Mark had offered to do the laundry this time, but Jackie had some shopping she wanted to do, so she gave Mark first dibs on the shower. In spite of the powerful humidity in the laundromat, the air conditioning made it comfortable, and the heat outside on this oppressive midday Monday almost gave her second thoughts.

Outside, the small south Florida town baked in the midday sun. In a way, it was a rather shabby little town, that could have used a bit more paint, a bit more grass, and a little less junk in the yards. The same could be said for many cities, including Spearfish Lake, but here there was a tropical languidness among the flat, swampy land and the palm and palmetto and sand that indicated that the mosquitoes could take it back at any moment.

Fortunately, there was a small clothing store not far from the laundromat that offered the potential for what Jackie needed: a different pair of pajamas. The flannel pajamas had proven to be much too much for sleeping in the tent in the Everglades the past three nights, she'd slept in her bikini, on top of her sleeping bag. It had been so uncomfortable that she'd thought about sleeping without even that on, but had realized that there was a limit to how far she wanted to push temptation.

Tonight, temptation was going to be pushed pretty hard, too; they had rented a motel room, partly for the shower, and partly for the color TV, so they could watch the astronauts on the moon.

The only bed in the room was a double bed. Mark had offered to unroll his sleeping bag and sleep on the floor, but without thinking, Jackie had said that it probably wouldn't be a lot different than sleeping next to each other in the tent. Only later did she realize that sleeping next to Mark in a bed, wearing only her underwear or her bikini was only going to make things more difficult. A lighter set of pajamas might offer a little more propriety, and might make things a little less difficult.

Back in the sleepwear department there was a pretty good selection, in spite of the small size of the store. Folks in these parts must do an awful lot of sleeping, she thought, but then it was kind of a sleepy town, anyway. She cast a long look at a transparent little "baby doll" outfit, realizing from the instant she saw it that the nightie quite clearly signaled "Take me off! Take me off!" She wondered what she would look like in it, and wondered what it would be like to have Mark take it off her — some day. Not now, but some day. On the other hand...

She tore herself away from the naughty lingerie and found something a little more like what she was looking for: a loose lightweight cotton job, light green. The top had short sleeves, and was fairly long; it might even do for a top to wear during the day, if necessary. There were shorts that would reach halfway to her knees. It definitely wasn't a sexy outfit; it probably would do for what she wanted it for.

After another long, lingering, wondering look at the baby-doll that had caught her eye, she took the pajamas to the front of the store and paid for them.

The heat hit her like a brick again as she went outside; it was hard to endure. She still had only been gone from a Spearfish Lake winter for a week and a half, and she had never been able to handle heat and humidity well, anyway; much as she enjoyed the warm weather, she was a north county girl at heart. "How miserable it would be to live here," she thought.

While she had enjoyed the last three days of canoeing in the Everglades, it had also been pretty uncomfortable, hot and sticky and wet with sweat most of the time. While the mosquitoes weren't as voracious as they could get in the spring in the woods around Spearfish Lake, they were pretty bad.

While she sat in the laundromat and waited for the washer, then the dryer to finish their cycles, she let her mind unroll over their canoe trip.

There had been no one at the airport when they tied Rocinante down, and they had to hike into town. A man at a gas station had known of a place to rent a canoe, and even had been nice enough to drive them over to the livery. Both Jackie and Mark knew their way around canoes, and had even camped from them on several occasions, so it wasn't like they didn't know what they were doing — but their previous experience had been on northern rivers, not in a southern swamp.

Fortunately, the Everglades are a national park, and some one in the National Park Service had the intelligence to realize that there were people that wanted to canoe in the place that didn't want to get lost in the almost featureless terrain, so they had provided a marked canoe trail, and even raised, permanent tent sites at various places along the way.

