Meeting my grandfather, my Pop-Pop was wonderful. My father and Lily hadn't come back from frolicking at the Miramar, so we had time to ourselves. He insisted that we go somewhere private, away from prying eyes, and I agreed. The diner, slowly becoming my safety zone, was the best I could offer. Especially since, I had to vomit twice after Stevie left the house.

He was waiting for me when I arrived. I'd called a taxi, not feeling up to another long walk with my stomach still revolting against the idea of putting anything in my mouth. He stood up as soon as I walked in, staring at me as though he were looking at a ghost.

"Lizzie?" Getting closer to him, he held his arms open and I stepped into his embrace with a sigh. "Oh, sweetheart," he kissed the top of my head. "You look just like my Doris." I smiled into his shirt as he held me tight. "No worries, Lizzie, Pop-Pop is here."

We sat in the same booth that I'd shared with Ike. Me on one side, my grandfather on the other. He couldn't stop staring at me and I was growing a bit embarrassed. "Tell me about him." Ike. The first thing he wanted to know about was Ike.

"I met him not long after Father insisted I come 'home'." I was remembering my first walk to the Miramar Playa. "I saw him punch a man in a picket line. He looked unruffled and sure." Wistfully, I told him about my lunch. About how Ike had given me a tour of his dream come to life. "Nothing happened, not for some time actually." I wanted him to understand that neither of us took it lightly, the infidelity, the immorality. "We kissed once, but Father insisted I go stay for a week. To give him an unbiased idea of how successful the resort really was, and that's when-" I took a deep breath. "I cut it off. His wife," he was nodding, listening and staring at me as though I were telling him a fairy tale, which I supposed it was. "She befriended me. And I guess, seeing her as a person-"

"Made it harder for you to continue?" I nodded and stared at my hands on the table. "But it did continue?" Another nod. "And now you're in trouble?"

"The test results aren't back yet." Barely a whisper. "He loves me, Pop-Pop. And I-"

"You were a pawn in a game your father wanted to play, mammy." He shook his head. "Now the father of my great-grandbaby," I shook my head. "Come now, you can't keep anything down, we don't need the test to tell us what we already know, Lizzie." I felt like the weight of the world was crashing down on me. "He's in jail, for first degree, and his wife is rushing around playing the role he told you was yours." He shook his head. "I want to talk to his lawyer." Another nod from me. "Let me hear what he says about this Klein. You prepared to leave?"

"If it's necessary." I didn't want to, but what else could I do? "What about Father?"

"Ben and I are going to have a very long chat, Lizzie. And he's not gonna like what I have to say." He sighed, then reached for my hand. "Listen, the baby, it's my blood. It's your blood. It doesn't need this putz that can't seem to make up his mind about you." I opened my mouth to argue, but stopped. Maybe he was right. "At least he sent a warning about this State's Attorney being interested in you. For that, I give him the benefit of the doubt. But that's it, my Lizzie. That's all he's getting."

"I was just as wrong, Pop-Pop." He shook his head. "I was. I gave in, I fell in love with him."

"You only hurt yourself, mammy. He's hurting his family." He shook his head. "And your father, he put all this in motion. I was coming anyway, but this," another shake, "this is too much." He studied me, his eyes tight. "You're beautiful, Lizzie, but you look exhausted. Let Pop-Pop take care of things? I'll get you home with your family, and you'll see, it'll all be better." I hoped he was right.

I called the Miramar and asked to be put through to the Atlantis. Stevie, by some stroke of wonder, answered.

"Stevie? It's Liz, could you please have Mr. Raskin call me?" He sounded confused, but I told him I'd spoken to the lawyer the previous night. "Please?"

"Yeah, sure, Liz. I'll call his office now." I thanked him and hung up, turning back to the room I'd lived in during the most complicated time of my life so far. Pop-Pop was with my father, so far no shots had been fired, but I was too focused on packing to really focus on any noises coming from outside my locked door.

I was wrapping my framed photographs when the phone rang and Lily called up to tell me it was for me. Tossing down the scarf I was planning on wrapping my family photo in, I picked up the receiver and listened as the click came from downstairs.

