Eddie awoke with a shock. Sunlight was just filtering through the windows. He looked down at his watch to find that it was not yet seven in the morning, but he remembered that the Southern sun had a nasty habit of getting brighter earlier. The dream had definitely left him shaken. He rose from the couch and ran his fingers through his thick dark hair but carefully avoided a mirror; he knew that he must have looked horrible.

He thought that he heard music coming from the kitchen but it was someone singing, Polly singing. "If we both were born in another place and time this moment might be ending with a kiss, but there you are with yours and here I am with mine so I guess we'll just be leaving it at this..." Listening to Polly just talking was like a song alone, the velvety drawl that was almost like a sensual purr, but when she sang it was a candy sweet soprano. "I will never understand why people play that song at weddings," Eddie said sleepily from the doorway and Polly muffled a squeak of alarm. "What do you mean?" She asked trying to maintain her composure.

"The song you were just singing, 'I Honestly Love You.' It's actually really depressing," Polly laughed softly and continued to hand wash the dishes. "Where's Luke?" Eddie asked as he noted the absence of Polly's young son. "Sunday school, he'll be home around noon with some of his friends to have lunch and toss things around the yard. I have to go down to the hospital in about half an hour if you'd like to come with me or you can hang around here or go into town" Eddie shook his head. "No, I think that I'll come with you, I'd rather be an subtle figure in our pretty little town for a while more"

"Did you sleep alright?" Polly asked and for a minute Eddie considered it a trick question but the he realized she didn't know about the dream he had had about her. "Yeah I guess, but I kept getting headaches during the night, I don't really know why" Polly gave him a measuring look and summed it up quickly. "You're not eating enough meat man. There is some bacon and pork in 'fridge, I'll cook some up for you for breakfast" Amused, Eddie said. "You could tell that by just looking at me?" Polly grinned and pulled open the 'fridge and pulled out the meat.

"Yeah. It's not all that common when you're from the city. I had a couple from Boston down about a week ago and they were having the same problem. They always focused on low carbs and starches, so they ignored the fact that they needed meats in their diet. They came in complaining about headaches at night and nausea in the morning looks like you got lucky":

Not liking the phrase 'got lucky' Eddie nodded grimly and winced as he noted that he has sat on his cell phone. "Your girlfriend called this morning," Polly said absently as she added shredded pork to the bacon. "Oh," Eddie said and flipped through the recently missed calls and sure enough saw Jane's number. "How did you know she was my girlfriend?" Eddie asked and a pretty smile danced across Polly's face. "That was easy; it was the only woman's number in your phone. When I knew you, you would have about 20 more"

Eddie laughed and when Polly turned back to the meat on the stove, he pressed redial and on the fourth ring on the phone in the loft, a breathless Jane answered the phone. "Hello?" Eddie could hear water dripping on the floor, which meant that she had been in the shower when he called. "Hi Jane," He said into the receiver. "Hi baby, I called you this morning but you didn't answer" "Yeah I know, Polly told me"

There was a carefully blank silence on the other end of the line. "Who's Polly?" He cast a look to Polly's back that was flipping the sizzling meat that currently smelled like heaven. "An old friend of mine from Louisiana, I've kind of sacked out on her couch" Once again, there was the long careful silence that Eddie wasn't particularly fond of. "We're just friends Janey" He said in low dangerous tones that indicated Eddie knew that Jane was thinking back to his Playboy days, but there was nothing friendly about the dream, but he decided Jane didn't have to know about it, not yet anyway.

"Anyway Eddie," In brighter-than-usual tones that meant she was still wasn't all that trusting but was trying to cover it up. "I was thinking that maybe when you get back to New York you and I could take off for a week to Paris. What do you think?" Eddie wasn't really thinking at all, he was more concentrated on the pretty enamel ring on Polly's hand that flashed in the early morning sun. "Sorry," Eddie said when he realized Jane was still talking. "What were you saying?"

She sighed a little exasperatedly and repeated what she had said. "Sure," Eddie said, still not really paying attention, but a horrible fear was welling inside him that if he disagreed with anything Jane had said then she would somehow magically find out about the dream he had had. He knew it was ridiculous of course, but he couldn't risk it. "That sounds great Janey," He winked his thanks to Polly as she set the steaming plate of food before him and she blew him a saucy kiss as she poured coffee into a robin's egg blue mug with a tiny chip on the handle.

He hung up the phone with Jane and tucked into the food set before him. "So who's Jane?" Polly asked as she sipped her coffee and bit into a banana as she watched him steadily out of her eyes that were the shade of a warm inviting lake. "She's a friend in Manhattan" She continued to watch him for a long silent moment almost as if she didn't believe him, but offered a sparkling smile and bit into the soft flesh of the fruit. "If there's anything specific you want from the store just let me know and I'll get it in the evening" Eddie shook his head, wolfed down the meat, and grinned contentedly. "Well dahling," Eddie said with an over-acted drawl as he rested his head on his linked fingers. "Are we off to save Franklin one plastic soldier at a time?"