I worked as an English editor at one of the large textbook publishing houses in New York. My brother, who lived out at the end of Cape Cod, was always inviting me to visit him, but I always seemed to be too busy.
This time it was different. I had four days in a row off at the beginning of October, so I thought I would spend a few days with him and his wife, Jenna.
But I had forgotten about their daughter, Allison. She was only 14 when I had last seen her, and I remembered that she was very pretty, dark-haired and slender.
Now she was eighteen years old and home from college on a brief vacation. I could not believe how beautiful she had grown: about five foot six, slender and with curly brown hair and a beautiful smile.
"Uncle Donald!" she cried, "How nice of you to come. And guess what? It's my birthday today!"
Drat! I had no idea. But luckily I had brought my checkbook, so I wrote her out a check for $50 as a birthday present. Her parents gave her a $100 gift certificate to Filene's, and her boyfriend Mark, who was still back in Boston, had bought her a digital camera.
When I got up the next morning, I found her in the kitchen packing what looked to be a picnic lunch for two in a basket. She was dressed in jeans and a Boston University sweatshirt.
"Are you doing anything today?" she said with a smile.
"Not really."
"I want to try out my new camera with some pictures along the beach, and I wondered if you would go with me. You have and know how to use a digital camera, right?"
"Yes, I do."
"Good, cause I packed a picnic lunch for two—and even borrowed a bottle of my father's French Chardonnay to try and tempt you with."
"That would work all right."
"Great. Can we go now?"
"I guess so. I haven't had any breakfast yet."
"I brought some bagels and cream cheese."
"Okay, it's a deal."
"Great!"
She grabbed the basket in one hand and a large beach towel in the other.
"Can I carry the basket?" I offered.
"Okay. The camera's in there too."
Well, I had been looking forward to reading that day, but I guess there were worse things I could do than walk along a beach with a beautiful young lady.
Little did I know what she had in mind.
About a mile or so up the beach, she walked over to the edge of the dunes, spread out the large beach towel and put the basket at the end of it. "This will do," she said. "I'm hot from the walk though. Do you want to go in for a swim?"
"Sorry, I didn't bring any bathing suit."
"That's all right, neither did I. This end of the beach is always deserted. No one wears a bathing suit out here."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Well, I'm game if you are. But I would appreciate it if you don't tell your father about this."