I looked over my wife's shoulder looking at the picture that she was studying. We were at the annual Memorial Day gathering of her family.
"Who is that?" I asked.
"That is Rachel." Her mother said proudly from across the table.
I turned to look at the 23-year-old Rachel standing halfway across the kitchen. "You clean up real good girl!" I said, causing her to smile shyly.
The picture was stunning! Her blemishes and slight acme covered up, her hair combed perfectly and falling over her shoulder and face on one side, created a portrait of a very lovely young woman.
At 45, I had watched the girl grow into adulthood. I did not even know her age until just recently, surprising me that so much time had slipped by. I now began to study the girl with more interest. Having bedded two of my wife's sisters, I wondered if it was possible to bed such a young girl, a niece. I checked it off as a foolish thought, but it did not prevent me from appraising her womanly attributes.
In my opinion and liking, she was lacking in almost every region. She was a bit taller than my 5'9". Wearing a black, wraparound skirt and a silky deep red tapered blouse, her breasts were almost nonexistent. A slight protrusion, yes, but she was a girl one might call flat-chested. Still I wondered what they might look like. I found her thin hips quite appealing and watched her slight sway as she moved around the kitchen. Her legs were not at all pretty but shapely. I knew it was quite possible that the blemishes disappeared halfway up her thighs. I hope they did, anyway.
I knew she had just broken up with her latest boyfriend. My wife had told me the story and it was not pretty. Rachel's boyfriend of two years showed his true nature by suggesting they watch X-rated videos with one of his male friends.
Rachel was well bred and I knew her moral standards came from the older female clan. It was not a surprise that she had dumped the guy. Though the girl needed a few hamburgers to fill out her body, she would no doubt one day make a fine wife. But, I knew pickings were slim on the Eastern Shore of Virginia for a young girl of Rachel's raising. I hope she'd have enough sense to leave one day.
As with all of my wife's family and offspring, I had showed interest in their lives and the things they were interested in. I spent many an hour playing on a Commodore 64 with the boys and teasing the girls. Rachel was no exception and I always asked her about her life in general and what she was doing. I eventually found her alone, as one can be in a house full of people, near the opened front door that looked out upon a big yard and vast field. The storm door was the full glass type.
"How have you been doing Rachel?" I asked walking up behind her. "I hear you're working at the community college.
"Yes. I like it a lot but I'm looking at a few colleges." She answered. "I have not finished my degree yet."
"Where do you want to go?" I queried.
"Salisbury is the closest but I want to get further away, perhaps, Buffalo or New Hampshire, near to Judy." She replied.
"I highly recommend the mountain country of New Hampshire. It's a whole different world compared to this flat country, and Judy has a big house should you visit."
"She's a bit high strung for me but I guess I would visit occasionally." She said with a slight smile. "Staying close to family would make my mother feel better."
"I know what you mean." I said, smiling back. "That's why I didn't say, if you stay with her."
"I would miss a view like this!" She said.
I turned to answer a call from my wife and returned to the kitchen. At the end of the gathering, I sought Rachel out and gave her a hug, telling her to take care in whatever she decided to do. The weeks rolled by. I saw Rachel a number of times during the summer when we visited one house or the other of Della's sisters.
In late August, my wife said she had talked to Rachel's mother and was hoping that I would consider driving Rachel to New Hampshire. It would not be the first time I had shuttled my wife's family members to and from the Northeast. I agreed and the plans were finalized. In early September, before daybreak on a Saturday morning I headed for the Eastern Shore in my truck to gather up Rachel and her few suitcases etc.
"So, Miss Rachel, are you excited about school and getting away from home?" I asked as we turned on 13 N.
"I'm scared to death." She replied, with her shy tone.
"Well, you just settled back and relax. We'll have you at college in about 13 hours."
"Are we going to drive straight through?" She asked with a bit of concern.
"That's one part of the trip that wasn't discussed." I replied. "I've always been used to doing long drives. But it doesn't have to be straight through. We could stop in the City if you like?"
"Could we?" She asked excitedly. "I saw New York City back in high school, but you used to live up there, didn't you? You could show me some neat places I bet?"
"I used to live on Long Island." I told her. "But yes, I could show you a few neat places. We could stay in one of the big hotels in the city. One last fling before you have to settle down and hit the books."
She was beaming as I reached for the cell-phone to call my wife to tell her of the plans. She expressed a bit of concern about the expense of two rooms in the City, but agreed it would make Rachel happy. She agreed to call Rachel's mother.
My wife had mentioned, with emphasis, the expense of two rooms, which made me a bit tense. Was it possible she knew are suspected something about her sisters? But I'm a conspiracy nut anyway so I pushed it to the back of my mind.
For whatever reason, Rachel scooted a bit closer to me on the bench seat of my truck. The concerns I had had about riding such a long way with such a young girl, that actually, I didn't really know, I put to rest as I listened to her near constant chatter. She commented about the scenery, the traffic, the leaves falling from the trees and anything else an excited young girl raised on the Eastern Shore could comment about.
"Did you eat any breakfast?" I asked as we rolled into Newcastle. "I ate some cereal, but I'm starving, how about you?"
I pulled into a buffet restaurant. Rachel hugged my right arm as we walked across the parking lot to the restaurant. I'd never seen anyone eat like she did. It may be happy to think I was helping to put pounds on the slim young lass. She again hugged my arm as we left the restaurant and I opened the passenger side door for her, making her smile as she said, "thank you good sir!"
We hit the Jersey Turnpike with Rachel sitting "very" close to me. As I sped through the toll plaza she kissed me on the cheek.
"Thank you for lunch. I'm so excited about staying in the City tonight!" She exclaimed. "I wished I had brought something nice to wear."
"What would your mother have to say about that?" I quizzed.
