Iola was standing out front. “Howdy, howdy!” she called when she saw them. She walked toward Elmer with her hand out, smiling. “Now,” she said, “you are Beverly’s friend. You are Elmer.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Elmer. He took hold of her hand.

“I’m Iola Jenkins.”

“How do you do?” he said.

“I do just fine,” said Iola. “My goodness, you’re tall. Do you dance?”

“Not really,” said Elmer. “I mean I never have. I don’t know how.”

“How about I teach you?” said Iola. “There’s a dance tomorrow night at the VFW. The three of us could go.”

“Iola,” said Beverly.

“Shhhhh,” said Iola. “Let the boy make up his own mind.” She pulled the flyer out of her dress pocket and presented it to Elmer. “Ta-da,” she said.

“Christmas in July,” Elmer read. He looked at Iola. “But it’s August.”

“You just think about it,” said Iola. She patted his arm and took the flyer from him, folded it, and put it back in her pocket. “For now, come on inside, both of you. I made tuna melts. And peas.”

They went into the trailer. Beverly and Elmer sat down at the little table. Iola put a sandwich down in front of Elmer. “Thank you,” he said.

Iola came back to the table with a tuna melt for Beverly and one for herself. She gave everyone a scoop of peas. “Scooch over, darling,” she said to Beverly.

Iola sat down in the chair next to Beverly with an “oof.” She smiled across the table at Elmer. She said, “It’s usually just her and me at this table, just the two of us. And before she showed up, it was just me. But now, there’s three. Three of us. That’s good. I like it when the numbers go up instead of down, don’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Elmer.

Nod came walking through the kitchen, his tail held high.

“That’s Nod,” said Iola.

“Yeah,” said Elmer. “I heard about Nod.”

“Watch,” said Beverly.

Nod leaped up on top of the refrigerator and put his back to them. His tail started twitching. He stared at the wall.

“What’s he looking at?” said Elmer.

“He’s looking for a door,” said Beverly.

“A door to another world,” said Elmer.

“Right,” said Beverly. She couldn’t help it. She smiled at him.

“No, no,” said Iola. “There’s only this world. Besides, Nod ain’t going anywhere just yet.”

“How did he get the name Nod?” asked Elmer.

“Because of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod,” said Iola, “who sailed off in a wooden shoe.”

“‘But I shall name you the fishermen three: Wynken, Blynken, and Nod,’” said Elmer.

“Yes,” said Iola. “Just like that. Only there aren’t three anymore. There used to be a Wynken and a Blynken. Now there’s just a Nod. That’s how it is when you get old: you watch all the people and all the cats and all the dogs — and oh, just everything and everyone — you watch them all marching on past you, leaving without you.”

Yeah, thought Beverly, I get it.

Iola looked down at her hands, and then back up again. She said, “And that is why you go to dances every chance you get.”

“Will you stop about the dance?” said Beverly.

“I’ll go,” said Elmer.

“What?” said Beverly.

Elmer shrugged. “I’ll go,” he said again.

“We’ll all go,” said Iola. She clapped her hands together. “Goody.”

After dinner, they went out onto the porch and played cards. The crickets started up, competing with the sound of the ocean.

Beverly closed her eyes. The EVERY HOUR IS HAPPY HOUR banner flashed through her mind, and she heard Elmer saying that he couldn’t wait to leave. And even though the world was loud with living things, she suddenly felt lonely.

She opened her eyes. “Elmer’s leaving,” she said to Iola. “He’s going to Dartmouth.”

“Is that right?” said Iola. “Now, where is that?”

“New Hampshire,” said Elmer.

“He’s going to be an engineer,” said Beverly. “But he really likes art.”

Elmer shrugged. “I like to look at art. And I like to draw.” His face got red. “I’m not that good at it, but I like it.”

“Well, why don’t you paint me?” said Iola. She put down her cards. “I have always wanted someone to paint my picture.”

“I can’t really paint,” said Elmer. “I just draw — with a pencil, a charcoal pencil.”

“I know what,” said Iola. “You should draw a picture of me from when I wasn’t old. That’s what you should do. Wait right here.” She got up and left the porch and came back a minute later holding a silver frame with a black-and-white picture in it.

“That’s me,” she said, pointing at a tiny smiling woman. “On my wedding day. And that’s Tommy, my husband. That’s me,” she said again. “Can you believe it?”

Beverly looked at the young Iola smiling out of the photograph.

“You were beautiful,” she said.

“Pshaw,” said Iola. “I was happy is all. I loved Tommy, and he loved me. You know how I met him? We was in a play together. I was six years old, and he was seven. He was the sun, and I was the moon. Can you believe it? The sun and the moon. They raised us up high on ropes, way up above the stage. First the sun went up, and then it came down. That was Tommy. And then the moon rose up, and that was me. First came the sun, and then came the moon. I still remember my line: ‘Oh, world, I cast my dappled light upon you.’”

“What was Tommy’s line?” said Elmer.

“‘I shine the livelong day. I shine strong and brave and true,’” said Iola. “And that was the truth. He did. He was a good man. And a good dancer! Oh, he could dance. Everyone danced then.”

“Do you want me to draw you?” said Elmer. “I could do it right now.”

“You could?” said Iola. “Me now? Or me then?”

“Both,” said Elmer, “if you want.”

He got up off the couch and went and got his book bag. He pulled out a sketch pad and a pencil. “Sit next to the lamp,” he said to Iola. “And hold yourself as still as you can.”

Nod came in from the kitchen, hopped into Beverly’s lap, and curled himself into a tight ball.

“Stupid cat,” said Beverly. She ran her hand over him — his small head and his bony back. Nod started to purr.

Elmer looked up at Iola, and then down at the paper, and then back up at Iola again. Moths flitted against the louvers of the porch, trying to get inside, closer to the light.

“I could draw you, too,” said Elmer, without looking at Beverly. “If you wanted.”

Nod purred louder.

“I don’t need anybody to draw me,” said Beverly.

“Oh, honey,” said Iola. “Don’t say that. It would be wonderful to have a picture of you.”

Elmer looked up from the sketch pad. He glanced at Beverly, and then he looked away.

He was smiling.