The Rabins knew they were being possessive in not asking Eden over, but they didn’t want her presence to distract Josh on his last day at home. Had she shown up uninvited, she would have been made welcome, but she acquiesced to Karen’s urge not to go.

Josh hadn’t even left, and already Max and Esther felt the emptiness. His spirits were just as low, but he wasn’t thinking of his family ― the promise of campus life made up for leaving them. His problem was leaving Eden. How could letters and long-distance calls make up for the casual visits, the dates, the comforting knowledge of her proximity?

He did not wait for her to come over next morning. “Don’t get stuck,” Max called after him. “Ithaca is five hours away ― assuming no traffic.” Josh knew it only too well.

Eden herself answered the doorbell. For a moment they looked at each other. “We’re leaving,” he said. Karen came to meet him. How complicated life was! She liked Josh, yet she feared him. She sympathized with the Rabins for their painful transition, yet she’d breathe easier when he was gone. But she mustn’t let her ambivalence show. He’d done nothing to deserve her slight, and she admonished herself that nothing less than sincere good wishes would do. As an afterthought, she suggested that Eden walk him back to his house. This gesture made her feel more generous and shielded her from witnessing their good-bye.

She had no illusions that her respite would be other than temporary. Josh would be back. Worse, his presence in Eden’s thoughts would continue uninterrupted. If only this relationship would go away! But Karen had to deal with it. Rather, she had to deal with herself. She tried to believe that if Eden were six or seven years older, she’d be smiling on the prospect of her daughter’s marriage to this most attractive young man. But remembering her private tears at the bridge party, she knew Eden’s age was only a pretext. Karen had married at twenty-four, surely old enough. And look at her now. Was there no way to protect her daughter from the mistake she’d made? Was it her place even to try? Judging by her school record, Eden didn’t have her mother’s ambition. Was that bad? What if she pressured Eden to take Bobbie’s path? At least Bobbie had made her own choice. She had stood up to her husband’s demand; Karen had capitulated to hers. If only she could trade places with Bobbie, just on a trial basis. But that made no sense. Bobbie’s unhappiness was no less than hers, it was just different.

“Doesn’t your mother work today?” Josh asked after they had walked a block.

“She was late. She’s probably gone by now.”

“If she hadn’t been home, I’d have wanted to say good-bye inside.”

Eden was silent. He turned to her suddenly. “Can’t we go back, just for a few minutes?”

She looked away and shook her head. “Please don’t ask. I can only say no once.”

He nodded. “Then no it is. I accept.” To prove he really meant it, he took her hand in his.

“Thank you for feeling that way, for being the way you are. If we were alone in that house, I’m afraid it would be as if the ground hadn’t been wet.”

“I can wait,” he said, “and we should. We have time. You wouldn’t believe how often I think of that first date. When I put my hand on your arm, that was the first time I’d ever touched you. I just sat in the car when I got home, feeling the sensation all over again. Imagine! Touching your arm. Doesn’t sound like much, does it? But what that touch did to me! I’m not one bit embarrassed to tell you, even if it sounds crazy. Then you took my hand, and I asked myself, how does it happen that your hand feels so different from all other hands?”

Eden had begun to nod slowly and emphatically. “I know exactly what you’re saying, because I felt the same way. I wonder if it’s always like that. I mean, if one person finds the touch of another so unique, does it automatically work the other way too?”

“I don’t know. But when it does, I think it says something about those two people.”

When she realized he was not about to say more, she sighed softly. “Oh Josh, . . .” she began, but she too did not continue. She pressed his hand tightly.

“What happened in the woods,” Josh said, “we may look back years from now and say it was the most meaningful conversation we ever had. Even though there were so few words.”

“We said so much without words. I never had any idea a kiss would feel like that. Now I realize the kiss was also a touching unique to us and there was a connecting through it.”

“I believe that,” Josh said. “And when you took my hand to feel your heart.” He paused. “I would never have dared to do that.”

“I know you wouldn’t. You’re too much of a gentleman.”

“It has nothing to do with being a gentleman,” he said. “It’s because it’s you.”

“I know, Josh, but I wanted to feel your hand there. I was afraid you might think it’s improper. That’s why I did that thing about feeling your heart, so you could feel mine too.”

