Honeymoon for Three

instructions didn’t come with the laces. He thinks the solution to the world’s problems is duct tape.”
    “Now, Mattie, don’t start in.” The man frowned and spoke sharply.
    “Where’s your campsite?” Mattie asked Alfred.
    “Uh, it’s funny you should mention that. I guess…I guess I no longer have a campsite.”
    “What the hell does that mean?” Don asked.
    “Well, my wife and I were camped down the road a bit. Last night we had a fight. This morning I went to the restroom. When I returned, she was gone. Lock, stock, camping equipment, everything. Just took the truck and drove off.”
    “You poor thing,” Mattie said. “How long have you been married?”
    “About a year. The first few months were fun, but it’s gone downhill from there.”
    “Well, come and have breakfast with us. It’s the least we can do since you fixed our engine. Don’t just stand there, Don, give—”
    “Alfred.”
    “Give Alfred a cup of coffee.”
    “Hell yes,” Don said. “Mattie makes the strongest coffee you ever tasted. Do you take it black or do you adulterate it?”
    “Black.”
    “Good. We’re going to get along fine.”
    ***
    Although Gary had done some writing in his time, it had been mostly journalistic reporting, when he was in school, and technical writing, both for school and his job with IBM. Thus he had a hard time finding words to describe the beauty of the Tetons while writing in the log.
    Words like beautiful and gorgeous didn’t fill the bill. He needed a new vocabulary to tell about the soaring, snow-covered peaks that rose above the meadows and lakes and were reflected in the mirror-like surface of blue water. Gently waving grasses and the ubiquitous pine trees completed the picture.
    Grand Teton Mountain, at a little under 14,000 feet, was just one of a number of peaks that lined the horizon. Gary had climbed some mountains, including a 14,000 footer in Colorado, but you needed training and a guide to climb Grand Teton. It was dangerous, otherwise. He wasn’t sure he was ready for that.
    “Wow,” was all he could say to Penny as they drove the loop road, stopping often to drink in the view.
    “This is the way I picture a paradise like that described in Lost Horizon ,” Penny said. “A place where you would be perfectly happy and where the cares of the world couldn’t penetrate.”
    “That sounds good to me. May I quote you in the log?”
    “Only if you give me attribution.”
    ***
    Mattie knew how to cook. Bacon, eggs, and coffee had never tasted so good to Alfred. It beat his own cooking all to heck. He gathered from what they said during breakfast that they were outdoorsy people who actually enjoyed roughing it in a campground. Don worked in a lumber mill, and Mattie was a nurse in Crescent City. They didn’t have any children.
    “Where do you call home?” Mattie finally asked Alfred.
    He had been working on an answer to that question. “Los Angeles. We’ve got an apartment not far from the beach. Of course, I don’t know whether I’ll be welcome there when I get back. First I have to get back.”
    “You’re a long way from home,” Don said.
    “Yeah, and I don’t have a lot of money.”
    “Well, you know what,” Mattie said. “If it would help, why don’t you ride along with us to Crescent City?”
    Don said, “Mattie—” Don said.
    “No, it makes sense. You can sleep on the top bunk. You can be our resident mechanic. If anything goes wrong with this crate, you can fix it. And it’s a lot easier to take a Greyhound bus from Crescent City to L.A. than it is from here.”
    Don glowered into the distance, but he didn’t say anything.
    “That’s a very kind offer,” Alfred said, “but I couldn’t possibly impose on you. I don’t know how I’ll do it, but I’ll find a way to get home.”
    “Do you play backgammon?” Don asked.
    He had played a little. At least he knew the rules. “Sure.”
    “Okay, you can come with us. Mattie won’t play with me. She’s a good wife. Best cook I’ve ever known. And she’s a nurse—takes care of me when I’m sick. But she won’t play any damn games.”
    “After taking care of patients and taking care of you, I’m too tired to play games.”
    So that was settled. Alfred was elated. It had been easier than he had hoped. He knew that Penny and Gary were planning to drive down the coast, so they would be going through Crescent City. He would be their welcoming committee. There was another advantage to