Bridget has left, and Nola is sitting alone at the kitchen table, when the phone rings.

Nola clinches her fists and says, "I'm just not going to answer that. It's probably Quinton, and I don't want to talk to him."

The phone rings again.

"Damn it. There's just something about a ringing phone. I can't help myself. I have to answer it.

"Hello," Nola says picking up the receiver.

"Hi Mom. It's me, Stacey."

"Stacey. Oh, Honey. It's so good to hear your voice again."

"I know. I haven't called you in awhile. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry about a lot of things."

"Stacey, it's okay."

"No, Mom I should have been more supportive of you, after you and Dad broke up. It was all just such a shock. I didn't mean to take sides but, well, I've always been a Daddy's girl."

"I know that."

"So speaking of you and dad, are you two back together yet?"

"Why would you ask that?"

"Dad did come to Springfield."

"For an archaeological dig."

"Yeah, mom Springfield is really on the A-list of ancient historical sites. And besides, I talked to J, and he said Daddy was finished with all that weird Jessica business."

"Why do you call it weird?"

"Mom, when I was staying with Dad and her, do you know that Dad spent every night on the couch in his study. I thought maybe he was trying to make things seem aboveboard. You know what a stuffed shirt Dad can be."

"I wouldn't say that."

"But it wasn't an act."

"How do you know that?"

"I was never awakened by any, you know, noises in the night."

"Noises in the night?"

"Oh come on, Mom. When you and Dad were together, sometimes I had to use two pillows to filter out the . . . "

"Stacey, are you saying that you could hear us?"

"Well, yeah, Mom. Why do you think I never wanted to have any friends over?"

Nola is silent.

"Are you okay, Mom?"

"That depends, can someone die of embarrassment?"

" Oh, Mom. By the way, I do have some good news of my own. I've met someone."

"Again?"

"No, it's different this time. His name is Jeffrey, and he's wonderful. At first he seems a little uptight, a little cold. But he's not really like that all, once you get to know him. And, Mom, he has the most incredible blue eyes. And you'll never guess where he took me. To a Humphrey Bogart movie festival."

"Really?"

"And Mom, he calls me Anastasia. He thinks it sounds more romantic than Stacey. And I'm starting to think so too. And you know what else I'm starting to think?"

"What?"

"That I'm more like you than I ever realized. Oh, and one more thing Mom, when you and Dad do get back together, which I know you will, please make sure you two, move into a house with thick, well-insulated walls. You never know when Jeffrey and I might want to come for a visit, and I wouldn't want him be awakened in the middle of the night by . . . well, you know. Hey, I've got to go get ready for a date . . . with Jeffrey. I'll talk to you later. Bye Mom. I miss you, and I love you."

"Bye Stacey, I mean Anastasia. "I love you too," Nola says hanging up the phone.

"Thick, well-insulated walls, huh? Sounds a lot like the old house on Thornway Road."

"Anyone here?" Bridget calls out ascending the lighthouse steps.

"Bridget, what are you doing here?" a surprised Zachary asks.

"I need to talk to you. About Nola."

"Is something wrong with Nola?" Zachary asks putting down the wood he had been cutting.

"To tell you the truth, I'm worried about her."

"Why?"

"Tonight's her birthday."

"The last time I saw her she didn't mention anything about having a birthday coming up."

"Now, Zachary, women Nola's age, don't usually like to broadcast upcoming birthdays."

"Bridget, what's your point?"

"Don't get snippy with me, Lighthouse Boy. I'm just trying to tell you that tonight is Nola's birthday, and she has no one to spend it with."

"Doesn't she have a husband?"

"If you mean, Quinton, he's her soon-to-be ex-husband."

"The last time I saw them together he didn't look very 'ex' to me."

"Well, they've had some kind of fight since then."

"Really?"

"Yes. Really. Listen, Zachary, you need to get your head out of your toolbox and talk to me."

"What do we need to talk about?"

"What's going on between you and Nola."

"There's nothing go on between me and Nola."