“You play the sweetest tricks, Edie! What’ll you come up with next?”

They had arrived at the Rabins. The door was open and the car was loaded.

“Write to me as soon as you’re alone, Josh, will you?”

“I’ll phone.”

“OK, but write too. I can read your letters in private, and I can read them over again when I miss you most.” They stood facing each other in the driveway, then embraced for a full ten seconds. Slowly they backed from each other and Josh went into the house. Eden watched him disappear through the door and was turning to go home when Debbie came out.

“You must be about ready to go,” Eden said. “I hope I didn’t keep Josh too long.”

“I’m ready to go, but Josh bugged out before he was. He was afraid you’d get here first and he wouldn’t have any time alone with you. Want to walk around the block?”

“OK, I’m in no hurry to get home.”

“I’m so happy for you and Josh. I just wanted to tell you.”

“It’s jumping the gun to talk like that, don’t you think?”

“I’m not suggesting anything that isn’t so. If you get married, it’ll make all of us happy. We’ve been like sisters for so long, you’re already practically a member of the family. And even if you don’t, just having a friendship like between you two is so wonderful. When I look at Josh, I don’t see a boy dating, or even going steady; I see someone in love.”

Eden tried to laugh. “What makes you say that? I mean, how do you tell the difference?”

Debbie did laugh. “I’ve got it all figured out. Dating is totally casual. You’re interested in the activities you’re doing together. Going steady is a relationship, but it’s like telling others, Hands off, this one’s mine. There’s this sense of owning, but not a whole lot of giving. Now being in love is way beyond that. What makes it different is wanting to give. If I were in love, I’d get more pleasure out of giving to my boyfriend than getting something from him. In fact, I think that’s what love is: The urge to give, coming from deep inside you. Want to hear more?”

“Yes! How did you ever figure it out?”

“Imagination. I’m paving the way now, so when the time comes I won’t be all confused and uncertain like you are. But you wanted more. OK. I think that two people in love not only have this special relationship, but their personalities change. Josh has become unbelievably nice. I mean, to me. He seems real happy, and I think happy people are nice to others.”

“What do your parents say? Do they think he’s getting too serious? Mom thinks I am.”

“My parents are crazy about you. They always have been. I don’t know how serious they think this is. Maybe they’re just happy for Josh, like I am, for however long it lasts. The subject of marriage never comes up. If it did come to that, there’d be the religious issue, you not being Jewish, and I don’t know how they’d feel about that. Maybe I should ask them.”

“For God’s sake, don’t let them get the idea that it’s me who wants to know.”

“Don’t yell, Edie. The neighbors will hear you! And don’t worry. I’ll be careful. And if I get an answer, I won’t tell you ― just to keep it clean. OK?”

“Oh, you’re terrible.” Eden laughed. “But that’s all right, I really don’t need to know.”

They walked for a while in silence. “You’re all being so nice to me about this, especially you. I feel I’ve neglected you, but if it hadn’t been for us being friends in the first place . . . ”

“Don’t worry about me,” Debbie answered, “The only thing I hold against you is that you don’t have a brother. Then I could get even!”

They walked back to the Rabins’, arms around each other’s waist. Esther was at the door.

“Have a safe trip,” Eden said, and turned to go. She didn’t want to see Josh get in the car.

