"That's my punk sister I was telling you about." "I have a name, Bright." " Hi, I'm Jillian." " Hi." "Don't worry." "He brags about you all the time, Amy." "What about Ben Kweller?" "If you're making a happy mix you..." " Oh, sorry." " Uh, this is Hannah, my sister's friend." " Hi." " Hi." "Gonna get a bite to eat." "I need my wallet." "Two seconds?" "Okay." " I'm sorry." "What was your name?" " Jillian." "Jillian, okay." "That's a good name." " Thanks, heh." " Better than Barbie." " I thought your name might be Barbie." " No." "Jillian." " Good." "Ready to go?" "Definitely." " It's nice meeting you." " Nice to meet you." "Okay." "Breathe." " What?" "I'm fine." " Really?" "They're gone." "You can cry, scream, punch a wall." "Your brother has a weakness for perfect-looking women." "Do I look like I care?" "Because I don't." " Good, then you can help me with my mix." " No, I can't." "We're not all second-semester seniors." "Which is even better than you think." "The teacher assigns homework." "You look at them like, "You think I'm gonna do that. "" "College applications are in, Ephram's audition tape goes in tomorrow." " Oh, my God, the tape is done?" " The tape is done." "Tomorrow, my nightmare is officially over." "Ephram's probably just hanging out, relaxing." "Big old smile on his face." "Wow, relaxed Ephram." "Wonder what that looks like." "This isn't helping." "I'm sorry, Ephram." "I just don't see the difference." "Well, it's in the order of the tracks." "If I pick Bach, it says I'm ambitious." "If I pick Chopin, it says I'm traditional." " Which one says you're OCD?" " By tomorrow this will all be over." "I spent three months getting the music ready." "I'm not gonna blow it on the cover." "Presentation counts." "Which reminds me, how do you like my choice of font?" "Was that Hawaii Five-O?" "It's not my everyday ring." "I'll just take this outside." "Nice holster, Tex." "White House, hold for the president." "You have got to get some new materia/." "So how's San Diego?" "Having fun with your mom?" "Put it this way." "What are you doing tomorrow?" "Me?" "I don't know." "Why?" "I was thinking of letting Charlie stay with Mom and coming home early." "Say tomorrow morning, 7:15 a. m., Denver Airport." "Oh, I see." "The lady needs a ride." "Guess I'm cheaper than the shuttle, huh?" "Heh, well..." "I was also thinking, if you were up for it, maybe you could take the day off." "I don't know." "I kind of miss you." "Me too." "Well, I do have kind of a light schedule tomorrow." "I cou/d get Louise to do some rearranging." "Really?" "So we could do this?" "Why not?" "I'm due for a good tomorrow." "15?" "Seven-fifteen it is." "Bring caffeine." "Very mature, Ephram." " Did you send your stuff yet?" "What?" "I said, did you send your audition tape yet?" "Yeah, I made to the pickup booth as the guy was pulling away." "I gave him a burrito as a tip." "Bean and cheese." "Do you realize that I'm taking ceramics?" "That's what it's come down to." "My academic experience consists of rubbing wet clay on an apron with girls in clogs." "It's called a smock." "And your point is?" "That's Virginia Avenue." "There are two things I can do." "I can turn right, we can head into the world of Peak County High a world of conformity, expectation where Dr. Billawala's class offers fascinating insight in the world of physics." "Or I can turn left." " What's left?" " Left is freedom and opportunity." "A chance for you and me to spend however many hours doing whatever we want, however we want, wherever we want." "Are you saying we should ditch?" "Interesting." "Will there be pancakes involved?" "The bigger, the better." "Tick-tock, Abbott." "Light is gonna change any second." " I say we go for it." " Attagirl." "Well, this day is certainly off to a promising start." "The coffee is fresh." "The strudels are warm." "Unless the gods forsake me, I believe a certain New York neurosurgeon will not be gracing us with his presence for the entire day." "Heh, heh." " You got my message." " Indeed." "Do you realize what this means?" "No fighting over the copy machine a fully stocked and sanitized supply of latex gloves." " Heh." "Yes, it's thrilling." " Hi, Dr. Abbott." "Uh, I know you don't like walk-ins, but I'm all stuffed up and my throat is killing me." "Well, this is your lucky day." "Just so happens I can squeeze you in." "Oh, say, now." " Oh." " Would that be agreeable?" " Now is good." " Excellent." "I believe it was the Keynesians who posited that productivity is a function of employee volume." "Well, today, you will bear