Just as I was reaching for the blankets tocover me as I climbed in bed the lights came on. Mrs. Browncalled the other children to wake up. In a fury...I jumped intothe bed and quickly pulled the covers up to my neck. The othersstirred for a few minutes trying to shake the vail of sleep fromtheir heads. Mrs. Brown then said "I'd like you all to meet anew boarder that's going to stay with us for awhile." At that she turn to me and told me to get up and introduce myselfas Ms. Sissy. I hugged. "They're all so beautiful," cooed Cherie as her eyes and fingers darted from Abalone to Limpet to Conch, then a pair of Tritons. The girl's fingers traced the outline of a Lightning Whelk and fluted Clam, but it was a small but uniquely marked Cowrie to which she finally pointed."They're all lovely, but that one caught my eye for some reason. I just love the way it's marked."Marissa picked it up and placed it in Cherie's hand. "It's yours." Oh, no, I couldn't..." No, Marissa, it no doubt took. The sexual tensions didn’t help matters. All the men looked longingly at Emily’s naked body. They found ways to brush against her and suggestive comments were thrown her way. She laughed them off. Her close proximity to the men often resulted in an erection. Kevin, the youngest of them, turned red; Douglas turned away. She had washed Ben’s coral wound in the sea and re-bound it with cloth every day for two weeks and while she was kneeling over his calf he always got erect. She pretended not to. . There’s more.”“Oh?”“I said girlfriends, remember?”“Oh, dear. This is complicated.”“I guess so. Before you call Mom, I’d like to call Melody and introduce her to you, too. We’re not exactly a couple. We’re a trio.”“Ah. A ménage à trois. You are all involved with each other?”“I love Melody every bit as much as I love Tony,” Lissa said as she pulled into a parking spot at the hotel. “I never thought about using the French word. It’s always used with such temporary connotations.”I dialed Melody.