She said.

"Oh, Jiddah, what am I going to do about that man? At times he makes me so furious I could pull out my hair by the roots!"

Julie flung her niqab onto the sofa and clutched two fists of messy red hair for emphasis, made a face. "But then he'll flash one of those little-boy smiles of his and have me cavorting about like a fourteen-year-old." She gamboled round the sofa in a puppy-love parody, making Sandra Dee poses.

The boys had just departed for their campsite and while she helped clear the dishes, Julie was venting her frustrations. She was glad to have Jiddah home. Normally she didn't mind time alone but lately whenever she was by herself she was either stewing over something Flynn had said or done, or diddling herself while fantasizing about what they had done together. Julie was afraid of becoming some kind of hopeless obsessive; she'd already exceeded her quota of aberrant hang-ups. Jiddah had a knack for putting things into proper perspective.

"Hmm," Jiddah responded skeptically, "from the few details you related in your e-mails, it did not sound like the behavior of any fourteen-year-old I have ever known."

"Yeah. That's another thing," Julie waggled an index finger, "Flynn possesses scary intuition regarding lady bits, and my particular preferences. He knows precisely what I need and never tires of providing it."

"Oh, the horror! My poor Juliet."

"It's not funny, Jiddah. It's dangerous. It can be addictive." Julie turned her back, took dishes to the sink, ran the water. She said quietly, "What happens when he leaves?"

"You are speaking of the future, Julie. I am not a seer. But I do know that everything changes. And I know life only exists in the present. So, if Flynn makes you happy in the present, enjoy it, do not fret about the future, or the past."

Jiddah came up behind Julie and held her shoulders gently. She nestled her chin in the hollow of Julie's neck and whispered, "But, if I were cursed with prescience, and I glimpsed Captain Flynn Montague begging Juliet McNeill to sail away on his Oasis, what do you think her answer would be?"

"That's an impossible fantasy, Jiddah," Julie answered with unconvincing resignation and closed eyes. "Flynn is a single-minded man... in both senses of the term. He's determined to get his stupid money and live his movie-script dream life." She opened her eyes. "And he's never mentioned anything about a leading lady in that dream. Besides, like I told you, I'm faced with two Flynns. There's the fun, sensitive, courageous, cowboy Flynn for whom I'm mad. Then there's the heartless, calculated, egotistical, mercenary Flynn who can't be trusted."

Julie turned and faced Jiddah and added, with raised brows, "Who may accept The Djinn's eight-hundred-thousand-dollar offer and secret me out of the country against my will."

"Julie, you know him better than I do. But I cannot imagine Captain Montague considering anything like that."

Julie turned off the water and began washing the dishes, resolved. She said, "I hope that's the case... because I'm not going anywhere. I do cherish every minute spent with number one Flynn, but the people of Veerona need me. In honor of my father I must continue his work. I'll waste no more energy fussing over silly whimsies that can never be." She rubbed dish soap off her nose with the back of her hand.

Jiddah said, "Then I advise you to savor the present, Julie. You and Flynn will need memories of one another for comfort when you find yourselves alone once again. As Earnest Dowson wrote, 'They are not long, the days of wine and roses'. Leave no room for regret. Take every opportunity to tell Flynn exactly what is in your heart."