witness to the disproving of this theory." "For today, you will see how one humble physician working determinately but alone will be able to service an entire schedule of appointments providing the utmost of care and professionalism and still finish in time for 4:00 canasta." "Shall we?" "Oh!" "Oh!" "Oh!" "Oh, no." "Oh, dear." "Oh, my." "Oh, no." "Oh, that's bad." "Maybe I'll go see the new guy and leave..." "No, no." "Thurman, no, no." "You are a valued patient." "We will find a way to take care of you." " We just need..." " A really big mop." "Oh, Lord." "Got you something." ""To all you virgins, thanks for nothing. "" "Mm-hm." "Pretty good, right?" " Ha, ha, I love this place." " Yeah, it's great." "Maybe I can get bacon with my sausage." "Wonder if there's any part of the pig they don't serve." "Well, it's not like we can go to MJ's." "We're outlaws, baby." "On the run." "You wanna be Butch or Sundance?" "Did you just call me "baby"?" "Yeah, that doesn't really work for us, does it?" "What else?" "What did you find?" "Uh..." "Pickings are pretty slim." "We got a blood drive." "Oh!" "Yard sale." "Well, we could..." "No, too boring." "Or, or..." "No, that's illegal." "It's not that easy, is it?" "Maybe we need backup." " Your bathroom?" " Upstairs." "I can't promise it's woman clean." "Hey." " You're still home." " Yeah." "You too, huh?" "Well, it's my day off." "Was that Amanda Hayes?" " Who?" " Her." " Just now?" " Going into the house, yeah." "Oh, she's just coming over for a visit." "Must be staying a while." "I know what this looks like." "Do you know it looks bad?" "Obviously, you did." "You sure kept it a secret." "The kids know?" "Delia doesn't, but Ephram kind of pieced it together." " What about John?" " You don't even know what's going on." "Oh, that's right, I don't." "Because I stopped being your best friend and you took up home wrecking." "It's been a weird winter." "I'm not completely sure what's happening myself." " No point in telling you until..." " What would you have said?" "You're having an affair with a woman whose husband you were taking care of but instead were taking advantage of." " You're not being fair." "I'm not being fair." "Andy, you have traveled down denial lane many a time, but this is really shocking." "I cannot believe you're doing this." "I..." "I..." "I..." "I don't know what to say to you." "It's..." "For the first time since I've known you, I..." "Since you've known me, what?" "I wish I didn't." "Good morning, beautiful." "Hey, Andy." "I was just looking for the paper." "Come on." "I'll make you some breakfast." "Ain't she just the greatest?" "Morning, Mother." "You remember Thurman?" "Whatever you two are selling, I ain't buying." "I'm afraid we have a situation." "It seems that Louise neglected to set the thermostat properly last night." "We've sustained a bit of a, heh, plumbing rupture." " Pipes froze and busted, huh?" " Yeah." " How bad?" " Not bad." "I fail to see the humor in the situation." "You always do." "Poor Louise." "All those nursing degrees, still doesn't have the sense to know there was a freeze alert." "Well, it wasn't her idea to locate a medical office inside a 90-year-old train station." "Point being, I was hoping I could use your facilities." "I don't know." "We got patients and I don't want you scaring them off." " Or getting in my way." " I will do my best to be unobtrusive." "I have seen your unobtrusive and it blows." "Plus, I've got my own system here." "I don't want you touching any of my stuff." "The supplies in Exam 1 are off limits." "And if I catch you anywhere near my filing cabinets I'll tan your rosy red hide." "Oh, for God's sake." "Never mind." "I will figure something else out." "Whoa there, Hoss, what's the hurry?" "I was hoping to borrow an office, but I've changed my mind." " It is not worth the aggravation." " So you need a place to work." "No problem." "We got plenty of space." "My schedule is light." " Heck, you're the guy that owns the place." " All fine points." "Perhaps you should address them to Attila the Hun over there." "Come on, Hal." "I insist." " What do you say?" " Well, thank you, doctor." "Nice to see that someone here appreciates the notion of professional courtesy." "I'm watching you." "Amy." "Shh, shh, shh!" " I'm uncomfortable." " Okay." " You told me you never get to have any fun." " No." "That your life is a series of events punctuated by occasional bursts of drama or a fight in gym class." "That's about to change." "I'm kidnapping you." " You're what?" " Gonna paint the town, blow off