The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille by The Gold Coast (com v4.0)

Author:The Gold Coast (com v4.0) [Coast, The Gold]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-04-12T00:33:19+00:00

Twenty-one

In retrospect, I should have tried the Atlantic crossing with my family and never returned to America; a sort of decolonization of the Sutters and the Stanhopes. We could have sailed into Plymouth, burned the Paumanok, set up a fish-and-chips stand on the beach, and lived happily ever after.

But Americans don’t emigrate, at least not very many of us do, and the few who do don’t do it well. We have created our own land and culture, and we simply don’t fit anywhere else, not even in the lands of our ancestors, who can barely tolerate us on two-week holidays. In truth, while I admire Europe, I find the Europeans a bit tiresome, especially when they complain about Americans.

So we didn’t cross the Atlantic, and we didn’t emigrate, but we had a spectacular weekend of sailing with sunny weather and good winds.

We had stayed at anchor in Hempstead Harbor Friday evening, and at daybreak we set sail for Connecticut, putting in at Mystic for a few hours of sight-seeing and shopping. Actually, after about an hour in town, Susan told Carolyn and Edward that she and I had to go back to the boat to get my wallet. Carolyn and Edward sort of grinned knowingly. I was a little embarrassed. Susan told them to meet us in front of the Seamen’s Inne in three hours.

“Three hours?” asked Edward, still smiling.

I mean, it’s good for children to know that their parents have an active sex life, but you don’t want to give them the impression that you can’t go without it for a day or two. However, Susan was very cool about it and said to Edward, “Yes, three hours. Don’t be late.”

I took out my wallet and gave them each some money, realizing as I did so that I had created a slight inconsistency in the wallet story. But good kids that they are, they pretended not to see the wallet in my hands.

Anyway, on the way back to the dock, I said to Susan, “That took me by surprise.”

“Oh, you handled it quite well, John, until you pulled out your wallet.” She laughed.

“Well, they knew anyway.” I said, “Remember when we used to tuck them into their berths at night, then go out on top of the cabin and do it?”

“I remember you used to tell them that if they heard noises on the roof, it was only Mommy and Daddy doing their sit-ups.”

“Push-ups.”

We both laughed.

So, we took the Paumanok out again and sailed past the three-mile limit where sexual perversions are legal. We found a spot where no other craft were nearby, and I said to Susan, “What did you have in mind?”

What she had in mind was going below, then reappearing on the aft deck stark naked. We were still under sail, and I was at the helm, and she stood in front of me and said, “Captain, First Mate Cynthia reporting for punishment as ordered.”

My goodness. I looked at her standing at attention, those catlike green eyes sparkling in the sunlight, the breeze blowing through her long red hair.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.