The moment she arrived home she began her first letter.

~~~~~~~~~~

They saw each other at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and bridged the intervals with letters and phone calls. Without visible attachment, Eden received invitations to parties and dates, most of which she accepted. Debbie proved her theory of dating. “See? Just activities.”

“Absolutely right. Not the slightest interest in ownership! And giving? Forget it.”

Karen was heartened by her daughter’s social activity and unconcerned about its quality. “I’m pleased with the way Edie’s come out. I was afraid she’d sit around and mope,” she said to Alan.

“It is healthier,” Alan replied, “but I don’t know what’s behind it ― whether they agreed to give each other freedom, whether she’s doing it to keep her mind off him, or to keep us off her back. It’s hard to ask. Maybe we were too disapproving. We may have put up a wall—”

“You don’t have to share the blame for that,” Karen said testily. “I was the one—”

“But that was at the bridge party. She didn’t hear that.”

“I’ve told her as well.  Anyway, let’s be practical. With all that dating, it’s time to talk about contraception.”

“Don’t you think she knows all she needs to?”

“Probably. But I want her to know we’re not prudes and she can be open with us.”

“I have no objection to that. Now who does it, you as mother or I as doctor?”

Karen smiled. “You as father aren’t in the running?”

“No. Let’s have a son and I’ll talk to him about sex. Mothers are for girls.”

“I guess it’s me, then. Let Rick be the doctor.”

Next day Karen sat on Eden’s bed.  Eden turned from her desk to face her. “Edie,” Karen held her head high, “I want to talk with you about the pill.” She exhaled a large surplus of air.

Eden waited. She knew her mother wasn’t talking about sulfa.

“You’ve been going out a lot lately, and I’m really glad to see that. It’s healthy.”

“You didn’t expect me to?”

“I wasn’t sure. What with you and Josh being so attached to each other.”

“Life goes on, Mom,” Eden said. “I don’t expect Josh to crawl into a hole and he doesn’t expect me to. We’re being healthy, as you say.”

Karen smiled feebly. “Very well. Anyway, you’re seeing a lot of boys now. Dad and I want you to know that we’re realistic and nonjudgmental.  If you want to get something from Doctor Harmon, or whoever he sends you to, it’s OK. Or have you already asked him?”

“No, Mom, I haven’t,” Eden answered wearily, “but if it’ll make you and Dad feel better I will. I want to be honest with you. First of all, Josh and I have never come close to needing any such thing. That’s not what we do together—”

“I know, dear,” Karen said, not sure who was on the defensive, “and it isn’t Josh I was thinking of—”

“—and second, the other boys I’ve met so far aren’t going to get near me. I hope you won’t think this unhealthy, but my virginity is a matter of self-respect. I intend to hold on to it until I find a boy that I can respect equally.”

“Respect?”

“I can’t love someone I don’t respect.”

Now Karen regretted her admonitions. She didn’t dare ask Eden what she felt for Josh, lest she get an answer like “You’ve already told me what I am and am not allowed to feel.”

She left the room feeling she had done what she set out to do and still failed somehow.

Eden’s anger was short-lived. Her mother’s embarrassment wasn’t her problem. She was turning back to her desk when suddenly her chair stopped in mid-swivel. Yes, I will see Doctor Harmon! I’ll tell him Mom sent me! “All those boys I’m going out with. You know how it is.”

Josh didn’t come home in the spring because he was working on a project that promised him summer employment too. When his parents showed up in Ithaca without Eden ― because her break didn’t coincide with his ― there was no hiding his disappointment.

“It’s a good thing Edie goes to camp all summer,” Max observed on the drive home.

“Is it good for us, or what did you have in mind?” Esther asked.

“This project’s an opportunity for Josh, and I’d hate for him to have any conflict over it.”

“You remind me of Karen. That’s her big issue, isn’t it? Career versus personal life. It’s so obvious she thinks she made the wrong choice. I feel so sorry for her. And I don’t see how she can avoid showing her resentment where Edie can see it. There’s a limit to a person’s ability to keep their feelings under wraps. It worries me.”

“Edie’s not our child, you know.”

“Oh, come on, Max! You know we both love that girl.”

Max looked fondly at his wife. “Do you ever think of your decision being wrong?”

“Never, never, never. I’m so happy, I can’t stand people I like being unhappy. It warms my heart to see Josh and Edie together. But Karen sees only problems. It’s so sad. Good God! The phantoms she conjures up: commitment, children, and her career going ‘poof’!”

“Do you really think my concern about Josh’s summer work is like that?” Max asked.

“Not really. You’re being realistic. Josh’s thing is concrete, and it’s now, not six years from now. Still, I’m not sure I’d find the choice that easy if it were up to me. I might encourage the relationship even at the expense of the project. But that might be wrong.”

~~~~~~~~~~

For the duration of the summer project, Professor Ellsworth and his wife invited Josh to stay in their house. Josh was only too happy to help Mrs. Ellsworth in the kitchen, and to cash in on the goodwill he engendered thereby. “Mrs. Ellsworth,” he asked after he’d been there a week, “I have a friend back home who’s going to be a senior in high school. She’s talked about Cornell. Do you think I could ask her up for a few days before she goes to camp? It’s so beautiful this time of year, seeing it would sell her for sure. We’d pay the expenses, of course.”