steam." " I have a quiz in American History." " So you can make it up." "No, Mr. Connolly doesn't do makeups." "The quizzes are 50 percent of the grade." " Come on." "Let's get your stuff." " Amy, I never got to pee." "Can't seem to get my head around this Jake and Nina thing." " Did you know that they were together?" " I heard rumors." "Seems like a good match." "Really?" "How?" "I mean, he's completely wrong for her." "An attractive, charming, single doctor." "Yeah, she should get out now." "That's not what I mean." "I like Jake." "Everybody likes him." "It's just he's..." "He's all teeth." "Yeah, women love that." "Nina needs somebody who's more..." "I don't know." " Real." " Oh, he's not real." "They're just completely wrong for each other." "But, hey, what do I know?" "Not a lot." "It's extremely appealing." "All right." "What's going on here?" "I'm cracking jokes, you're giving me nothing." "I took the longest shower and you never came in once." "You okay?" "We should have gone to your house." "Nina saw me come in here, didn't she?" "Mm-hm." "I'm sorry." "It's just, it took me by surprise." "She was, um..." "Well, let's just say that she had some very strong opinions." " Damn." " I don't think she'd say anything." "Oh." "I don't care about that." "Here's the way I see it." "People can jump to whatever conclusions they want." "They can assume the worst, that this is some juicy affair to gossip about but they don't know what's going on." " I know they don't, but that..." " But nothing." "I'm not gonna feel judged by people who have no idea what my life has been like." "Well, I agree." "It just never seems particularly easy." "If people have issues, that's their problem." "They don't get to ruin it for us." "You know what, this day is just what we need." "I say we get it started." "We could go bowling." "Pass." "What about the Railroad Museum?" "Please take off that hat." "You're scaring me." "Ha-ha-ha." " Sorry." "What are you doing?" "You can't go down here." " Someone might see us." " Where are we gonna go?" "Already been everywhere in this town, twice." "What is that?" "Now, this sucks." "If we were in New York, we could go down to Chelsea Piers maybe hit the village." " We're not, so shut up." " Go to the park, check out the freaks." "Could take me back to school." " No." " No." "Happy to be kidnapped by the Bickersons." " He's the one who's fighting." " I'm not." "All right, I'm frustrated." "It's almost noon and we're still in the car." "I know who would know what to do today." ""Look up"?" "It's Mr. Jingles." "There's been a terrible accident." "I..." "I was backing out of your driveway and Jack Johnson came on so I was looking down at the radio and I just..." "I never even saw him." "I am so sorry." "Oh, my God." "If you wanna take some personal time, I can get Lina to cover for you." "Oh." "Yeah, yeah." "That would be great, thank you." "Mr. Perch, you are a stand-up guy." "Mr. Jingles?" "Hey, gorgeous." "You going to lunch?" "Uh, no, um, funeral." "Family friend." "Probably not gonna be back so..." "Oh, I'm sorry." "Did you need to cancel tonight?" "Ahem, tonight?" "Uh, no." "You know, I'm still in." "Just give me a call." "Abso-tutely." "You forgot to sign." "I most certainly did not." "Page three, lab orders." "Didn't need a computer to catch that one." "All right." "I'm out of here." "Hang on." " You're leaving me with him?" "Yeah." "It will be good for you, Edna." "Quality time with your kids is hard to come by." "Not if you don't want it." "You're a doodle." "Enjoyed it, Hal." " Yeah." " You two have a great weekend." "In by 10, out by 3." "Hope you two don't keel over from all the hard work." "Huh." "You're just jealous." "The man runs a tight ship." "Easily done when one has no patients." "No patience is what I got for you." "Rest assured, Mother, soon as I'm finished with Mrs. Ewing and her psoriasis I will be out of here as fast as my feet can carry me." "Hello?" "Sorry to barge in, but something's wrong with Jackson." "He went to a birthday party and he was fine until an hour ago." "Now he says his stomach hurts." "What seems to be the trouble, son?" "Oh." "Oh, heavens." "My second pair today." "It was kind of a big party." "Have you ever been to Vermont?" " The state?" " Mm-hm." " I don't think so." "No." " It's amazing." "My brother and his wife went there." "Mom was showing me the pictures." "They stayed at this bed and breakfast in this little town called Manchester." "Had their own fireplace, four-poster bed." "It was so cozy and romantic." " Mm, sounds nice." " That's