During the next few days, Sarah and Miles spent all their free time together—not just on dates, but around the house as well. Jonah, instead of sorting through what it all meant, simply let his questions slide for the time being. In his room, he showed Sarah his collection of baseball cards, he talked about fishing and taught her how to cast a line. Occasionally he would surprise her by taking her hand as he led her off to show her something new.

Miles watched all of it from a distance, knowing that Jonah needed to figure out exactly where Sarah fit into his world and how he felt about her. It made it easier, he knew, that Sarah wasn’t a stranger. But he couldn’t hide his relief at seeing them get along so well.

On Halloween, they drove to the beach and spent the afternoon collecting seashells, then went trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. Jonah went around with a group of friends, Miles and Sarah trailing behind with other parents.  Brenda, of course, peppered Sarah with questions at school, once word had spread in town. Charlie, too, made mention of the news. “I love her, Charlie,” Miles said simply, and though Charlie, being from the old school, wondered whether everything had moved a little too quickly, nonetheless¹ slapped Miles on the back and invited both of them to dinner.

As for Miles and Sarah, their relationship progressed with a dreamlike intensity². When they were apart, they hungered for the sight of each other; when they were together, they longed for more time. They met for lunch, they talked on the phone, they made love whenever they had a quiet moment together.  Despite Miles’s attention to Sarah, he also made sure to spend as much time alone with Jonah as he could. Sarah, too, did her best to keep things as normal as possible for Jonah. When she sat with him in the classroom after school, she made sure to treat him the same way she had before, as a student in need of help. If it seemed to Sarah that he sometimes paused in his work to watch her speculatively³, she didn’t press him on it.

In mid-November, three weeks after they’d first made love, Sarah cut back the number of days that Jonah had to stay after school from three to one. For the most part, he was caught up; he was doing fine in reading and spelling, and though he needed a little more help with math, she figured one day a week ought to do it. That night, Miles and Sarah took him out for pizza as a sort of celebration.

Later, however, while

点击收听单词发音  

1 nonetheless
adv.尽管如此，依然，然而
参考例句：
Though he's fool,I like him nonetheless.虽然他很笨，我仍然喜欢他。 His face is serious but nonetheless very friendly.他一脸严肃，但还是非常友好。

2 intensity
n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度
参考例句：
I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。 The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

3 speculatively
adv.思考地，思索地；投机地
参考例句：
He looked at her speculatively. 他若有所思的看着她。 来自《简明英汉词典》 She eyed It'speculatively as a cruel smile appeared on her black lips. 她若有所思地审视它，黑色的嘴角浮起一丝残酷的微笑。 来自互联网

4 tucking
手压实（砂型）
参考例句：
He crouched, tucking his knees under his chin. 他蜷曲着，把两个膝盖缩拢在颚下。 I can assure you that we have every chance of tucking his ass into jail. 我敢向你担保，我们完全有把握将这头蠢驴塞进监狱。

5 glum
adj.闷闷不乐的，阴郁的
参考例句：
He was a charming mixture of glum and glee.他是一个很有魅力的人，时而忧伤时而欢笑。 She laughed at his glum face.她嘲笑他闷闷不乐的脸。

6 ramp
n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速
参考例句：
That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。 The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

7 drawn
v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的
参考例句：
All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。 Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

8 oblivious
adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的
参考例句：
Mother has become quite oblivious after the illness.这次病后，妈妈变得特别健忘。 He was quite oblivious of the danger.他完全没有察觉到危险。

9 bugging
[法] 窃听
参考例句：
Okay, then let's get the show on the road and I'll stop bugging you. 好，那么让我们开始动起来，我将不再惹你生气。 来自辞典例句 Go fly a kite and stop bugging me. 走开，别烦我。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语

10 winked
v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮
参考例句：
He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。 He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 clan
n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派
参考例句：
She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。 The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

12 frantic
adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的
参考例句：
I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。 He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

13 afterward
adv.后来；以后
参考例句：
Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。 Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

14 uneasy
adj.心神不安的，担心的，令人不安的
参考例句：
He feels uneasy today.他今天心里感到不安。 She had an uneasy feeling that they were still following her.她有一种他们仍在跟踪她的不安感觉。

15 spotted
adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的
参考例句：
The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。 Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

16 spine
n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊
参考例句：
He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。 His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

17 spoke
n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说
参考例句：
They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。 The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。