Dad hesitated for a second before promising that he would tell nobody else. So I continued in my conspiratorial tone.'Well, Daddy, there's this girl i... my class called Marjorie. She's told me that she's recently started to have funny feelings about this older man she knows. She knows him very well, in fact.'I stared into dad's eyes, searching for any trace that I should stop. I need not have bothered, because at my hesitation in the conversation, he told me to carry on.'Well, she's recently. "Or call?" I didn't think you wanted me to," I said."Oh." That was all she said. Just "Oh."It was silent for another ten blocks."You were wrong," she said. She kept looking straight ahead. "But maybe I did some things to mislead you." Mislead me?" I guess I kind of pulled away from you a little."I asked the question that had burned in my mind for a long time."Why?" Because I knew we both wanted more, and I knew we couldn't have that. You know how frustrating that was."I nodded."And when I got. The bedroom was also finished. I could see our back yard out one window, the next door neighbor's house out of the other. Once again, the light fixtures were controlled by a dimmer switch. There were two lights with one rotating knob that dimmed both. Everywhere we'd been was painted and had the new oak floor. We could furnish the place tonight if we wished.The kitchen looked done, too. The floor now had the Formica tile. I hadn't realized it was part of the design, but the countertops matched. ."Rachel, would you like to go somewhere where we could be alone?"Caressing my hand, she answered: "Yes, Ash, I would love to."We settled up, put on our coats and headed to my place down the street. As we walked we held hands, knowing that soon we would be deeper into this that both of us had anticipated, and the thought of that made both of us hungry for what was next. I could feel her desire as we walked. She placed her head on my shoulder and snuggled up close to me. I wanted her and I knew.