what I thought." "Did some checking." "High season isn't until next month when they tap the trees for maple syrup." "So I was able to get us a reservation for next weekend." "Well, I was also thinking, since I didn't go to Hawaii, it would be my treat." "You want us to go away next weekend?" "Mm-hm." "It's short notice, but the trip is so easy." "Just fly in to Montreal, then a beautiful little drive." "It would be fun." "We could even rent a jeep." "Whoa, what is the matter?" "Nothing." "It's just a big step, our going away together." "I mean, I love the idea in theory." "But, I mean, what would I tell the kids or Harold?" "Well, tell them you're taking a vacation." "Or forget it." " No, I'm sorry." "No." " No, never mind." "It doesn't matter." "You're not into the idea." "I'm not gonna waste time trying to convince you." " When did this happen exactly?" " When did what happen?" "Well, you telling your mother about us or planning vacations." "I don't know." "I..." "It's like you've forgotten our situation." "You're still married." " And I'm..." " I'm extremely aware of that fact, you ass." "Then you understand what I'm saying." "Sure, I understand." "When you said you were concerned about other people judging us you were lying." "No, no." "The truth is you're the one who's judging us." "You see this as something to be ashamed of." "Well, that's not true." " I can't help it if I feel guilty." " It's not that you feel guilty." "It's your predominant feeling." "It's the biggest feeling you've got." "I can't deal with that." "I don't wanna be your dirty secret." "What is it that you want?" "More, Andy." "I want more." "I wish I was 21." "That way we could be doing something fun like going to a bar and playing pool." "I thought you just went to a bar to see Madison play." "It wasn't a bar, it was a coffee house." "She wasn't there." " I keep forgetting that fact." " You're giving me a migraine." "Amen to that." "Don't get me wrong." "I love the madness." "It's just your problem is you have no method to your madness." "All right?" "Truancy is serious business." "It's not for amateurs, little grasshoppers." "I don't see you coming up with any great ideas." "Rabbit hunting?" "Don't mock gunplay, because I also came up with poker whirly ball, polar bear." "You guys shot all that down." "I'm not gonna jump into a lake when it's 30 degrees out." "Ha, ha." "All right." "It's 3:30, I've got two hours left to pick up Jillian." "Isn't fraternizing with a co-worker, like, illegal?" "I don't know what you just said, but it's not like we're frat brothers." " We could go ice fishing." " I like that." "My dad and I used to go all the time when I was a little girl." "There's lakes in Minnesota where we live." "And we had our own little shack with a cot and a stove." "He used to make this, uh, hot chocolate with cinnamon." "It was the best." "You must miss your folks, huh?" "How long have they been in China?" "Hong Kong." "They're not in Hong Kong." "They're still in Minnesota." " Hannah." " My dad's sick." "He's had Huntington's disease since I was 8." "And it's really bad now so they sent me here so I wouldn't have to be around." "You know, for the end." "Your dad is dying?" "Uh, it's a brain disease, so it takes a long time to you know." "I've been writing to him since I got here every week." "He can't read any of them, but it makes me feel better." " Somehow, I don't know, connected." " Why didn't you tell us before?" "I don't know." "I guess I just figured I didn't wanna bum everyone out in the beginning, you know." "But I figure now it just..." "So sorry." "Sorry, I didn't mean to..." "Hannah." "Don't know what you're making, but it smells amazing." "Just soup." "No big deal." " Can I help with anything?" " Nope, I got it." " You okay?" " Yeah, fine." "I should have called first, right?" "I'm new to all this so if I'm messing up your family routine or anything, tell me." "No, you're fine." "It's fine." "But you're not." "Is this still about that thing that happened with Andy?" " Are you gonna tell me about it?" " Oh, well, I can't." "Believe me, you don't wanna know." "I don't even wanna know." "Good fences make good neighbors." "Yes, well, there's not a fence in the world high enough to keep that man away." "When he wants to judge you, tell you how to run your life but when it comes to him, it's different." "Rules just don't apply to Andy Brown." "It really, really just must be nice." "Heh, I'll have to take that knife away from you in a second." "Heh." "It's him, isn't it?" " What's him?" " Andy is your