Jackie had always been a girl that tanned easily, and she thought that all the time she had spent laying out in the sun over at Cape Canaveral should have made her burnproof, but even the layer of sunblock she had put on as a precaution didn't keep her from getting a touch of sunburn as she spent hours on end in the open, sitting on one of the seats of the canoe. She hadn't quite realized the effect that the sun bouncing off of the water would have. The only thing that kept her from getting a really bad burn was Mark's less burn resistant skin; he had really suffered. They had used up all the burn ointment in their little first aid kits, and they stopped fairly often to dose him again with sunblock. At that, he had to wear pants and a long-sleeved shirt to cut down on further damage, despite the heat, and partway through the first day Jackie decided to forego her bikini for her remaining pair of jeans and a t-shirt, in spite of the heat.

That had only made it even more uncomfortable and sweaty. They had tried to rinse some of the stink out of their clothes in the brackish water, with only limited success, and the humidity was so high that they had never really gotten dry again.

In spite of the discomfort and the sunburn, it had been an interesting trip. They met very few people, but there was so much to see! There was a wide variety of bird and animal life, and they spent a lot of time with Jackie's little backpacking binoculars, watching some of the exotic birds to be found. Mark had sketched some of the birds they saw, and they had agreed that a bird book was going to be high on their list of priorities of things to buy. They didn't push hard, at least partly because of the heat, but partly because they wanted to enjoy the ever-changing panoply of nature that unfolded before them.

They'd learned to travel only in the morning and the evening, and stay quiet in the shade during the worst of the midday sun. During their long nooning breaks, they did more birdwatching, fished a little, read to each other, and Mark worked with his sketchpad and occasionally took photos. In the loneliness of the place, with virtually nobody else around even on the marked canoe trail, Jackie considered posing topless or even nude for Mark, but never could quite bring herself to make the offer.

They had originally planned to spend a week or so out in the Everglades, on a long tour, but midway through the second day there came a good place to turn back and return to their starting place by a different route, and they had both agreed it would be nice to get a motel room, a good shower, and watch the astronauts on the moon. It was not much of a decision to turn back, though they agreed that some other time it might be fun to try again.

With the laundry done, Jackie loaded it into her backpack and started off down the road toward the motel. She walked slowly in the heat, to try to avoid working up a sweat, but it was a long time before she made it back.

The motel was a grubby little mom-and-pop place that had seen better days, but it had the essentials that they required: a shower, a television, and a bed. Fortunately, the motel also had an air conditioner, and it was working mightily to remove the humidity from Mark's long shower when Jackie walked in the door. Mark was sitting on the bed in his underwear cutting his toenails.

"Here, put on some clean clothes," Jackie told him, opening her backpack.

Mark took the clothes she handed him, and joked, "I was beginning to wonder. I could see you leaving me here, with nothing to wear but a single pair of undershorts."

"Come on," Jackie said. "You know I wouldn't do that to you. Did you leave any hot water?"

"As far as I know," he replied. "I didn't have it cranked up real hot, but man, it felt good."

Jackie grabbed some clean clothes, headed for the bathroom, and stripped. It felt good to get out of the grubby cutoffs and t-shirt and underclothes. If she got a chance, they would be washed before she and Mark left town, and since it was a cheap motel room and the astronauts planned several EVAs, they would probably be a couple of days.

How wonderful it was to use a flush toilet — the first time in a week or more. How wonderful the shower felt! In the ten days she had been with Mark, she had been swimming several times, and had sponged herself off on occasion, but nothing made her feel cleaner than a nice, hot shower. She gave her hair a good wash and let the stream of water soak away the grime of days. She felt like a new person when she finally got out of the shower, toweled herself dry, and pulled on clean jeans. She started to pull on a bra, but her shoulders still stung from the sunburn. She decided to experiment with going without one, and just made do with a T-shirt. Her hair hung wet around her shoulders, but it would dry soon.

She came back out into the main room as Mark was turning the TV off. "Did you find out what time the EVA is?" she asked.

"They didn't say a lot, but it looks like it'll be in about three hours," he replied. "It'll probably be a fairly long one, so we probably ought to think about getting something to eat before it starts."

"Can we wait an hour or so? I'd kind of like to let my hair dry out a little before we go out."

"Sure," he said. "No reason why not?"