"Hello?" I offered, and sighed in relief that it was Mr. Raskin. "Thank you for getting back to me, Mr. Raskin."

"I think you've earned the right to call me Sid, Miss Diamond." I smiled. "Stevie said you sounded worried when you called, what can I do for you?"

"Could you meet me?" The phone wasn't safe, and I didn't want the poor man at the house around Father when he discussed the situation with my grandfather. "I, you wanted me to contact someone to help me, and he wants to hear all of the information from you."

"Sure, same place?" I agreed and he said he could be there in two hours. Setting the time and place, he signed off by telling me, "Ike wants to be sure you know he's worried about your stress, Miss Diamond. He wants you to be safe, and he wants you to keep the worrying down."

"Easier said than done, Sid." I promised we'd be there at the arranged time, and I hung up, sighing at the thought of having to go downstairs and being forced to face my father.

I didn't have to, it turned out. A soft knock on my door, followed by my grandfather asking to come inside made life a little easier. I invited him in and he took a glance around, the clothes still unpacked, but the photographs tucked carefully in their case. His eyes landed on the last bracelet I'd worn out to dinner that I hadn't put away.

"Doris loved this piece." My head, which was bent over the case I used for my vanity, snapped up. "You didn't know?" I shook my head. "I sent the package to Ben, all of my girl's jewelry, for him to forward it to you. There was a letter, I told you how much you reminded me of her, and how much I missed seeing you toddle toward me, though you were about thirteen by then, so you were well past that stage." I wondered how he knew what I looked like. "I have photos. I was kept updated about your-" More spying, I thought, but this wasn't nearly as invasive as what my father had done since I arrived in Miami.

"There wasn't a letter." I was staring at him as he let that knowledge hit. "And the jewelry? I got it in dribbles and drabs." He shook his head and shot a dirty look toward my door. "I would have written back."

"I wondered." He sat down on the foot of my bed. "I sent cards. I sent letters. Nothing." I put my hand on his shoulder and he looked up at me. "I thought you hated me. That you were angry that I forced Ben's hand and sent you to what I thought was safety."

"You couldn't have known-" No one could have guessed at the evil lurking in Germany. "No one knew." I considered his confession though. "You wanted me far away from our family?"

"I wanted you free and clear of us, at least until you were old enough to-" He looked at my midsection and sighed. "I wanted none of our stain on you. I wanted you to have a better shot of it, Lizzie. I promised your mama." I sat beside him on the bed and he took the hand I'd put on his shoulder in his. "She realized, too late, that she should have picked-" he shook his head. "She regretted staying so close to home. When she died, I always felt she knew it was coming, cause she came to me and made me promise to get you free of it. Of him, of us." It was loaded, the way he admitted Ben's danger, but his as well. He was staring at my hand. "And here you are, in the thick of it, just like she didn't want."

I thought changing the subject might be warranted. "Ike's attorney called." He was listening, even as he was tracing the veins on the back of my hand. "He'll meet us at the diner, in-" I checked the clock, "about an hour."

"Good." He looked up and took in how fast I was packing everything up. "And you're packing fast."

"Hazard of travelling extensively during breaks." It was true, I'd lived out of my suitcases for most of my life after school. "Leaving school was an adventure. I had Europe as my playground."

"You were happy?" I considered the question.

"I had moments of pure joy." He met my eyes, hearing the pain in my voice. "I felt unwanted most of the time. Orphaned."

"That wasn't my intention, Lizzie." I nodded. "I just wanted to keep you safe."

And here he was, trying to do it again.

We were getting ready to leave for the diner when I was told the call that had just been answered was for me. "Hello?" I was trying to decide if I should try a few crackers, on the off chance that I could get strength from the tiny bit of nourishment, while Pop-Pop held my purse.

"Liz," I shut my eyes hearing Vera's voice saying my name. "You've heard, I'm sure."

"I have, but Vera, I'm heading out right now." Pop-Pop's eyes were on me, I could feel them. "I'm sorry, but it's an important appointment, could we talk later?"