high-school guy." "The guy you had feelings for." "Why didn't you tell me?" "There's nothing to tell." "Wow." "Huh." "I wouldn't have called that one." " What does that mean?" " Nothing." "No, I mean, I think Andy's great." "It's just, you know, he's a surgeon." "Those guys are all ego." "They have a tendency to put themselves first." "Wouldn't think you'd go for someone like that." "I didn't." "Maybe I should go." "I'm sorry." "I am sorry." "I'm taking this all out on you and it's not your fault, it's me." "I'm just not crazy about how I handled this morning." "And I should be able to just go over there and apologize but I don't know, for some reason I..." "I..." "I..." "I can't." "I have this policy." "Never go to bed angry, always stay up and fight." "Whatever it is that's bugging you, you gotta go talk to him about it." "Apology or no apology, it's unhealthy to just hold it in, like you're doing." "And more importantly, it's seriously messing with my Nina time." "Hmm." "Soup's getting close." "So this world-famous doctor who lives less than 200 feet from your front door." "Should I be worried?" "Not unless you're the kind of guy who's always putting himself first." "Are you kidding?" "I'm a giver." "If you want I can prove it to you." " Hannah, let me in." "I'm fine, Amy." "You're not, you're crying." "I hear you sniffling." "I'm gonna stay here until you let me in." " Oh, my God, this place is disgusting." " I'm trying not to touch anything." " Are you okay?" " No." "I'm a horrible, evil, sick person who doesn't deserve to be loved." " Well, that's true." " I am serious." "I can't believe I just did that." "How can you even look at me?" "Hannah, you've been carrying this around for a long time." "You were getting it off your chest." "All you did was tell the truth." "Yeah, but for the wrong reason." "I just played the tragedy card and it was totally manipulative and I hate myself." " Nobody knows why you said it." " Yeah, well, I do." "Because I wanted Bright to feel bad for me and then like me." "I don't think Bright's capable of being manipulated." "He does whatever he wants anyways." "I just..." "Just hate how jealous I get of all those other girls." "I know he's never gonna look at me the way he looks at them so I feel like I have to just find some other way in, but this was just so wrong." "I feel I should go to church and throw down some Hail Marys or something." "Heh, I'll pitch that idea to the boys." "Seriously, Hannah, you are so much cooler than all of those girls combined." "Jealousy's just such a pointless emotion, just a complete, total waste of energy." "Really?" "So you never feel jealous of Madison?" "That's different, she's an ex." "Well, you're right, it is different because you have nothing to be jealous about since Ephram is your boyfriend and is in love with you." "That's why we spent half the day fighting." "Okay, no offense, but you are 50 percent of the problem when it comes to that." "Even if that's true, you're not supposed to say it." "I know that you forgave Ephram for the whole Madison thing in theory." "But you..." "You're gonna really have to forgive him." "If you don't, this passive-aggressive thing is gonna break you guys up for real and I know you don't want that, Amy." "I thought I came in here to help you." "And then I turned it around." "I'm tricky like that." "Heh, come here." "Mother." " All right, privates, listen up." "What you are going to experience is called "differential diagnosis. "" "It worked for me in '69 in Quan Tri." "If it's good enough for the Marines, it's good enough for you." "Now, you're gonna tell me what end is up." "Pink is for the booters, Yellow is for the poopers." "We're pretty sure it's food poisoning." "We wanna know what kind." "Oh, definitely a pink." "And definitely a yellow." " Bathroom's empty." "Go." "Go." "Mother, we're out of emesis basins." "And I definitely think it's staph." "I'm seeing lots of Boston cream pie here." "Well, if it's staph, we gotta get these cowboys hydrated." " See if you can grab the Pedialyte." " Pedialyte." "Got it." "All right, come here." "We're gonna give you a little drink and you're gonna love it." " Hey." " Hey." "Usually when I'm coming over to do the apology bit, I like to jump right in." " Gets us to the cookie part quicker." " Heh." " As a matter of fact, I'll put these in." " Uh, no, don't, I can't stay." "Oh, is Jake coming over?" "Well, he's already over, but that's..." "Look, I do wanna apologize for yelling earlier." "Oh, that's okay." "Anything said before coffee just doesn't