it was nice to know i would be missed , and i had n't known i had touched so many lives . she had been the only one there with him . ah-hem , excuse me , he sputtered as he climbed out onto the teak deck . she asked him across the room . it was here when i checked last week . `` you seem to do a fairly good job of it , though . '' thomas still lay exactly where she 'd left him . around dinnertime , the phone rang again . 