“How do her parents feel about this?”

“I haven’t said anything, not even to her. I wanted to ask you first.”

“Hmm,” Mrs. Ellsworth said. “We’ll be gone the week of June twelfth. We wouldn’t want her parents to have cause for worry, so it should be before then. Don’t you agree, Toby?”

“Yes. At least we should be here when she arrives. Naturally, if she likes the scenery so much that she wants to stay on a while, I’d hate to evict her just because we’re leaving.”

Mrs. Ellsworth looked at her husband reprovingly. “Please, Toby, show some concern for the reputation of the university, and yours too. I don’t think I like what you’re suggesting.”

“So right, Ann,” Professor Ellsworth said. “Let the record show that I’m properly concerned for the reputation of the university, and mine too. So,” turning to Josh, “if said contingency arises, we expect you both to conduct yourselves with dignity and decorum.”

“We always have, sir, and ma’am, and thanks ever so much.”

Next day Josh called Eden with the news. “That sounds fantastic! No one’s home, but I can’t imagine Mom and Dad objecting, so long as your professor’s there. Meeting him could give me a boost, if I make a good impression. You can coach me. I’ll call you.”

“Remember, dignity and decorum.”

“I’ll remember it as long as I live.” She hung up. Later that evening she told her parents. Alan looked at Karen, as if this were for a girl’s mother to decide. Karen looked back at him.

“There’s no medical contraindication,” he said. “What’s the living situation?” He came perilously close to reminding her not to miss her daily sulfa.

“He’s staying at Professor Ellsworth’s house. They have a bunch of spare bedrooms because their kids are gone. Josh is in one and I guess they’ll offer me one of the others.”

“Are the Ellsworths home?” asked Karen.

Eden read her thoughts. They were perfectly reasonable, and she chided herself for being irritated. “Yes. I’ll get to meet him. If he likes me, he may give me a good reference.”

Alan turned to her with interest. “I didn’t know you’d decided to try for Cornell.”

Karen threw him a glance that said, “Really now, you can’t possibly be that naïve.” Eden read it too, and again she bit her tongue. “I haven’t decided. But this is a good chance to get a look at the campus. And meeting a professor in his own home really is a bonus.”

“You have a point,” Alan said. “What do you say, Karen?”

Karen sighed. “It’s hard to argue with what you said. It does sound like an opportunity. I’m not too crazy about the other part, but I can live with it.”

For the third time Eden reined in her gut reaction. Stop, stop! she told herself. Mom has already answered, don’t challenge her.

