alone now. I have some other work to do."
    "I'll take the breakfast tray back to the kitchen. I won't be long." Sue Ling made her exit from the room with the older woman.
    "Ruel told me he met you this morning," said Debbie.
    "Yes, I was lost. I had to ask him for directions," Julie admitted, making light of the matter.
    "I know. He told me," was the smiling response. Julie could just imagine what he had told her—your new teacher didn't know what a lanai was. "What did you think of him?" Debbie asked eagerly, and Julie was at a loss as to how to answer the question. But evidently an answer wasn't required. "All my girl friends think he's quite a hunk of man. They practically melt whenever he's around."
    "He is handsome." The edges of Julie's wide mouth twitched with a smile. She couldn't help wondering what Ruel Chandler's reaction was to this teenage adulation his sister implied.
    "He isn't really handsome. He's just so . . . virile," the girl settled on the adjective after a searching pause. Then she smiled at herself. "As you can tell, I think he's pretty great, too."
    "I know what you mean. I have an older brother, too. He's pretty special to me," Julie chose a safe response.
    "You do?"
    "Yes. He's married now, and he and his wife have two little girls. I haven't seen him in quite a while. They live in Michigan," Julie elaborated.
    "We have something in common."
    "I guess we do, Deborah," Julie smiled.
    Laughter sparkled in the dark eyes. "Call me Debbie—Deborah sounds so sophisticated. Aunt Em indulges in wishful thinking when she calls me that!"
    "Debbie it is, then."
    "What's your favorite subject?" The girl seemed determined to find something else in common with her new teacher.
    "American history."
    "Mine's English. What about math?"
    "It's my weak spot," Julie admitted.
    "Mine, too."
    "We both might be in trouble, then!"
    They talked for a while longer. Julie kept the conversation centered on Debbie's schoolwork, finding out what she had learned and what interested her. All the information she would obtain later that day from Debbie's teacher, but she wanted to get a feel of her pupil's reaction to learning. The vibrations were very positive.
    When Sue Ling came back, Julie used it as an excuse to leave. "I haven't unpacked my suitcases yet, so I guess I'd better get started. I'll talk to you later, Debbie."
    It was still raining when it came time to keep the appointment with Debbie's schoolteacher. Emily Harmon accompanied Julie, although she didn't take part in her discussion with the teacher. Julie couldn't make up her mind whether her employer was merely being polite or wanted to observe how knowledgeable Julie was with a fellow professional. Either way, Julie felt she had acquitted herself admirably and returned to the house with an armload of books, school records, and subject study schedules.
    "We have dinner promptly at seven," Emily told her on their arrival at the house. "I generally change but it isn't required for you to do so. And I have no objections at all if you choose to wear slacks to the table."
    Julie decided that since it was her first dinner, she should wear at least a nice skirt and blouse. Besides, the clothes she had on were damp from dashing in and out of the rain. Wearing an ocher gold skirt and a matching print blouse of silk, she came downstairs shortly before seven, and joined her employer in the living room. There was no sign of Ruel Chandler.
    Promptly at seven, Emily rose from her chair. "Shall we go in to dinner?"
    "But," Julie hesitated, "aren't you going to wait for your . . . nephew?"
    "He knows what time we have dinner. If he isn't here, we start without him," was the uncompromising answer.
    "With the rain and all, he might be delayed by the weather." Julie didn't