mean, we’ll have to be careful. At least maybe until I can find a way to explain to them … But I do want to see you …” He touched her cheek; he touched her lips. “Would that be all right?”
She smiled and squeezed his hand.
They found ways to be together. They met in crowded places like at the Fourth of July fireworks in Oak Bluffs, where they snuggled under the gazebo and no one paid attention. They found reasons to walk to the Chilmark General Store at the same time and steal an embrace by the fresh produce. And on special nights, Josh came by at midnight. He tossed a handful of sand against Liz’s window; the fine pebbles grazed the screen and signaled her to sneak down to the cove for kisses and soft touches.
Sometimes when she was with Josh, Liz heard Daniel’s words: “You won’t always have me around to watch out for you.” And she felt sad, because she missed him.
At other times she heard BeBe’s warning: “Be careful.” And so she was.
But most times she felt that God—the God of the Second Congregational Church of Boston as well as the one of Beth El Temple of Westchester—had sent Josh to her to help fill the void left by Daniel and BeBe. Because it was such a huge void, he’d had to send someone as magnificent as Josh.
One midnight in late July, everything changed.
The sand pebbles came, later than usual. But Liz was ready. She’d dressed in her ordinary denim cutoffs, but instead of a bikini top under her T-shirt or panties under her shorts, she wore nothing. She wanted to feel his love tonight: completely, fully; rightly or wrongly.
As she clambered out the window and down the tree, she remembered how angry Father had been about BeBe at dinner tonight, complaining that she might at least have the “goddamn decency” to call once in a while. His outburst had upset Roger, who’d quietly left the table. It had upset Liz, too, because she did not understand why Father hated BeBe so much. And it had made her feel even more guilty when Father had winked at her and said, “Thank God for you, Lizzie. Thank God I have one decent daughter.”
So here she was, the one decent daughter, tiptoeing half naked down to the cove. Before she could dwell on the irony too long, Josh was there.
“My father wouldn’t go to bed,” he complained. “He kept talking.”
Talking was one thing Liz was not in the mood for. She touched his hand. She turned his face toward her. She kissed him softly, gently, many times over. He kissed her back with want and with need. When his lips slid down to her throat, Liz gave a soft moan of delight. She fell into his motion and they slid to the sand of the dune, and she forgot about Father and BeBe and the whole Planet Earth.
Over and over, they kissed. He raised her T-shirt, and shesaw the spark in his eyes and the warmth of his smile when he saw she was naked beneath. He bent his head to suck at her breast. His hand caressed her thigh, his fingers stroking, ever so slowly stroking, then sliding under her pant leg, probing the soft, moist place. And the soft beating of Liz’s heart, and the soft pulsating between her legs …
She thought about Father. She thought about the many ways BeBe had disappointed him. She stopped Josh’s hand. “No,” she said quietly. “No, I just can’t.”
He pulled away. “I’m sorry, Liz,” he said, turning his face away. “I got carried away.”
The night air was quiet, except for the peepers.
“I think I’m a little too crazy about you,” he continued, still quiet, still gentle. He turned back to her and ran his fingers over her throat, down to her breasts. “You are far too beautiful.”
“Oh,” she replied, with a half moan. Then she touched his arm, and wondered if her heart would ever again beat in a normal manner. She arched her back slowly.
He stood up. “It’s better this way,” he said. “Not to, well, you know …”
Yes, she knew, but she did not know why. She lay there a moment, hoping he
She smiled and squeezed his hand.
They found ways to be together. They met in crowded places like at the Fourth of July fireworks in Oak Bluffs, where they snuggled under the gazebo and no one paid attention. They found reasons to walk to the Chilmark General Store at the same time and steal an embrace by the fresh produce. And on special nights, Josh came by at midnight. He tossed a handful of sand against Liz’s window; the fine pebbles grazed the screen and signaled her to sneak down to the cove for kisses and soft touches.
Sometimes when she was with Josh, Liz heard Daniel’s words: “You won’t always have me around to watch out for you.” And she felt sad, because she missed him.
At other times she heard BeBe’s warning: “Be careful.” And so she was.
But most times she felt that God—the God of the Second Congregational Church of Boston as well as the one of Beth El Temple of Westchester—had sent Josh to her to help fill the void left by Daniel and BeBe. Because it was such a huge void, he’d had to send someone as magnificent as Josh.
One midnight in late July, everything changed.
The sand pebbles came, later than usual. But Liz was ready. She’d dressed in her ordinary denim cutoffs, but instead of a bikini top under her T-shirt or panties under her shorts, she wore nothing. She wanted to feel his love tonight: completely, fully; rightly or wrongly.
As she clambered out the window and down the tree, she remembered how angry Father had been about BeBe at dinner tonight, complaining that she might at least have the “goddamn decency” to call once in a while. His outburst had upset Roger, who’d quietly left the table. It had upset Liz, too, because she did not understand why Father hated BeBe so much. And it had made her feel even more guilty when Father had winked at her and said, “Thank God for you, Lizzie. Thank God I have one decent daughter.”
So here she was, the one decent daughter, tiptoeing half naked down to the cove. Before she could dwell on the irony too long, Josh was there.
“My father wouldn’t go to bed,” he complained. “He kept talking.”
Talking was one thing Liz was not in the mood for. She touched his hand. She turned his face toward her. She kissed him softly, gently, many times over. He kissed her back with want and with need. When his lips slid down to her throat, Liz gave a soft moan of delight. She fell into his motion and they slid to the sand of the dune, and she forgot about Father and BeBe and the whole Planet Earth.
Over and over, they kissed. He raised her T-shirt, and shesaw the spark in his eyes and the warmth of his smile when he saw she was naked beneath. He bent his head to suck at her breast. His hand caressed her thigh, his fingers stroking, ever so slowly stroking, then sliding under her pant leg, probing the soft, moist place. And the soft beating of Liz’s heart, and the soft pulsating between her legs …
She thought about Father. She thought about the many ways BeBe had disappointed him. She stopped Josh’s hand. “No,” she said quietly. “No, I just can’t.”
He pulled away. “I’m sorry, Liz,” he said, turning his face away. “I got carried away.”
The night air was quiet, except for the peepers.
“I think I’m a little too crazy about you,” he continued, still quiet, still gentle. He turned back to her and ran his fingers over her throat, down to her breasts. “You are far too beautiful.”
“Oh,” she replied, with a half moan. Then she touched his arm, and wondered if her heart would ever again beat in a normal manner. She arched her back slowly.
He stood up. “It’s better this way,” he said. “Not to, well, you know …”
Yes, she knew, but she did not know why. She lay there a moment, hoping he
Similar Books
