*** The break in the storm didn’t last, just as they’d known it wouldn’t. By midafternoon the next day it was upon them, the gentle snowfall of ...he morning shattered by a fierce and punishing storm that bore down on them from seemingly nowhere. A fierce gale wind blasted them against the mountainside and threatened to send them tumbling out into the abyss ever-looming beside the path, and the snow and ice whisked around so thick that they could hardly see two feet in front of them. “Keep. “Not so fast there,” I admonished her, “I asked what you have DONE that was erotic and turned you on. You can’t stop there because that’s a cop-out.” Rachel smiled. “Got me. This is embarrassing. Do I really have to say?”“Yes. I did so you have to.”Rachel took more of gulp of her wine than a sip and then started.“Sometimes my husband and I watch adult movies. We used to rent them from the back room of one of the videos stores where we live. When the place closed, we discovered X-rated internet. He hadn’t been in a confessional since before he had been in the service, when he was still living on Io. That has been right after Max’s 18th birthday, and right before he was going to propose to Cindy. He had wanted to go into that after being forgiven for his sins, but not before. ‘It’s been 8 years since my last confession.’ ‘Tell me of your sins, my son,’ the priest said. There was an air of both compassion and boredom in his voice. The combination struck Max as odd, but extremely. I remembered Veronica as the charming wife of our friend Richard, butalso remembered her as a demanding taskmistress, who had whipped me as Ipulled her along in the sulky - I had a bad feeling about the dinnerdate, and when I was left alone, I rang Richard to ask him if I couldn'tanswer his techie query over the phone.Richard was very defensive, and kept pretending to misunderstand, andeventually he came clean."Frances, you'll think me very weak, but this is all Veronica's idea ...I promised to.