"Oh. Sorry," I murmured.
"They were killed in an auto accident. Three years ago. Right around
the same time as--as I found out about _him_. I had a pretty rough time
for a while."
"I'll bet you did," I said gently. I was beginning to fill in the
picture, now--of this radiantly beautiful girl who had somehow been
turned into an emotional cripple by the practically simultaneous deaths
of her parents and the exposure of her lover's deceit.
To get off what was becoming an unpleasant topic, I switched over and
had her asking questions about me. I told her about my job, about
my newspaper work, about the book I was writing. We talked about my
marriage briefly--the seventeen-month deal to a scatterbrained redhead
who cuckolded me at least twenty times. We talked about how much I
enjoyed staying at Sunland.
Everything was just perfect. The two of us naked in the boat on the
quiet lake in the warm sunlight. Her bronzed body with its improbable
perfection and athletic grace. The first beginnings of a real
relationship between us. It had been a wonderful hour. Even when I
said hesitantly, "After the summer--perhaps we can get together for a
date--" and held my breath, waiting for the steel gate to clank down.
She said quickly, "I--I don't do much dating, Al," but in the same
breath she said, "But it would be a nice idea to get together. Yes.
Let's."