doug, you do understand that you may be the only person at this party with artificial sideburns?
you do understand that your sideburns don't look real?
that they look, really, as though you'd drawn them on?
well, darling, it seems he does understand. why don't you just go on to the party and ignore doug. just have a good time and pretend you don't even.
oh, we forgot an umbrella.
and don't forget your sport coat.
take doug with you.
take him along for the ride. go have a root beer at the dog'n'suds.
i'll finish up. doug's going to miss you.
i think he will.
oh, dammit, jacey, please -- take your brother with you.
doug? dinner!
i wish you wouldn't smoke in the garage, darling.
there's lots of old stuff out there, i don't want anything to catch on fire.
well, just the same, i'd prefer it if you'd smoke in the backyard.
late where?
yes, i know. well, have fun.
i'll get it.
hello?
joan. how are you?
of course, come in.
i don't think that's necessary.
no, i'm sorry, joan, i will not do that. if you have something to say to my son, then you'll have to say it to him yourself.
and why on earth should i believe anything you say, joan?
i'm going to ask you one question, doug, and if you have no idea, or don't want to answer, just tell me.
is there any sense, you think, in which jacey has.  oh, i don't know, it sounds ridiculous.  corrupted eleanor abbott? led her astray?
i see. go finish your homework.
in what context?
mmmm?
hello, muriel.  doris.
why don't you drop me off at home and take the car and go out with your friends. go have some fun.
why don't i what? go hang out at the dog'n'suds?
i read for fun.
you sound like your brother.
came here on my very first date with charlie. saw rosalie with nelson eddy and.  not jeanette macdonald.  oh.  eleanor powell.
no. i kissed him.
thank you. congratulations to you, too. where's pam going to school?
she'll do well there -- a very bright girl.
he got a scholarship to the university of pennsylvania -- scenic design -- theater.
jacey.
thank you, lloyd.
oh, webb, really -- that's not necessary.
yes, he would. he'd be extremely proud.
what a wonderful night. what a wonderful day. my two ivy league boys.
i never understood that tent. i wonder if they own it? i'm surprised they don't just leave it up all year long.
lloyd's mother was a tough old bird. she sold eggs. they had a place way out on ditch road near county line. that was ages ago. poor lloyd had to walk all that way in to school and then back everyday. charlie used to call lloyd 'egg-head' and he didn't mean smart. i'm in the mood for ice cream.
i think i'll have one more scoop.
doug? jacey? what was that?
jacey? doug?
douglas lee! john charles!
that board doesn't look straight, jacey. come on, doug, you've been painting the same spot for the last five minutes.
isn't that pamela abbott?
it is pam. pull over.
hi, pam. do you need some help?
well, maybe doug can give you a hand?
pam, would you mind running doug home? i'd like to get to the bank before they close.
of course. bye-bye.
don't forget to water my tomatoes!
who's upstairs with jacey?
how long is she likely to stay?
do you want dinner?
don't sit on the swing -- doug just painted it.
i can appreciate that, jacey, but.
do her parents know about this?
don't you think they should?
does alice feel the same as you do?
has she agreed to marry you?
how does hiding it from her family make it any easier?
alice is a grown woman, she's a mother with a child of her own; if she really loves you then she should.
i can't be a party to that, jacey.
you'll have to find somewhere else to take alice -- i can't have you bringing her here again. i'm sorry.
pamela, are you all right?
why spend all night and half the day tomorrow waiting in chicago for the philadelphia bus? why not just wait and take the morning bus to chicago?
suit yourself.
who?
if the abbotts didn't exist, jacey would've had to invent them, one way or another. there are no ends of abbotts in the world, if that's what you need.
and he just needs that somehow. well, actually, i know how.
i was just a wreck when charlie died.
jacey was almost two and i was eight months pregnant with you and.  well, some mornings i'd be crying before i even woke up. then you were born. and jacey just got lost in there. i didn't have anything for him. mother took him over. he'd cry or call for me, and then i'd hear mother answer him, and i'd go back to sleep. i should've taken us away from here, gone somewhere else.
after charlie died lloyd abbott started dropping by on his way home from work. he felt so bad about that bet charlie made with him at the lake. that foolish, idiotic bet. poor lloyd -- i felt sorry for him. he'd have a cup of coffee with mother and me. if a doorknob had come off he'd fix it. he'd carry the garbage cans to the curb. someone dies, people try to be helpful. but he was by here so often that people started to talk. it was fairly obvious that he wanted something more from me than just a cup of coffee. i suggested that he didn't need to stop by here so often, but.  then one afternoon i was at woolworth's, having lunch at the counter. all of sudden joan abbott was standing there -- screaming and yelling at me to stop sleeping with her husband, with lloyd. i was speechless. she was gone before i could find my tongue.
i went to see joan, i tried to talk to her, to put her mind at ease, but.
i'm sure he did, but men always say that, darling. besides, lloyd was always having affairs. he's that type of man.
because she's joan abbott. if you cross joan you don't get invited to her parties -- and the abbotts have the best parties in town. the only parties.
i'm sorry, doug, i shouldn't have told you.
people still talk about it?
then how did?
oh, lord.  he knows too?
i'm fine.
just a cold.
i do wish jacey had come home for christmas. maybe that's what's wrong with me.
i don't think that's why he didn't come home. i wrote him a letter, you know. about lloyd and me. has he mentioned it to you?
oh.  i bought those for you. i had them in the basement; i kept forgetting to bring them up.
good heavens, i know you drink beer.
i bought those for you, honey.
don't be silly.
merry christmas. it's beer.
charlie was always trying to get me to drink beer.
that was his name.
sometimes i do, don't i? i don't know. when i think of him, i think of 'charlie.'
you mean another man?
well, everyone always thinks things are more possible than they are. i mean, single men don't stay in haley if they have any starch. the only eligible man around was drew carter, but he smells like his dog.
i wish i'd remembered the beers sooner. it's nice to see you smiling.
don't be. everyone has sad times.
i'll tell you a secret. i did have a friend. a man in chicago. i used to see him when i went up to chicago to visit bea during summer vacations.
no.
he was a wonderful man. a little boring, but really, very wonderful.
about eight years or so, it was when you boys were still at home.
he proposed. but, well, obviously, i said no.
because i'm in love with.  your father. with my memory of him. he was the one for me. oh, i don't know.  there's different kinds of love, darling. some people you love no matter what. other people you love if the situation is right. to me the best kind of love is the 'no matter what' kind. well, i am a cheap drunk, aren't i?
too much noise, please. let's finish up. keep the glue on the paper. sam, lillian, jack -- in your seats, please.