“No I didn’t,” Anne answered for him. “How did you know? Charlie doesn’t have a hat on or anything. Both of you have your hair in ponytails. Emily isn’t carrying a book. Did you forget your book?”
“No, it’s in the bag.”
“How did you know which was which?” asked Anne.
“My secr
et.” Gherring smiled, looking much like a Cheshire cat, but gave no answer. He led them outside to the waiting limo.
“Wow! We get to ride in a limousine—cool!” said Charlie.
They climbed in and settled on the far side, chattering with excitement. Anne took the spot between them, leaving Gherring alone on the opposite side.
“I could get used to this.” Charlie leaned back against the soft leather seat.
“Mom, do you get to do this all the time?” asked Emily.
“Yes, probably ten times now, but I still get excited,” she answered.
Charlie said to Gherring, “Mom always taught us money wasn’t important, but it sure is fun.”
“Thank you for the tickets last night. It was amazing, and you were very generous,” said Emily.
“Yeah,” said Charlie. “We loved it. And we spent all our money to get here, so we weren’t going to any cool plays.”
“Charlie,” scolded Anne. “We don’t talk about how much money we have.”
“Why not? It’s not like I told him how much is in our bank account.”
“Quite right,” cut in Gherring. “I think your honesty is charming. I’m glad to have given you a fun evening.”
“How did you know which of the girls was which?” Anne asked.
“Easy—you described them a bit, and I made an educated guess. Emily, carries herself like a dancer. And Charlie, looks like she’d drive a Maserati really fast if she got the chance.”
“I thought maybe you were a Facebook stalker,” said Emily.
“Highly possible.” Gherring winked. “If I had a Facebook account.”
When they arrived at the climbing gym, Spencer was watching his friend rappelling down from the top of the wall. As they walked in, he came to greet them.
“Hey I’m Spencer.” Towering over the girls at almost six foot four, he was wiry and athletic in build.
His friend came running over when he disconnected, pushing his straight dark hair off his forehead. “Hey I’m Mark.” Anne judged him to be just under six feet tall.
“I’m Charlie.” She shook their hands firmly and asked Mark, “Are you a swimmer?”
“Yeah, how’d you guess?”
“Shiny hair, swimmer’s shoulders…”
“Impressive,” Mark replied.
Charlie left to change into her climbing gear.
Spencer asked Emily, “What’s your name?”
“I’m Emily, and I’m not climbing.”