“She seems to be your new best friend.”

“I think she is just sincerely curious, like so many people are. Some make judgment calls without even knowing anything about it. I was really pleased that she asked all those questions. She seemed not to have any prejudices in her at all but when faced with it she must have realized herself how naïve she was and wanted to be better informed.”

“I have an idea she’s not through asking questions yet because I think she’s getting the message.”

“So do I.”

“She just wants to make sure before she approaches him.”

“I would like to have heard their conversation after we left last night.”

“I’m hopeful,” I said.

“We’ll see what happens today.”

We met them in the lobby at ten. We hugged all around. They all seemed happy, particularly the children who were raring to go. As we strolled along, Chuck explained that the River Walk covers three miles along the Milwaukee River, starting north through the Beerline, through the city’s downtown and down to the Historic Third Ward.

From the Hyatt we entered the center of River Walk, in the downtown area. There was an obvious fondness for beer from Blatz to Pabst to Schlitz to Miller to Leinenkugel because their signs were everywhere. There were taverns, breweries and restaurants that blazed beer neon but besides that we saw a Border’s book store, more hotels, theaters, shops, parks, museums, just about everything one would expect to see in an area representative of its city’s past and present. And of course there was the river with water traffic and commercial rides.

We opted to walk because it was a beautiful summer day. We enjoyed the path along the downtown’s formal promenade with its colorful hanging baskets of flowers to the more natural wooden boardwalk and tall grasses in the Third Ward. There were sculptures to appreciate along the way, as well as the architectural and historical heritage touches of the city.

Melissa was less partial this morning. I thought she might want to tag along with Bette but we walked as couples with the kids weaving in and out of us. It made me wonder if Chuck and Melissa just wanted to observe us together, to see how we interacted, to see if they could see the love, rather than just the friendship. I also wondered if they were seeing us differently today compared to yesterday. In any case, there was a feeling that all of our actions were being watched.