count." " But I'm not sure I'm sorry for what I said." " So this is a non-apology apology?" "Don't know what it is." "I've been debating all day whether to come over here." "I mean, the last thing you need from me is a lecture but you are my best friend." "If I feel like I have some kind of advice aren't I supposed to share it with you, but I don't know." "Well, I like the concept of advice." "Could you leave the lecture part out?" "Get enough of that from the kids." "Um..." "I think you have a real problem." "I don't mean you and Amanda necessarily, I mean in general." "You ever thought about what you've been doing since Julia died?" "Dating-wise, I mean?" "I'm not sure I understand the question." "Seems to me you have made it your mission to seek out unavailable women." "Dr. Trott, who was never gonna stay in one place Linda, and now someone with a husband." "You can't get involved unless you know the relationship has no future." "I didn't know that Linda was sick." " Not at first." " You knew Amanda was married." "I'm not trying to pick a fight." "I'm..." "I'm trying to tell you as a friend, that you need to check in with yourself." "Think about what you're doing and why you're doing it." "Or you could wind up all alone, permanently." "Well, maybe I'm supposed to be alone." "What?" "Most people don't get as lucky as I was with Julia." "And I screwed that up, so maybe I deserve to be alone." "I don't believe that and I don't think you believe that." "I don't know." "I was a pretty lousy husband." "Yeah, and you were a really crappy dad too, but you turned it around." "People change, Andy, all the time." "And you deserve to be happy." "And if you are preventing yourself from letting that happen well, I'm sorry, but I just can't let you do that." " No?" " No." "And you don't need to punish yourself." "Just consider it time served." "Go fall in love with someone who can love you back the way that you should be loved." "Humph." "See, what I don't get is why her parents would send her away, you know?" "I mean, if your dad was dying, wouldn't you wanna be there?" "Probably." "I don't know, maybe not." "Yeah, I don't know either, man." "Damn." "Yeah, it's like there's no silver lining." "All right, she stays and she sees her dad die a horrible death." "She leaves and she feels guilty for the rest of her life." " She's screwed either way." " Okay, well..." "Hannah doesn't need us to throw her a pity party here, so..." "You know, life just sucks." " Never ceases to amaze me." " Dude, buzz kill." "If you slash your wrists, give me the heads-up." "No, I mean seriously, think about it." "Think about the three of us." "Me and my mom, you guys and Colin." "Now Hannah." "Tragedy is only thing we have in common." "It's practically the reason we're friends." "So, you know, at least we all found each other and we are friends." "But the point is we got screwed." "We're, like, way older than it says on our driver's license." "Most kids our age don't have to go through the kind of stuff we're going through." "That's why most kids our age know how to throw a proper ditch day." "Hey..." "You know what, I've thrown plenty of proper ditch days in my time." "And I would have turned today around if you guys would have let me." "Man, truth is, Ephram, there is a silver lining." "You fail to see it." "That's part of your problem." " Thank you, Dr. Phil." " No, seriously." "You came here on your first day and you met Amy." "Because you're wiggy in love takes your mind off what would've been a nightmare year." "I was not wiggy." "And because of your mom, you were able to help her and me when the Colin thing went down." "And now Hannah just randomly moves next door to you?" "Dude, we can help her through this thing." "If that's not lucky, I don't know what is." " You think we're lucky?" " Hell, yeah, I do." "I do." "I do think we're lucky." "I also think that we are young." "You may not feel like it all the time, but you are, so if you wanna have a little fun, nut up, do something about it." " Okay, next ditch day I'll be better." " Screw that, we've got plenty of day left." " It's like 5:00." "It's too late." " My ass." "Get in the car." "What about the girls?" "The car, he fixed the car." "What do you think of it?" "Well, I have to say this video idea was brilliant." "Worked like a charm." " I used to love this movie." " I know." "You tried to put wings on the station wagon, remember?" "Ruined a damn good patio umbrella from Sears and Roebuck." "Well, I suppose I should get going." "You got the time, I'd buy you a drink." "Oh, it