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looked at the photo, then at him, then back to the photo. “You sure have a strong gene pool in your family.”
    “This is my cousin Yesenia and her family,” he continued. “And this is my sister-in-law Lauren and my twin nephews Dylan and Diego.” In the picture both boys were hanging onto the seemingly petite woman’s neck like it was a life preserver.
    “They love their mama.” Lucy laughed.
    Antonio laughed too. “My brother says he hasn’t got laid since they were born.”
    “You have a nice-looking family, Antonio. You can see the love shining in all of their eyes.”
    “Thanks,” he said as he put his phone in his pocket.
    “And I take it they’re all wondering what’s taking you so long to settle down?”
    “And why do you think that?” he quipped.
    “Because why else would you be so far away from all that love?”
    Antonio didn’t respond.
    “Forget I said anything.”
    “No, I’ll answer. I honestly don’t know.” He sighed. “And what about you?”
    “What makes you think my family doesn’t live in this town?”
    “Because you look like you’re all alone,” he said solemnly. “Even that day when you were standing in the circle, you looked like you were all alone.”
    “That sounds rather pathetic.” Lucy bit her lip.
    “No, not at all.” He smiled.
    “I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.” She sighed as she directed a forkful of brownie into her mouth. “Thank you. This was very nice.”
    “You’re welcome.” He looked at his watch. “It’s getting late. I’ll walk you out.”
    “I don’t want to go.” She sighed again.
    “What do you want to do? Sleep here?” He laughed.
    “I wish I could.” Lucy cleared her throat. “You know you are tolerable when you’re not trying to be charming.”
    “Thank you, I guess?” he said with a slight smile.
    “I think,” Lucy said, “that you and I could be friends.”
    “I think so too,” he said, his smile way too big.
    “Without all the crap. OK?”
    He felt like he needed a referee to come in and define crap for him. He knew she didn’t like the whole subtle seduction bit. This was her way of keeping him at bay. The crap included reining in hormones and refraining from looking like a wolf donning a checkered napkin around his neck and a knife and fork in his hand.
    “OK, Lucy.” He held out his hand to help her up off the stage floor.
    Antonio went to the power panel and turned off the stage lights while Lucy repacked the bag. As they made their way to the theater doors, he looked back to see the progress she’d made with the trees. Although she’d just started, there was something about the beginning of those trees that spoke to him.
    “Your trees are looking good.”
    “It’s only just the beginning.” She sighed.
    Antonio looked at her for a moment. His mind was echoing the same sentiment.
     
    * * *
     
     
    Antonio walked Lucy home, their agreement making her chatty and bold. Her incessant talking reminded him of…well, every woman in his life back in Jersey. And he was surprised at how much like music it sounded to him. He personally avoided chatty women, for they often wanted him to respond to some of the things they said and he was always half listening. But Lucy’s chatty was a cross between an infomercial and a trivia game show. They stopped at an animated art deco apartment building that looked like she belonged there and said good night. After she’d gone into the building, he snapped a few pictures of the exterior and headed back to Felix’s place.
    He stepped gingerly, not wanting to wake Felix. It was well after midnight.
    There was no need; when he opened the door Felix was sitting on the couch watching the food channel. “Make any progress?”
    “Sure. I took a lot of great shots tonight.” Antonio reflected his mysterious smile.
    “Take another shot at the set designer?”
    “No. We had a very nice dinner, thanks to you, and got to know each other a bit.”
    “And?” Felix