"I know. That's the problem. Come on, I see the way you look at her. For some reason, you have the hots for Nola. I guess it's just one of those things that can't be explained, like . . . crop circles. But if you want anything to ever come of it, you need to wise up. Zach, Nola and Quinton have always had this amazingly strong love that has seen them through unsurmountable obstacles and numerous hardships over the years, and believe me, you have to work really hard to break something like that up."

"Why would I want to break it up?"

"Okay, play innocent with me. But Zach, I know you've been in Springfield for a while now, and I haven't seen you out with any other woman but Nola. So I think it's quite obvious that you have this little "Mrs. Robinson" hangup, and all I'm trying to tell you is that tonight is your perfect opportunity to make all your "Nola dreams" come true. She's very vulnerable right now. All you need to do is call her and invite her over here. But make sure you clean up the place a bit, first. Maybe light some candles, and put on some soft music, and just let nature take its course."

"Bridget, I think it would be better for everyone if I just left Nola alone."

"You're going to let her be alone on her birthday? I mean, I would stay with her, but tonight is the night that I do my . . . volunteer work at the senior citizens' home."

"Are you sure she's not going to be with Quinton tonight?"

"How many times do I have to tell you, they had a fight. Now go over there, pick up the phone, and call her up, and invite her over here for dinner tonight."

"How do you know she'll even answer the phone? She might think it's Quinton calling."

"Trust me. Nola always answers the phone. Oh, and another thing, Zach, you can't let Nola know that I told you tonight was her birthday. I wouldn't want her to think you were only asking her over here out of pity."

"I don't know about this."

"Zach, when you see something you want, you have to go for it. Don't be a fool."

"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, Bridget. Nothing"

"You know what Zach? You are really one weird guy."

After Bridget has left, Zachary picks up the phone and calls Nola.

"Nola, Hi, this is Zach. I was wondering if you're not doing anything tonight, maybe you would like to come over for some dinner?"

"Well, Zach, uh ,. . . I"

"Do you like Italian food? I make a mean lasagna."

"It has been a while since I had homemade lasagna. Uh, by the way, I was wondering if Bridget has been over to the Lighthouse lately?"

"Well, yes she has. And Nola, she told me that you had a fight with Quinton."

"That girl can't keep quiet about anything."

"A regular "mouth of the south" right?"

"Excuse me?"

"It's just an expression. Nola, I was sorry to hear that things between you and Quinton took a bad turn."

"Yeah, me too. But it won't do me any good to sit here and brood about it. God knows I've done enough of that in the last year."

"So you will come over tonight?"

"Yeah, what the heck."

"Good, I'll see you about seven, then?"

"That's fine. But please, don't go to too much trouble for my sake."

"But Nola, tonight is a special night."

"Oh, yeah, that's right, Bridget told me it's . . . Uh never mind."

"Bridget told you it's what?"

"That it's . . . Springfield's Centennial"

"Springfield's Centennial? Then shouldn't they have had a festival or something?"

"Nah, they had to stop having those."

"Why?"

"Because every time they had any kind of public celebration is Springfield, someone would either get shot, or a child would get trapped in an abandoned building, or a woman would go into premature labor, or Reva would take all her clothes off."

"Nola, you are something special."

"Glad someone thinks so. Bye, Zach, I'll see you tonight."

"Bye Nola," After he has hung up the phone he says to himself, "And Nola, I know I'm not the only one in Springfield that thinks you're something special."

Zach puts down the phone, heads to the kitchen, and begins to make dinner. As he starts to boil the noodles for the lasagna, his mind drifts back to another time, and another woman that was something special.

to be continued

Nola quickly and forcefully pushes Zachary away.

"What's wrong?" a confused Zachary asks.

"What's wrong? You told me you loved me. And you called me Catherine. Zachary, I'm not Catherine."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Nola. I didn't mean to. I don't know what to say."

"It's okay. It's okay," Nola says, realizing that Zachary is very near tears. "Do you want to talk about it, Zach? Do you want to tell me who Catherine was?"