sounds good, but I honestly don't think I have the energy to go out." "May not have to." "Should fix these ceiling cracks at some point." "Before the next rain." "What are you...?" "What are you doing?" "Mother?" "Right where the old coot left it." "Is that dad's Glenfiddich?" "He always was partial to a single malt." "How long has this been in there?" "Oh, going on 20 years, I guess." "He kept it around for emergencies and special occasions." "I'd say this one's both." "To beef steak when you're hungry, whiskey when you're dry..." "All the girls you'd ever want, heaven when you die." "Cheers." " Mm." "Ooh." "Ah." "Seems like another lifetime, doesn't it?" "You and I working in this office together." "Dad marching around barking out orders." "You remember how terrified I was in the beginning?" "You couldn't start an IV to save your life, or draw blood." "You know, I've never been comfortable with the piercing procedures." " What did I tell you?" "Pinch, slap..." " And stab." "Oh, I remember." " You were very patient with me." " Heh." "Both of you were." " We were a good team once, you and I." " Yep." "Sure were." "Thanks for staying today, Mother." "Junior I wouldn't have had it any other way." "It's open." " Hi." " Hi." "I, uh..." " I've been doing some thinking." " It was bound to happen eventually." "Sorry, I'm not good at this." "Not good at what?" "I've been doing some thinking of my own." "And first let me just say that calling you an ass?" "Impolite." "I'm sorry about that." "Sorry because you were right, I was wrong." "I hate when that happens." " What was I right about?" " I'm a married woman." "And I haven't been acting that way." "With John out of the house for all these weeks..." " You feel single." " Unattached, yeah." "But all it takes is coming back to this house." "The wheelchair ramps and John's meds crammed in his bathroom cabinet." " Suddenly, reality is..." " I don't wanna stop seeing you." " What's that?" " Been doing some of my own thinking too." "Well, not completely my own." "I had some help from a pushy neighbor but the important thing is, is that you've made me realize what I want." "I want you, Amanda." "In whatever way I can be with you, I want that now." "And if there's any possibility of a future, I want that too." "I want whatever we can have." "Whatever you see, I wanna see it too." "You realize you're officially at the 180-degree mark." "I just wanna jump in." "So all my thinking today was just a total waste of time?" "No, no, no." "No, no, it wasn't." "Your thinking was good." "Hmm." "I think." "See your thinking put you at this level and I was just down at this level." "And then your thinking moved you to this point and my thinking put me here." "And so..." " We meet in the middle." " It's a miracle." "Hallelujah, pass the pancakes." "As a matter of fact, because I blew the idea of you taking me to Vermont I thought I might bring it here." " Now that, that there..." " Hmm?" "...is Vermont's finest, fancy, great maple syrup from a little farm in a beautiful town called Manchester." "No, it's not." "Well, it would be if we had a decent grocery store in this town." " I'm not doing it." " Yes, you are." "Here we go." "Ready?" " How do I steer?" " Don't have to worry." " One, two..." " I'm gonna hit your truck." "Three!" "Oh, I can't see." "Oh, no!" "Aah!" "Why, you...!" "Whoo!" "This is so much fun." "Oh, dude, when you hit my truck, that was so hilarious." "Oh, yeah, maybe for you." " That's probably Jillian." " Yep." "Hurry up, before it goes to voicemail." "No, I can skip it." "I can go to a movie any night." "One more run on the hill, little lady?" "Me?" "Double-decker at top, unless you're chicken." "Your sad attempt at reverse psychology is not gonna work on me, Bright." "Race you to the top." "You know, this actually wasn't half bad." " I know." " Who knew sledding could be so much fun?" "Uh-huh." "Bright, man, he's good at that stuff." "I'm sorry I was such a downer today." "You weren't." "You were just being you on 10, but since I love you, I'm okay with that." "Really?" "You still love me?" "Weird, I know." "I feel kind of bad for loading up the party wagon today." "We never actually got any time together or, you know, together time." "Well, it's never too late." " What about them?" " Well, they have a car, we have a car." "This is true." "Friday, January 28, 2005." "Dear Dad, I'm too tired to write much tonight but it's amazing how the sma/est things can change your who/e out/ook." "I guess a/ you need to know is that today was the perfect day."