Betty leaned against the bar heavily, half watching the TV, half-watching Justin. If only he weren't looking at her in that worshipful way! It unsettled her, made her feel as if she owed him something! Betty smiled wondering if she should carry her drink back to her bedroom.

"You know, Mrs. Harrington, I think you're a beautiful woman," Justin said.

The remark caught Betty off guard. She trembled, her fingers tightening around the while a tremor shook her entire body. She smiled nervously, pushing a stray stand of blonde hair from her eyes.

"Why, thank you!"

No one had really told her anything like that since her husband had died in a car accident three years before. It flattered Betty and made her warm a little more toward the handsome, tall young man standing in front of her.

"And I think you're intelligent too. I mean," Justin said, coughing into his hand, "to raise Brian and Kathy the way you have, all alone, has got to take a lot of strength and all that." Betty nodded, feeling a rush of loneliness and despair wash over her. It had been difficult. But it was something she didn't want to think of right now. That job was over. Betty knew both her children were growing up and would be ready to leave in a few years. There was time for her now. But who was around to help her share it?

"Perhaps I'd better leave. It's getting late and…"

Betty started to walk from the room. But Justin moved away from the television, seeming to block her way. She was a little drunk, feeling the liquor burn through her belly.