"By the way," she asked, just a little curious, "I'm kind of wondering how you registered us here. Under both our names?

"No, 'Mark Gravengood, two in party'," he said. "The question of being married never came up. I've kind of got a feeling that this is the kind of place where they don't ask too many questions that they really don't want answered. You got anything you want to do while your hair is drying? Maybe read some more 'Tinker Creek'?"

"We could, I suppose," she said. "But when we came in here and I saw that phone, I realized I ought to try to call dad and Sarah. I don't want to, but I know I should at least try."

"Scared?"

Jackie hung her head and collapsed onto the bed beside him. "Petrified," she said quietly.

Mark reached out and pulled her to him. "It's not going to be easy, I know, but it'll get worse the longer you wait."

"God, I know that, Mark. What do I tell them? The truth? That despite my best efforts, I'm still a virgin?"

"That's not quite the truth, and you know it," he laughed despite himself. "Still, I'd rather you didn't tell them that despite MY best efforts you're still a virgin."

Mark's attempt at a joke fell flat. She just shook her head, and he could see that she was trying not to cry. It would not do to have her calling home if she was unhappy or upset; he wouldn't let her until she felt better.

"I never told my folks that we were thinking about you coming along, either, and I never even left them a note," he said, far more serious now. "If they know you're with me, it's only because they heard about it from your dad or Sarah. I guess I have to wonder about what they think about it, too."

"It's a little different for you," Jackie said quietly. "You're a guy, and you were away for four years in the army."

"Yeah, I suppose it is," Mark said. "But, I suppose it could be worse, too. Think about Roger and Kathy."

Jackie looked up at him. "I don't quite follow you."

"It had to be tough for them. Remember what Roger said? 'Things like that aren't supposed to happen to Methodists'? They're pretty serious about their church, and I got the impression that their folks are even more serious. Don't you think it was tough for her to say, 'Hey, Mom, I'm pregnant!' It had to have been damned embarrassing, at best."

"She never talked about that, even when we were alone together," she said. "But I kind of got the impression that they had patched things up with their families. I'd bet they spent a long time on their knees, praying about it, before they told them."

"I'd bet you're right," he replied. "Would it make you feel any better if we prayed about it before we call your dad and Sarah, and my folks?"

"I don't know," she said, sitting up. "I don't think like that. I mean, I believe in God, and like that, but I've never been much of a church person. Dad kind of got mad at the church back home, back when I was little and mom got sent away. He said he didn't get any help from them, just whispers and hypocrisy and gossip, and we never went to church after that. I was real little, then, and I've never gotten in the habit."

"I know what you mean," he nodded. "My folks were never real serious church-goers, and they kind of dropped out of the church years ago, back when they got into that squabble over the nudist camp. You know, when the bank cut off the credit of the church members, because the bank president was the founder of the nudist camp. But looking at Roger and Kathy kind of makes me think that we're missing out on something."

"It could be," she said. "You usually think of church people being pretty dull and narrow-minded and straight. Somehow, Roger and Kathy, drinking beer and racing up to their tent every chance they got, just don't fit into that mold. Maybe they've got something there."

"Maybe we ought to stick our noses into a church now and then on this trip, just to give us something to think about."

She thought about it for a moment. "I've never even read the Bible much," she said finally. "What do you say that when we get done with 'Tinker Creek' that we get a Bible and read it the same way?"

"Let's just hold it to the New Testament," he said, noticing that her attitude had improved a lot in the last few minutes. "At least to start off with. What I remember from Vacation Bible School is that the Old Testament is a lot of begats and only a little good stuff. Do you still want to call your dad and Sarah?"

"I'm still not looking forward to it," she said, more soberly. "I mean, let's face it. No matter what we tell them, there's no way they're going to believe that we're not... oh, hell, I'll say it anyway, that we're not screwing ourselves silly every chance we get, like Roger and Kathy. I'm not sure I believe it myself."

"You're right," he nodded. "Under the circumstances, anybody would think that." He reached out and pulled her toward him again, to cuddle her close. "And, they would have a right to think that, no matter what the truth is."

