A.J. was dimly aware that his brother was calling his name but did not want to open his eyes because he had a pounding headache accompanied by nausea—hangover? Rick was trying to wake him up by shaking him, aggravating the discomfort and misery he was in.

"Stop doing that and go away." He managed to mumble feebly turning over on his stomach.

Rick had none of it and grabbed his brother by the collar and pulled him up in a sitting position.

"Hey!" A.J. protested half-heartedly.

"Come on, A.J. Better get up. Breakfast's getting cold as we speak."

Mentioning of food intensified the degree of his discomfort, namely nausea. "I don't think I can eat," he informed Rick assessing his condition. "At least for the next few hours."

"Drink some coffee or something then. Don't hold the Bissers up—they've been waiting for us at the table."

Rick did not let A.J. freshen up and dragged him to the dining room. The Bisser twins gave the Simons a certain look that made them walk a little faster.

Pearl was kind enough to set a cup of hot black coffee and a bottle of aspirin for A.J. He was appreciative of her attentiveness, but being at the table was a sheer torture: sight, sound, smell…

As A.J. cradled his head with a moan, Rick grinned and said, "Oh, come on, A.J. I'm sure you'll be feeling better in no time. And one of these days, you'll be able to look back and laugh at this whole thing."

He waited to see his younger brother's reaction—all he could manage was a half-assed glare.

"Or not." The old saying about revenge being a dish best served cold sounded just about right.

He and Pearl laughed like he had delivered an especially delicious bon mot, which made A.J. even more miserable.

Fortunately for A.J., breakfast was a brief affair at the Bisser residence. The twins gulped down the last of their coffee and went out of the house to do more yard work. Pop disappeared into one of the room at the back of the house and returned to the dining room with a white envelope.

"Here." He handed it to A.J. "That's your driver's license."

As A.J. took out his ID from the envelope, a piece of paper fell out.

"An' that's the payment for your service." Pop grinned at the brothers' surprised faces.

"Mr. Bisser, this isn't…"

"What my brother's trying to say is, we appreciate it very much, sir." Rick overrode his brother.

"I wasn't gonna stiff you boys," said Pop. "Job well done."

With that pronouncement, he left the dining room without fanfare to join his sons outside.

Rick got out of his chair and walked with a slight limp to the other side of the table where his brother was seated. He unfolded the white sheet of paper and picked up the check inside.

A.J. saw the itemized statement for the payment neatly written on the paper. Despite the bad headache, he could not help doing some mental calculation and estimated that the check barely covered their minimum fees—minus two cans of gasoline.

Pearl studied the brothers' faces and said, "I know my father's a tightwad, but please understand he's not doing this to slight you."

"No need to apologize, Pearl. It's just that we weren't expecting to be paid, that's all," said A.J. to be tactful.

"As I said before, I'll pay for your expenses and bonus…"

"No, no need for that," said Rick without the slightest hesitation. "You've done enough for us already."

Pearl was quiet for a few moments. "I'm going back to San Francisco tomorrow."

Rick nodded. "We're leaving in two, three days too."

She was hoping he would express his interest in staying another night or offer a ride to the airport, but when none came, she said dejectedly, "I suppose this is good-bye then."

He cocked his head, and A.J. could almost see the wheels turning in his brother's head.

"Hey, before we go, there's something I wanna do if you don't mind."

"Oh, anything at all. What is it?" asked Pearly breathlessly.

"Can I use the bathroom in the master bedroom? I wanna try the tub and the shower."

Rick's request was so unexpected and out of left field, she found herself laughing.

"Of course. I'll get the tub ready and show you how to turn on and off the jets."

Going up the stairs, she was already missing all the giggles and laughs they had shared in the last few days.

About an hour in the tub and the shower, Rick was ready to leave. A.J. had also showered and now felt a little better. They went downstairs together to meet up with Pearl.

"Gimme the keys," said Rick holding out his hand palm up.

"That's okay, I'll drive. You should rest your foot a little longer."

"No, I don't want you to drive. You're too slow to shift going downhill. And my foot's fine."

Rick swiped the keys from A.J.

As they walked to the Power Wagon with Pearl, she tried to slip a check into A.J.'s hand, but Rick intercepted it. The amount of the check was almost five times as much as Pop's.

"Pearl, I told you…"

"Please, Rick. This is the least I can do for you and A.J."

"No. Keep it." Rick said firmly.

"But…"

"We can't accept it, and that's final. You nailed O'Brien and rescued us—remember? Besides, we got paid already."

Pearl pouted, but her frown soon turned upside down into an impish grin. "Well, if we get married, we can deposit it in our joint account and give one half of it to A.J."

"That won't be necessary—that'll be my wedding gift for you two." Following her lead, A.J. ganged up on his brother for fun. He was feeling much better now.

"What're you talking about?" said Rick huffing. "Where did you get the notion that we're getting hitched?"

"Well, you sort of walked in on me when I was getting dressed," smiled Pearl slightly blushing. "My father's very old-fashioned and overprotective, but you know that already, don't you? If he hears that you barged into my room and saw me…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Rick snatched the check from her hand. "Blackmail runs in your family, does it?"

Despite his vehement protest, he shoved the check in his shirt pocket.

Pearl only smiled then said to A.J. "Thank you so much for everything you did for me and being such a sweetheart."

She hugged him and planted a kiss on his cheek. "I'll send you a couple of tickets for my performance at the Met. I hope you'll be able to see it."

"I hope so too," said A.J. smiling back.

She then turned her gaze to Rick again and solemnly announced, "I'd like to thank you properly if I may."

A.J.'s jaw dropped when she kissed his brother full on his lips. A bigger surprise was that he did not resist it—he actually put his arms around her to draw her closer. Their lingering, intimate farewell lasted several seconds.

Breaking off the kiss, which had expressed everything they had wanted to say to each other, they gazed into each other's eyes for there was nothing left to say.

He could still taste her breath mint: spearmint.

"Good-bye, Rick," said Pearl sotto voce.

"Yeah…" He whispered.

She then turned around to go back inside, never looking back.

Rick found A.J. staring at him with his mouth hanging open and chuckled to himself. He looked just like that when he caught me kissing my girlfriend for the first time when I was thirteen or fourteen.

"Did anything happen between you and her last night that I don't know about?"

"Maybe," said Rick, teasing his nosy little brother.

"Well, what happened?"

"That's none of your beeswax."

"It is too if she's going to be my in-law!"

A.J. was not deterred by the brush-off and started his vigorous inquisition.

Rick easily dodged the relentless questioning with his usual flimflam as he settled in the driver seat of his truck.

A.J. tried for several minutes to get Rick to divulge any information about last night but eventually gave up with a pout.

They rode the next few miles in silence.

Some time later, I Left My Heart in San Francisco came on the radio. Softly, Rick started humming along with Tony Bennett's crooning.

"A.J.?"

"Yeah?" A.J. responded eagerly, hoping that Rick would finally fess up.

"Remind me not to plan a vacation in Frisco anytime soon. Okay?"

"Huh?" A.J. didn't know what to make of the remark and eyed his big brother as if he had gone mad.

Rick smiled a wistful, enigmatic smile. With his bewildered sibling by his side, he resumed humming and kept on driving, looking straight ahead.