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laughed when they thought of how shocked his mother would be if
they should all come tramping into her elegant 18th century home
with their bare feet, bermudas, and bongo drums.

But that had been Gene's main purpose in getting a job this
summer here. "]o," he said, looking straight into her vivid brown
eyes, "I am going to forget all about all that stuff that's just handed
to me because of who my parents are and where I live. I'm going to
prove to myself that I can do things on my own without these crutches
to success for the first time in my life." And he had done very well,
jo thought. ~Of course, there was the time one of his father's golfing
friends recognized him and threatened to tell his parents about his
job. But Gene persuaded him to keep quiet about it all until he had
had a chance to explain his reasons to them in September.

Hearing a long low whistle, Jo knew that Gene was waiting out-
side the hotel and took a final glance at her blond hair as she passed
the mirror. They had devised this system of calling for her because
The Holiday Inn didn't even permit its "male guests" inside the
lobby unless they were wearing coats and ties, so it was obvious that
they wouldn't be too receptive to the hired help receiving callers in
anything less. Down three flights of dark stairways, and they were
together.

"Hi, Jo-you get quicker coming down those stairs everytime. I
whistle for you. It's a wonder you didn't catch me with my lips still
puckered upl" he teased as he squeezed her warm hand as they swung
in step along the broadwalk. "Did you have anywhere you wanted to
go in particular, Jo?"

"No, doesn't make any difference to me," she answered with a
slow smile.

"Well, let's walk on down by the ocean then," he decided, as
they began the trek across the expanse of sand that separated the
boardwalk and its tourists from the quiet lapping of the dark waves.
The cold damp sand crunched under their bare feet like hard-packed
snow.

"Were you very busy today at the hotel, Gene? We only had about
ten check-ins and Tom was complaining that he hadn't even made
four dollars when he went off his shift," Jo chattered on about the
day's work.

."No, we didn't have too much coming in either, but I made up
for l~ by a couple of trips I made up to the fourth floor with set-ups
and Ice. At least I got enough to pay Jerry back the money I bor-
rowed from him when we went to the Towerhouse for dinner last

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