"It might be easier if it was the truth."

He reached up with one hand to raise her head, so he could give her a kiss. As she pressed up against him, Mark realized all of a sudden that she wasn't wearing a bra under her t-shirt, and the realization filled him with excitement. Several times, now, they had been so close to tearing down this final barrier between them that some little shove, the right word or gesture on his part or hers would have resulted in making love. They had learned to live with the limits they had placed on themselves, even though both realized those limits were only temporary. Was this the time for that little word or gesture, perhaps a gentle touch of the breast that was burning him through the thin cotton of her t-shirt? Life with Jackie would be a lot simpler; there would be no more of this bottled-up tension, no more of having to juggle around simple things like changing clothes...

But somehow, this didn't quite seem like the right time. In the mood she was in, there wasn't much to keep her from picking up and going home. She could go home, let on that he had made a pass at her and she had fended it off, and retain most of her honor. There wasn't much he could do to stop it, and he'd have lost her forever — but the longer she stayed with him, the less chance she would have to do it.

They kissed for a while, and she rested her head on his shoulder. "If there's anything I can do to make it right," he said softly, "Then I will. If it comes down to getting married, then it comes down to getting married. I'm game."

"I'm not ready to get married, yet," she said. "Not that I won't be ready to marry you some day, but not yet."

"I'm not ready, either," he admitted, "But I've come to realize that the possibility is there, and I've kind of come to look forward to it. I think you and I know each other well enough now to say that if we did decide to get married at the point we're at, we'd stand a good chance of having a pretty good marriage. Knowing that, if getting married is what it takes, then I'm ready."

"But Mark, you know I like you an awful lot. I'm wondering if I like you so much that I'm not willing for you to take the risk of marrying me. My mother..."

"We've been over that," he interrupted. "It's a risk, I know, but it's one that I'll take if I have to. What you're saying is that you'd rather be married to someone who doesn't respect you, that beats the hell out of you every other day, just because you don't like him as much? Seems to me that would increase the risk of something happening to you, not lower it! Come on, Jackie, that doesn't make sense."

"I'm glad you feel that way," she smiled. "It's not going to come down to getting married just yet, I think, but it's nice to know you feel that way."

"I'm not saying we're going to get married," he said. "Although there's a good chance that it's going to happen. But, if we ultimately don't decide to get married, that shouldn't be the reason. Good enough for you?"

"Good enough for me," she smiled.

"Are you ready to call home, now?"

She nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be. I don't really want to do this, but I can't put it off much longer."

Jackie got up off the bed and went over to the phone, on the desk next to the television, dialed the operator, and placed a collect call to Spearfish Lake. When she heard her father's voice on the phone, she was seized with an almost overwhelming desire to hang up, but she swallowed and said, "Hi, dad."

"Jackie," his voice came over the line. "We got your letter today. How are you?"

"Just fine," she said. "A little sunburned from being out in the canoe too much, but otherwise, I'm just fine."

"How was the canoe trip?" he asked.

"A lot of fun," Jackie replied, a little surprised. She had expected her father to fly off the handle at the sound of her voice, but he seemed interested, and not angry. She relaxed visibly and told him, "We saw alligators, and all kinds of birds. That's really an interesting place. We wanted to spend more time out there, but we were both getting sunburned pretty bad."

"Is everything all right with you and Mark?"

"Couldn't be better," she told him. "Mark's been a perfect gentleman, and we've had a great time. How's Sarah?"

"She's been a little worried about you," Walt said. "Hell, I've been a little worried about you, too, but I was pretty sure you were in good hands and weren't likely to get into any real trouble. You haven't, have you?"

"Except for the sunburn, no," she said, "And Mark got it a lot worse than I did."

Across the room on the bed, Mark let out an inaudible sigh of relief. From the trend of the conversation — and he was only hearing Jackie's end — things were going a lot better than either he or Jackie had feared. He hadn't expected any real feedback from his family about taking Jackie with him, unless the Archers had made some waves; now, he looked forward to a conversation with them, this evening when they were both home from work.

