It also wasn’t very long until he backed up again, a look of sadness in his eyes.“I can’t believe I fucked this up” he murmured so quietly I c...uldn’t tell if I was meant to hear it at all.It came back to me then. The lie that turned a summer of fun into what felt like a giant scam. Worse yet, it turned my sweet, fun-loving Xander into a liar.Wait… my Xander? When did that happen?“I’d go back and change it if I could.”“Change the lie or change the fact that I found out?” I asked. I had to. "No," he whispered. It could have been much worse, she realised. He might so easily have answered, 'done what?'And their first inexpert fumblings gradually became more practised, as Mother Nature took a hand, sighed resignedly, and taught them how it was done. Since then, with nothing else to do at nights, they had discovered a few ways of doing it that dear old Mother Nature herself probably hadn't thought of. Paul's wiry strength and Ginnie's wondrous inventiveness, staggering athleticism and. " But Charlie hasn't asked me yet." He will, honey, he will. I've never heard him sound so determined in all my life. Why not phone them and ask them to come down here tonight. In fact, Frank and his family will be coming down from Green Bay in their van. I bet we can arrange for Frank to drive them."So that's just the way it was. The party was in full swing with the Milwaukee branches of the family arriving every few minutes and my parents were on their way too. So was Charlie. I ought to have. Yeah, that won't be a problem. Come on over, and yes of course, please, bring Tatiana."I could tell from Sarah's posture and sinking expression that we weren't going anywhere. She hung up the phone, dejected."Honey. I'm so sorry, but that was Richard. He needs my help on a last-minute sales presentation for work. He and Tatiana are coming over for a bit so we can finish it up."Richard is Sarah's boss. He's a good guy and he and I get along really well. Over the last few years we had become good.