...

"Ladies, it's been a pleasure."
I looked up from my beach chair and shaded my eyes. Our new friend John was standing over us.
"Likewise," Kathleen said from her own chair.
"Yeah," I chimed in. "Are you going to be hanging around Houston for a while? Did the guys give you our numbers?"
"I'm not sure, and yes. I'm sure I'll be coming back through here at some point."
"Be safe."
We waved at John as he shouldered his backpack and headed down the beach. I closed my eyes against the sun and thought about this new, interesting person I'd just met. The thought of traveling around and just living like a gypsy seemed both exhilarating and unnerving. And what made John more interesting was that he didn't seem like you're typical gypsy type. Just a guy going around being really friendly to people all over the country. And I got the impression that every new place he stayed for any length of time just added more links of friendship to what was probably a very long chain.
"So...."Kathleen said in her charicteristically cynical tone. "Do we think this guy's crazy, or what?"
"No way!" Maria said, with a wave of her hand. "He's just por completo de la vida, full of life. Not like SOME people I could mention."
I rolled my eyes. We all knew she meant Grant, and we all knew whatever fight-of-the-week they were having had nothing to do with not being spontaneous.
"Well, I agree with Maria. About John anyway," I said. "He may be different, but he's not crazy."

As we plowed through Tod's juicy, drippy burgers, John kept us entertained with a seemingly endless supply of stories.
"... so then the kid just threw himself down in the middle of the aisle and started wailing, sounded like a dog being tortured. His mom's face just turned red; I thought she was going to start crying."
"Ugh," Kathleen shuddered. "I've been in the checkout line behind little kids that start doing that and it's terrible. If I ever have kids -- which I don't ever, ever plan on doing -- I'd never take them to the store. How embarrassing."
John shrugged, "I just felt sorry for her," he said with a smile. "I mean, she had a baby strapped on in one of those carrier things -- couldn't be more than six months old -- plus a cart already full of groceries. So I just walked up to the mom and asked if she wanted a hand."
"I'm surprised she didn't think you were some kind of perv," Tod said around a mouthfull of dead cow.
I'm not, I thought.
"Guess she was just that desperate," John said. "She said yes, please. I picked up the little kid, threw him over my shoulder and followed her to the checkout and her car. The kid was so surprised I think he stopped screaming long enough for her to checkout. Started up again just as we were leaving of course, but at least she made it out."
"Did people give you funny looks when you went back in the store?" I asked
John grinned, "That's the funniest part. I totally forgot what I'd gone to the grocery store for, so I just went home."