Jackie and her father talked for about fifteen minutes, with Jackie bringing him up to date on all the highlights of the trip, never intimating that she or Mark had been anything but perfect little angels. She was much happier when she hung up the phone.

"Sounds like it went pretty good," he said.

She shook her head. "I think that he thinks that we're sleeping together, I mean, the way most people would say that. But, I think he's made up his mind to accept it, since what's done is done and there's not much he can do about it."

"Well, it's not like we didn't know that people were going to think what we'd expect them to think," Mark said. "Hell, even Roger and Kathy figured we were shacked up together, but they never said anything about it."

"They wouldn't have believed the truth, either," Jackie said, still smiling. "In fact, when you get right down to it, I'm not sure I would believe it, either."

Mark glanced at his watch. "Well, it's like this," he teased. "We could either make what everybody thinks that's happening really the truth, or we can go get something to eat. We could get either one done before the EVA comes on, but not both."

"Let me brush out my hair, and then we'll go eat," Jackie told him as she got up and went to her pack for her hairbrush, then replied with her own tease: "We've got time to eat, but if we get started on the other thing, we'll be all night and we won't get to watch the EVA or have anything to eat."

"That's what I like about you," he said, looking for his shoes. "Always practical. Always first things first."

They had to walk nearly half a mile to a little greasy-spoon restaurant that was open, and they only barely got back to the motel room in time for the start of the EVA of the Apollo 15 astronauts. It was a long one; the astronauts had taken the little moon-rover with them for the first time, and they were away from the lunar module for hours. It was very interesting for both of them to watch the astronauts explore the lunar surface, and see sights that had never been seen by man before; it excited them both to be part of the exploration.

They got so wrapped up in watching the TV that Mark never did get around to calling his parents that evening. After a while, Jackie went to the bathroom and put on her new pajamas, and joined Mark on the bed where they continued to watch the astronauts on the moon. Mark made no comment about the pajamas, and any thoughts of doing anything more than laying there half-upright, with her head resting on his shoulder were forgotten about. They talked very little, and then only about what was happening on television, but were satisfied to just cuddle with each other.

In spite of everything, after a while Jackie fell asleep, still with her head resting on Mark's shoulder. As she lay there softly breathing, Mark felt a great sense of contentment fall over him. Sex with Jackie would be nice, when the time came, he realized, but with her, he had achieved almost everything else that he'd craved, and more. She was a friend, a companion, someone to share experiences with. Feeling very daring, he let his hand come to rest on one of the sleeping girl's breasts. It felt soft and warm and comfortable, and he just let it stay there.

It wasn't like being with Mei-Ling, he realized. This was better. Sex could come in its own good time, but this was exactly what he wanted.

After a while, he fell asleep too, with the TV still on, his hand on her breast, and his head resting on hers.

Everglades City, Florida

April 20, 1971

Dear Dad and Sarah,

It was so good to talk to you yesterday, Dad. I'm just sorry that Sarah wasn't there. I would have liked to talk to her, too.

Last Friday, Mark expected that we'd be here long enough to get some of the pictures from Cape Canaveral developed, and we got them back today. I'm sorry that we didn't get any pictures of the Apollo going up, but we were too busy watching to take pictures, and really, we were so far away they probably wouldn't have looked like much. But I am going to include a picture of Roger and Kathy and Mark and me at our little camp near Titusville. We had a really good time with Roger and Kathy, and I hope we can see them again some day.

I already told you about our Everglades trip on the phone. We're going to stay where we're at today, so we can watch the astronauts on the moon again, then tomorrow we're going to be on our way. Mark says that there are a few other places he wants to see in Florida, but that they'll probably pretty much be one-day stops. I'll let you know the next time we're going to be in the same place for a few days, so you can send mail to us then.

I'm so happy that you weren't angry with me about my going off with Mark. I've tried to be a good girl and not do anything that you would be ashamed of, and Mark has made it easy for me. So far, we've had a lot of fun, and I like him a lot, too.

I'll write or call again in a few days. Say "Hi" to Johnnie for me.

I love you,

Jackie

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