Next Tuesday she took the bus to Ithaca.

~~~~~~~~~~

She spent the first three days visiting Josh’s laboratory, exploring the town on her own while he worked, and walking around the deserted campus with him.

“This place is gorgeous,” she said again and again, looking down on the lake. “How different from the city. Do you think it would be fun living up here?”

“It’s fabulous in the summer, but it gets cold and dreary in the winter. I think I like Philadelphia better in the winter and Ithaca better in the summer.”

“It would be nice for vacations.”

“You haven’t seen the best yet. This weekend we’re going to do some driving.”

The Ellsworths were charmed with their young guest. Through their dinner conversations they learned about Eden’s parents and the highlights of her own history.

“You’re in love with this girl, aren’t you?” Professor Ellsworth said next day in the lab.

Josh protested. “We’re old friends. Eden and my sister Debbie have been skating buddies since the world began. So we’re like family.”

Ellsworth gave a short laugh. “Well, I won’t extract any confessions. But the way you look at her when she talks to my wife. This old man notices things like that.”

“I don’t bother analyzing it. We go out together and we have a good time.”

“Good, that’s the best way. When you’re ready to call it by its real name, you will.”

Mrs. Ellsworth was more discreet. “Do you think you might want to go to Cornell?”

“It’s a beautiful place,” Eden answered, “but I haven’t looked anywhere else, so I can’t honestly say. I hope I’m not hurting my chances talking like this. I’ve heard that if you want to get into a first-class college you should say you’re not interested in any other place.”

“It’s a myth. Naturally we’d like you to really want us, but we’re also realistic, and most students aren’t going to get in. We know when they’re just saying what they think we want to hear. Take my advice and be honest. If Cornell wants you, they’ll offer you admission.”

“That would certainly be easier for me,” Eden said. “I don’t like to make things up.”

“OK. Now that we’ve agreed on forthrightness, I’ll ask you a question you may not want to answer, and you don’t have to. To what extent are you influenced by Josh’s presence here?”

“You’re very observant, Mrs. Ellsworth. I like being where Josh is.”

“You don’t need to say more.” Mrs. Ellsworth placed her hands on Eden’s shoulders. “I’m a librarian and I have no say over admissions. If I did, I’d say that young people who love each other ought to be together. The admissions committee would never consider that. They see every student as an individual. But I think they’re missing something. When good friends study together, they help each other and they both do better. What’s more, they don’t have to use their energies ‘playing the field.’ Now there’s a wonderful expression.”

“Are you encouraging young people like me to commit themselves to each other?”

“Commitment means recognizing compatibility and valuing it enough to give up a certain amount of freedom for it. Age does have something to do with it. But if you look at age alone, there are a lot of twenty-five-year olds ― make that thirty-five, forty-five ― who don’t seem to know what it’s about. Just look at the divorce rate. I’m not saying you should get married and start a family. With career choices still ahead of you, that would be unwise. On the other hand, if you feel committed emotionally, more power to you. A lot of people would envy you.”

“My mother thinks I’m too involved.”

“That, my dear, is how mothers talk. I should know, because I’m one too. It’s called protecting your young ― or not letting them grow up.”

“Mom’s a lawyer. She has this friend at the office who started after Mom did and who’s been a partner now at least ten years. Mom only works part time and I don’t think her career’s going anywhere. I wonder if she doesn’t wish she’d been successful like her friend.”

“Do you think there’s a connection with what we were talking about?”

“Her friend never had children. Maybe having me got in the way of Mom’s career.”

Mrs. Ellsworth shrugged and pursed her lips. “People make choices. I was heading for a doctorate in English when I got married. Now I’m a librarian and I have three children. I’m happy with my choice, but if I had to do it over again, I’d be just as ambivalent as I was then. Some people manage both, but it’s a mistake to think everyone can. I didn’t think I could.”

“Josh’s mother worked at home when he and his sister were young.”

“That’s no way to success either. She also made a choice. That makes four of us. All women, you’ll notice. But that’s changing. When your time comes, you can ask your husband, ‘Why me? You decide whether to work or baby-sit!’ Ask Josh what he thinks of that!”

“You know, Mrs. Ellsworth,” Eden said after they had finished laughing, “the way you say things, they don’t sound threatening at all.”

“Being a teenager’s threatening enough. I’d rather be helpful. Anyway, to get practical, as long as you’re up here, you must see the local sights. The Finger Lakes is a fascinating region. Make Josh show you. I don’t know how many days you have. But Toby and I are leaving for Atlanta Saturday. We’ll ask Josh to drive us to the airport and then he can use my car.”