"Sure," she sounded like I'd slapped her. "Of course you have other commitments." She didn't sound convinced about that, and I could hear her thinking about how I don't really socialize outside of her, Ike's family, and my own.

"It's a doctor's appointment, Vera." And I heard her intake of breath. There it was, her realization that I was sick. "If I didn't feel so horrible, I'd cancel, but-"

"I'm so sorry, Liz, I-" She sighed and my eyes opened to confirm the heavy feeling of being observed while I lied to my lover's wife. "Go, we'll talk later. I hope you feel much better."

"Thank you, and we WILL talk," I just didn't offer her a time or mention that I might be far away when it took place.

Pop-Pop listened as I said my goodbye and hung up. "You don't like lying to her." I shook my head and took my purse from him. "Then don't." Simple, but also very difficult. "You're leaving, Lizzie, might as well burn the damn town down on your way out." I gave a disbelieving chuckle as we headed to see Sid. "You're a Berman, Elizabeth, never forget that." And with his hand on my lower back, he guided me from Ben's house and into a waiting car.

The diner. Would I ever be able to associate it with anything or anyone other than Ike? Probably not, I thought, finding Sid waiting in 'our' booth. Pop-Pop and Sid stood as I slid across the bench to settle by the window, and then they joined me. My grandfather beside me, Sid, looked less sweaty and nervous than during our prior meeting, took the seat across from us. I made the introductions and saw the bobbing of the lawyer's Adam's apple and his hand shake as he took Pop-Pop's.

"Mr. Berman." Another bob, a tell tale sign of a hard swallow. I glanced at Pop-Pop and tried to see him from Sid's point of view, but he still just looked like my grandfather. His reputation must precede him like my father's. "Miss Diamond said you wanted to speak to me?"

"Tell me about Isaac's situation and how it affects my Lizzie." And Sid, taking a deep breath to calm himself, and told Pop-Pop much the same story he'd given me. He stopped only twice, once when the waitress asked if we needed anything, and a second time when she brought coffee for Pop-Pop and seltzer water for me. When Sid came to the part where Klein had threatened Ike with my discomfort, I felt my grandfather stiffen beside me. Hearing it reaffirmed, I supposed, made it more troubling.

"This Klein," he took a sip of his coffee and sighed. "He's dangerous." Looking at me, he gave a comforting smile and patted my hand. "You finish packing tonight, Lizzie, and you'll be on a plane in the morning." I started to ask where I'd be going, but he held up a hand. Giving Sid a sideways glance, he offered, "the less anyone knows, the better." Oh.

"I won't be able to say goodbye," it hit me then, that Ike had sent this warning, but I wouldn't be able to see him before I left. All my ire about the photos that Ben taunted me with, all the uncertainty fell away and the urge to see him, to touch him was nearly overwhelming. "Will I?"

Both men looked at me with such sadness and pity that I wanted to scream, but I just shook my head at the complete mess I'd become entangled in. "It's better this way," Pop-Pop promised. "You don't need the strain right now, Lizzie."

I nodded, but I felt such a flash of pain at not being able to see his face one more time that I was happy I was seated, because I was certain that if I had been on my feet, my knees would have given way.

"I can give him a message," Sid offered, like a gift. I was about to ask if he could deliver a note, but Pop-Pop seemed to know where my mind had gone.

"Nothing in writing, sweetheart." Of course, Klein again. "No calls, no visits, no notes. It's safer this way." Safer, but no less heartbreaking.

"Tell him-" What? That I love him? That I wish he was coming with me? That I wanted his hand in mine when I got the confirmation I was more sure was coming from the test, to see his eyes light up and his dimples deepen at being right? I swallowed past the pain building and sighed. "Tell him I wish this-" A deep breath and I closed my eyes. "I wish that things were different." So far from everything I wanted to say, but Sid couldn't carry it to him. It had to come from my lips, I had to see his face when I said it.

"It's time to go, Lizzie." I nodded and gave Sid my hand. He took it and covered it with his other hand. "I'll be in touch," he promised Ike's attorney, and then we were gone. Back to Father's house, back to packing up my life, and back to having no real home to call my own.