Hi. My name is Rachel and I am nineteen years old. I grew up with my older sister and my mother with no father figure in the household. As a consequence of my being raped by my uncle when I was twelve, I didn't date much in high school and had very limited experience with men.
The only steady male figure in my life since I was three was my godfather, Harry. Harry was married to a beautiful woman named Jennifer. After I graduated from high school last year, they invited me down to Florida for the summer. What a great time I had. We went sailing on their sailboat and had a sun soaked summer. I was very sad when I had to leave and return to Kentucky to begin college.
I was devastated when I learned that Jennifer died over Thanksgiving. They had always been such a loving couple, always holding hands and kissing each other. I knew I had to go down for the funeral. It was a solemn occasion and Harry was so broken up. I knew I had to stay for awhile to help him through this difficult time.
After a few weeks, Harry felt better and we decided to go out on his sailboat. It is a beautiful 33 foot boat they had been fixing up for their retirement. The weather was perfect, winds off the land at about 10 – 15 miles per hour, temperatures in the low 70s, as we left the marina early that morning.
We had decided to sail over to an island about thirty miles away that had a great protected harbor for anchoring. We settled in for a leisurely five to six hour sail. Since the temperature was so warm, I had donned one of my bikinis to get some sun on the foredeck. I guess I should take this opportunity to describe myself. I am 5' 5" tall, blonde, green eyes, 110 pounds, my top is, I think, a little on the smallish side at 32B. Harry is 52, 6' 2" tall and about 250 pounds with salt and pepper hair and a rugged look to him, I guess from time on his boat in the sun.
As I lay on my towel, I would occasionally catch glimpses of Harry at the tiller. I could swear he was watching me but each time I looked at him he would look away. I felt he was ogling my body, but I couldn't be sure. Strangely, I felt a flutter in my stomach when I thought about it. It was not unpleasant, but I was unsure what it meant. I did think it was sexual in nature though. Up to this time, I hadn't even touched myself. Now, I was feeling very strange indeed.
We made the island about one o'clock and anchored up a little offshore. We took the dingy in to shore and scouted for shells and such until almost sundown, when we headed back to the boat. Since it was just December, there were no other boats in the anchorage. Harry fired up the propane grill attached to the cockpit rail and we had steaks, baked potatoes and salad for dinner.
A few hours later, Harry retired to his cabin and I got ready for bed. I put on a light pair of sweatpants and a tank top and slid under the covers of my bunk near the galley. I lay there for awhile, tossing about and listening to the wind in the rigging. I was restless and I couldn't figure out why. I glanced forward and noticed a light under the door to Harry's cabin. He was still awake, probably reading. I knew he had been having difficulty sleeping.
I threw the covers off and went to his door. I knocked lightly. "Yes?" he asked.
"Harry, can I talk to you?"
"Sure, babe. Come on in." was his reply.
I opened the door and stepped in. He was lying in the bunk; it was about the size of a double bed, reading a book.
"I'm having a little trouble sleeping and I thought if I came in here with you, maybe I could get to sleep." As a child, I had often crawled into bed with him and Jennifer during their visits to cuddle up between them and sleep with their warmth.
He looked a little uneasy at first but threw the covers back from the other side of the bed in invitation. I bounded into bed and pulled the covers up as I snuggled in next to him.
"Do you mind if I read a bit more?" he asked.
"No, Harry, go right ahead. I'm fine now."
I felt protected lying next to him. I could hear his heart beating. It was very comforting.
In my little girl voice, I asked him, "Can I ask you something, Harry?"
"Sure, babe, anything."
"What are you going to do now?"
He was silent for a while and I began to wonder if he had heard me. Finally, he sort of sighed and said, "I don't know, hon. I mean, the insurance money on Jen allows me to do what we had always planned to do, retire and sail the Caribbean, but, it just won't be the same without her." He seemed to choke up a bit as he spoke.
I thought for a moment before I spoke. "I could go with you."
"No, no, no. You're in school and your mother would kill me."
"I'm sick of school. I can always go back to college and you need someone to crew for you. Besides, what better education can I get than discovering new cultures? Mom will come around and I am nineteen anyway." This was delivered rapid fire and I could tell he was somewhat overwhelmed. "Rach, it just wouldn't be right."
"What do you mean? What's not right about it?"
Sighing again, "For appearances sake dear. You sailing all over with a fiftyish man."
"So what? Who cares what other people think? Besides, nobody thinks any the less of Hugh Hefner do they?"
He chuckled at that and shook his head.
I continued on, "And besides, there are plenty of couples with age differences. Just look at Demi and Ashton."