“I don’t know how to thank you. I’d love to stay the weekend, because Josh won’t be working and we can go on a trip, maybe one each day. And I’ll leave early next week.”

“I’ll leave it to you to deal with the question of chaperoning, or lack thereof. We don’t assume that responsibility just because we lend you our house.”

“Oh, Mrs. Ellsworth, nobody would have any right to expect that of you. You’ve been so wonderful to both of us, the least we can do is not embarrass you.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Eden knew nothing of upper New York State. Now she turned to Josh in delight: “They really do look like fingers. What a stroke of genius, whoever came up with that name!”

“Somebody once said that God laid his hand down here and these are his fingerprints.”

Eden looked intently at the map, then counted the lakes using her index finger. “Enough fingers here for two hands. Did God put both hands down?”

“I think the whole notion is not very flattering to God, unless He has fingers of ice.”

“Meaning,” Eden said, “that the lakes were formed by glaciers?”

“Right. These are glacial valleys. The sides are very steep and they go way down. Seneca Lake, the next one over, is more than a mile deep.”

“This is fantastic,” Eden said. “The shapes, the legends, the geology.”

“Now think about this,” Josh said, “The last ice in these parts melted only ten thousand years ago ― give or take a couple thousand. In geology that’s nothing. Meanwhile, someplace or other they’ve discovered hieroglyphics dating back to almost 2000 B.C. That’s four thousand years ago! Imagine, recorded human history and geologic history that close!”

“Mostly you think of civilization in terms of a few thousand years, and geologic history in millions. But here they are, practically coming together.”

“It gets even better. Did you know that some of the glaciers in Alaska are changing so fast you can measure the difference every single year? That’s geologic history in the making.”

“I had no idea!”

Josh covered the map to claim her undivided attention. “Do you remember seeing stars even though they might not exist any more? That was also a matter of time.”

“So now we’ve come from light years—”

“Millions of light years—”

“—millions of light years to one year. How far can we go in the other direction?”

“Try dividing one second by ten to the fortieth power.”

Eden squeezed her forehead. “That’s impossible,” she said decisively.

“That’s the sort of interval astronomers talk about when the universe was just beginning. You know, the Big Bang.”

“You know, Josh, grappling with concepts like that in the evening, and next morning driving around the countryside thinking only how beautiful it is. I don’t quite know what I’m trying to say, but there’s something about that switch that grabs me.”

“Yes. The one is thinking, trying to understand. And the other is feeling, letting it wash over you. Two kinds of experience. They sound so different, but there must be a connection. Maybe there’s a whole range of experiences, thinking at one end and feeling at the other. It sounds crazy, but thinking about those numbers makes me feel excited. How does that work?”

“I like your idea of range,” she said. “It’s just like the range of time intervals—”

“And size intervals too. The universe also has physical dimensions—”

“And so do atoms—”

“And subatomic particles.”

By now they were bursting with laughter. When they were through venting their mirth, they made the quantum leap to what was happening between them.

“I’ve never met anyone I could have so much fun just talking with,” Josh said. “It’s not only sharing the subject matter—”

“Let me finish. It’s that we both get so wound up and we feed on each other’s craziness.”

“Yes,” he said. “Not to mention that you know what I have in mind before I say it.”

Next morning Josh drove the Ellsworths to the airport, taking Eden along for the ride.

“If you want to sit on the deck after dark,” Professor Ellsworth said, “the light switch is at the top of the steps, inside the door. Of course, if the bugs bother you, you may want to turn the lights off.” Mrs. Ellsworth cast him a sideways glance. With unassailable innocence, he added, “Light does attract insects. Good thing for biology students to know.”

“Light also attracts the neighbors’ curiosity,” Mrs. Ellsworth replied. “That would be even more annoying, wouldn’t it?”

Professor Ellsworth reminded Eden of Mr. Rabin. She wondered whether Josh noticed the resemblance, and whether it had anything to do with the rapport between teacher and student.

“Toby,” asked Mrs. Ellsworth, “do the Rockwells still have their rowboat?”

“Great idea. Their number’s on our Rolodex. Tell them you’re our houseguests. If they give you life jackets, wear them. In case you rock the boat.”

After lunch they drove the scenic route along the western shore of Cayuga Lake to Seneca Falls. There they visited Women’s Rights National Historical Park.

