"I know I still have two more to go, if this works the way I recall," he replies, wry grin pulling at his features. "I won't go as far as to say I'll certainly appreciate the others, but yours, I do."

And he means it.

They leave the parlor and head back down the hallway. The door that will lead out to the porch isn't more than a half-dozen steps, down on the right.

"It's not often one gets the chance to revisit friends, when you're in my line of living."