"I don't know if I can."

"Hey, I spilled my guts to you plenty of times. And you were always there for me. Let me be there for you."

"Okay, Nola. Catherine was someone I loved very much. But . . . but she didn't love me."

"Then she must have not been a very smart girl. But then again, when has love ever had anything to do with being smart?"

"But Catherine was smart, and beautiful, and . . . I loved her so much, and she . . . "

"Loved someone else, right?"

"Yeah, how did you know that?"

"Been there, done that. I don't think there's anything more painful on this earth than being in love with someone that doesn't love you back."

"You're not talking about Quinton, are you?"

"No, not Quinton. No matter what he and I went through together, I always knew he still loved me. I could just see it in his eyes. I did think that he had lost his mind there for a while, but I knew he still loved me, somewhere, deep down inside. But before Quinton, I loved someone that didn't love me."

"Then he must not have been a very smart man either."

"Well, he was smart enough to be a doctor, but like I said, what does being smart have to do with love. Zach, you can't help who you fall in love with. I don't know, maybe it's chemistry, maybe it's fate, but I don't think it's a conscious choice. If we could choose who we fell in love with, do you think I would have ever picked someone as difficult as Quinton?"

"You still love him don't you?"

"I can't help myself."

"Just like Catherine couldn't help herself for loving Bobby."

"So you see, I do know how much it hurts to lose someone you love."

"Nola, you haven't lost the one you love, you've only misplaced him."

"Excuse me?"

"What did you and Quinton fight over?"

"It's not so much what he did, as why he did it. He was still trying to play the hero, still trying to protect me from all the big, bad things in this world.

"But Nola, tell me this, whatever he did, was it mean-spirited? Disloyal? Unkind?"

"No, I guess he thought he was looking out for me. If it was anything, it was misguided."

"Then you can forgive him for it?"

"Oh, Zach. I just don't know. Why does Quinton do the things he does? First, there was the whole horrible ordeal with Jessica , and then I found out he had been having . . . one of my friends investigated, and then there's this other stuff that has been going on at the boarding house."

"What other stuff?"

"I guess it's nothing really serious, but I have to admit that it's even weird by Quinton's standard. I just don't understand him anymore."

"Nola, do you have to understand him . . . to love him?"

"What did you say?"

"Do you have to understand him to love him?"

"A dear friend once asked me the very same thing. God, I feel like my past and my present are colliding. Have you ever felt like that, Zachary?"

"Yes. Yes I have. Nola, let me tell you something a dear friend once said to me. If you're very quiet, sometimes you can hear a little voice inside yourself that will tell you what you really need.

Both Nola and Zachary are quiet for a moment.

"A house with thick, well-insulated walls."

"What Nola?"

"That's what I need. A house with thick, well-insulated walls. Zachary, I have to go."

"You have to go to Quinton, right?"

"Yes."

"I understand. I think I finally understand. Thank you, Nola. Thank you for everything.

"No, thank you. You've been such a good friend to me. I don't know what I would have done without your shoulder to cry on. I'll call you tomorrow, and let you know how everything worked out. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Goodbye, Zachary."

"Goodbye Nola."

As Zachary hears her footsteps going down the stairs, he adds, "Goodbye forever, Nola."

As Nola walks out of the lighthouse, for the last time, she says to herself, "Thornway Road, that's where I'm going, that's where I belong. But there's one stop I need to make first."

And as she gets in her car, she turns on the radio. It too, is set on the Oldies Station, and the first thing Nola hears is the last part of Anne Murray's 'You Needed Me". Nola cringes and starts to change the channel, just as the announcer says, "This is WJZE, and here's another voice from the Eighties. Bertie Higgins. With 'Key Largo'."

Nola smiles as she turns up the dial.

*********************************************************************

After Nola has left the Lighthouse, Zachary turns around and realizes he is not alone.

And across town, someone else is surprised by an unexpected visitor, when the quiet of the old house on Thornway Road is broken by the sound of a knock at the door.

to be continued