“So this is where it started,” Eden said, as they walked through the house where Elizabeth Cady Stanton had lived. “Imagine who stood right here a hundred years ago.”

“Amelia Bloomer, maybe?”

“Did she wear those things in the summer too?”

“In those days people dressed year round for winter. If you look at old photos, all you see is faces and hands. The rest is a shapeless bundle of clothes.”

“Not completely shapeless,” Eden corrected him. “Just enough to fire the imagination. Don’t you think that’s better than showing everything?”

He wasn’t sure it was better, but he couldn’t deny that seeing her on the step stool, all bundled up, had fired his imagination. When they got back, enough daylight remained for an hour’s rowing before dinner. Mr. Rockwell insisted on their wearing lifejackets.

“I’m an old lawyer, you know,” he joked, “so just sign this waiver if you please.”

“I would,” Eden countered, “except my mother is also an old lawyer and she wouldn’t approve of my signing a blank sheet of paper.”

“Martha, here quick!” Mrs. Rockwell appeared, carrying a pair of pruning shears.

“No, we don’t need those,” he said to her. “Just witness that I am herewith advising this lawyer’s daughter and her friend to wear life jackets.”

“So witnessed,” she answered dryly, winked at Eden, and returned to her work.

Mr. Rockwell turned to Josh. “The boat doesn’t take on much water and it’s pretty stable. But I’d prefer if you didn’t change places while you were out there.”

“OK,” Eden said and turned to Josh. “I guess that means you row. It’s the man’s job.”

“What! After Seneca Falls!”

“Aha” said Mr. Rockwell. “You’re fresh from that trip. In that case, you’re going to have to flip a coin. We don’t allow sex discrimination any more.”

They flipped and Josh rowed. Eden lay back in the boat, her legs on the seat, and looked up at the cloudless sky. “Camp was never like this,” she said.

“Our first time in a boat,” spoke the disembodied voice from the other side of her knees.

“There’ll be other firsts. Our first weekend together. No parents anywhere near. My first trip to upstate New York. What else?”

There were several seconds of silence. “Just about everything.”

They ate at a family restaurant and walked to Stewart Park, at the south end of the lake. The sun was setting as they approached a lawn with a bandstand at one end. Musicians were milling around among the music stands, and food vendors were doing a brisk business. Eden and Josh stood and watched for a while, till the musicians took their places and began to play dance tunes. Josh offered his hand to Eden and they joined the other couples on the lawn.

“No ice skates,” Josh said.

“No parquet floor either. I thought at least we’d be indoors the next time. January seems like a century ago, doesn’t it? And this is so beautiful” She moved her left hand behind his shoulder and laid her cheek on his chest. By the time they left, it was dark and they could barely make out the stars above the treetops.

They walked back to the house in silence. “Thank you so much for fixing it that I could come up. I’ve never had such a wonderful time. And there’s all day tomorrow yet. I won’t even ask what we’re doing. I just know whatever you’ve planned, it’s going to be perfect.”

“You spent all those hours on the bus just to get here. Having you visit is a gift.”

“It’s still warm,” he said at the door. “How about sitting on the deck?”

They sat on the chaise longue. The only sound was water lapping at the pebbled beach.

“It’s sacrilegious to break this silence,” she said. “But I have to tell you how wonderful it is to just sit here, listening to these little sounds. If it were dark we’d hear them even better.”

“And with fewer bugs.”

“And fewer nosy neighbors.”

Josh skipped up the steps to turn off the light, slowly felt his way back down, and sat next to her. He put his arm around her and drew her close. As she laid her head on his shoulder, he smelled the scent of her hair. His thoughts wandered along a familiar path. Would the same brand of shampoo smell the same in another girl’s hair? No, couldn’t be.

For an eternity they listened languidly to the dark-enhanced sounds of the lake. Then she placed her hand on his knee and said, “If my mother could see us now, she’d make me hitch a ride home without waiting for the next bus.”

“And you, Edie, are you OK? Sitting here like this is also a first. Are you worried?”

“Oh Josh, I feel I’m being torn in two directions. I know exactly what I want, but I’m also afraid. I don’t know what of. It can’t possibly hurt ― not with you. It’s the idea of holding that one thing back till we’re a thousand percent sure we’re ready. Maybe I’m too inhibited.”

“No, Edie, you’re not too inhibited. You value yourself, and I’d be unworthy if I didn’t value you all the more for it. When you say yes, it’ll be yes. Until then, I’ll live with no.”

She lifted her head from his shoulder and sought his face in the darkness. “Kiss me.”

They sat for five minutes more, in each other’s arms. At the top of the stairs, they squeezed each other’s hand, exchanged goodnight kisses, and went to their separate rooms.

