Excerpt: Mornin' Carrie, Albert Here.

"Look, Carrie, I've got somethin' for you."

"Oh, Al, again!"

"It's the gift that keeps on givin'!"

"What time is it? It's still dark out that window!"

"Five-fifteen, Carrie, early enough for one more little spin before you've gotta hit the road back to Omaha. There'll be traffic, maybe, and my flight's outta Kansas City Airport; I've got drivin' to do, too."

"Mmmm. . . I'm so tired. I think maybe I'll just call in sick."

"After Mary Beth knows what you've been up to?"

"Mary Beth does not know anything! Christ in Heaven!"

"You don't think she was doin' you a little favor, sendin' me out here to you like a present?"

"She did not send you out here to me like a present! She sent you out here to do your job, which yesterday just happened to be in Kansas City, which just happens to be two hours from Omaha!"

"Aw, that's right, Carrie. You're my present. Come here an' let me unwrap you."

"You sure are somethin', Albert, rearrangin' the world to get what you want."

"I didn't rearrange nothin', Carrie. I'm just doin' my job, like you said. An' now I'm gonna do my job on you, one more time before you drive on off to Omaha and leave me on an airplane with nothing but peanuts and coffee to keep me company."

"Oh, don't be silly. You have plenty to keep you busy at home and I know it. You don't have to hide it from me. I know you've got a pretty little girl and a wife and all of that; I've seen their pictures in your wallet—you showed 'em to me, back in Pittsburgh two years ago. Haven't said a peep about 'em since, but I know all about 'em, an' I-"

"An' I don't want to talk about them now, an' I don't want to think about them. I want to talk about this thing I got right here for you, and what you're goin' to do with it so's I can remember it while I'm on that airplane, and remember it when I get home, and remember it every time I hear your sweet voice on the phone sending me off to some other corner of the Earth to fix some goddamned piece of junk machine while all these doctors walk around acting like they're better than me because they've got on a white lab coat. I used to wear a white lab coat. It's nothin' special. Same thing underneath. Here—put your hand underneath the cover—see—mmm—same thing."

"Oh, Albert, really, I really ought to get up and take a shower an' get ready to drive back—"

"How 'bout I get in that shower with you?"

"Albert! Are you crazy or something? I'm not doing that with you in the shower!"

"Oh, Carrie, it's lotsa fun, you ever try it?"

"No! What kind of girl do you think I am?"

"Oh, I don't know, the kind of girl that drives me crazy from halfway across the country and lets me kiss her sweet little blossom once or twice a year, which all the rest of the time I gotta satisfy myself with the blossoms in the park."

"Oh, stop that nonsense."

"Let me kiss it again, Carrie."

"Oh, Albert, I just-"

"Let me kiss it again. I want my mouth to be filled with your roses."