~~~~~~~~~~

Next morning there was knock on his door. “Come in,” he called, sitting up in bed. The door opened slowly and Eden entered with a glass of orange juice on a tray. “Breakfast is served, Milord, and you are invited to the dining room to partake thereof. Here’s a little energizer to help you on your way.”

Josh took the juice with one hand; with the other he took her free hand and kissed it. “Thank you, Milady. I am grateful for your ministrations. If it pleases you, I would like to brush my teeth so as to be more worthy of your company.”

She leaned over and kissed him on the mouth. “You are worthy with your teeth the way they are, but if it be your habit to do so, you may perform the ritual.”

Thus began their longest day together.

His oral hygiene up to snuff, Josh came to the dining room to find the table set with their hosts’ best china and sterling, freshly picked violets and azaleas, and two unlit candles.

“These we won’t light till dinner,” Eden admonished playfully.

Josh gaped. “I think I’m going to cry. What did I ever do to deserve such pleasure?”

“You were born. Now sit down and I’ll pour you coffee. I’ve made sandwiches, and I found some apples and bananas. So if we’re going to be on the road, we’re all set for lunch.”

Josh looked at her adoringly. “Are you always like this?”

“I’m not always in company like this.”

First they visited the grave and summer study of Mark Twain in Elmira. Josh pointed out the twelve-foot monument, which symbolized the depth of water a riverboat needed. “Mark Twain means twelve feet. Sam Clemens thought it would make a good pen name.”

“Wow. This is not only fun; it’s an education too.”

“Are you interested in soaring?” he asked.

“There isn’t anything I’m not interested in right now.”

“There’s a soaring museum here. After that we can have our picnic lunch.”

After lunch they drove to Watkins Glen, passing the foot of Seneca Lake en route.

“Just a few more square miles than Cayuga. That makes it the biggest.”

“God’s middle finger, then,” Eden said.

On the other side of town was the entrance to the state park.

“This is the best part,” he said as they entered. “But be prepared for some rough hiking.”

By the time they were halfway into the gorge and had seen a succession of waterfalls, she was ready to agree that this was the best. They stopped at an overlook to peer into the gorge. Josh said, “They also have a sound and light show. We could stop by on the way down.”

“Let’s do it.”

It was nine o’clock when they left the park.

“Did you catch that part about forty-five million centuries?” he asked.

“I wasn’t sure I heard it right, but isn’t that the same as four and a half billion years?”

“Just what we were talking about the other night.”

“Incredible. Just incredible.” She grabbed his hand. Then she remembered. “Oh dear! I wanted to make a big, festive dinner, and it’s so late. How long does it take back to Ithaca?”

“We have to figure at least an hour.”

“It’ll be after ten, and I have to go shopping too. How are we ever going to do it?”

“Edie,” he said gently, “There’ll be other chances. Knocking yourself out now would only spoil it. Let’s pick up some pizza and we’ll make a formal dinner of it, with candlelight, china, sterling, and Château Ellsworth in crystal glasses.”

Neither would ever forget that pizza dinner. When they had finished the meal, including two glasses of wine apiece, the day’s exertions caught up with them and they had no desire for the deck’s offering of sounds without light. They went into their rooms to get ready for bed.

Ten minutes later, Josh in his robe, toothbrush in hand, met Eden in her robe, toothbrush in hand, both en route to the bathroom. Both felt tipsy. “Who goes first?” she asked.

“That could have been a hard decision, after Seneca Falls. Fortunately, they have twin washbowls.”

In a minute they faced each other with mouths full of toothpaste foam. “Let’s do something silly,” she spluttered, putting her hands round his neck. “Another first! But now you must leave.”

At the door he turned to her and asked: “Will I see you again tonight?”

“Do you think it’s right, with us not quite sober?”

Josh looked down, saying nothing. She walked up to him and took his hands. “Josh, for some reason this is awfully important to me. I can’t help it. Just the idea that I was drunk might come back to me later and I wouldn’t feel right about it. You did say you’d wait till I’m ready. Can you? Can you without making me feel bad?”

“I’m the one who should feel bad. I promised I wouldn’t pressure you, and I’m going to live up to that. What I said last night I really meant. And now I mean it even more.”

“Thank you, Josh, thank you,” she whispered. She kissed him and closed the door.

They went to their rooms and promptly fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

She woke with a headache. The illuminated clock on the bedside table read a quarter to two. She got out of bed, intending to find a medicine cabinet. As she passed the window, she stood face to face with the full moon. She stared and stared, her mind suspended between the past and the present, feeling herself swept along by the certitude that the moon would forever be the symbol of her life’s most treasured moments. A new intoxication took the place of the one she had slept off, an intoxication altogether devoid of fear and altogether consistent with sobriety. The headache no longer mattered. Quietly she tiptoed out of her room into his, found the bed, and crawled in beside him.