Chapter 4

I have to admit to being in pretty decent shape for a 35-year-old writer of adventure novels. My six years in the Marines after college left me lean and mean, and I’ve tried to keep my edge with push-ups, other calisthenics, and a five-mile run every other morning. In the Corps, it had been every morning, but I refused to push myself that far. So far, it seems to be working. I eat what I please, take a multivitamin every day, get an annual physical, and enjoy remarkably good health.

I’ve always had very little body hair, and that – along with having my 210 pounds stretched over a six-foot, three-inch frame, has served me fairly well in the appearance department. I’m long and lanky and look good in most things I wear. Although I’m not sporting model looks, my face has a certain regularity and charm. I have blond hair ranging into the family’s reddish tones, but – thankfully – didn’t inherit the light complexion of our mom. Instead, I got the easily-tanned skin of our dad’s Mediterranean heritage. In contrast, Leah got Mom’s creamy Irish complexion and the red hair that she passed on to Madison.

Irish and Italian: no wonder they had trouble relating to each other! Apart from religion, which they both ignored as far as I could tell, they had so little in common that it was a miracle they didn’t fight all the time. Instead, they just ignored each other and their kids. Looking back, it’s incredible that Leah and I turned out as well as we have. Thank whatever powers there be that we had each other!

After pizza for four, we spent the rest of the afternoon into the evening enjoying a fashion show put on by the teens to show off Madi’s loot from their shopping. Madi and Elle wore mostly the same sizes, Elle being shorter and lighter at about 5 feet nothing, but curvier. The girls modeled shorts, swimsuits, and tops, and Uncle Jack spent a lot of time with little girls bouncing on his lap and beside him on the couch. That and my efforts to ignore and eventually disguise my constant erection greatly amused my sibling, who could hardly keep a straight face most of the time.

There were also a lot of cracks about how Uncle looked in his Speedo, and Elle capped the evening when she asked Leah, “Isn’t Jack the hottest guy you’ve ever seen?”

Leah answered with a laconic, “Plenty hot, for sure, especially when you’re fourteen!”

Madison, who was sitting next to me in a fetching little lace bra and pair of “booty shorts” from the fashion show, squeezed my arm and blew my mind when she murmured, “And she ought to know, right Uncle Jack?” Uncle Jack could do nothing but blush, causing a trill of giggles from the little redhead.

After admiring the results of the day’s mall plundering and finishing off the pizza, I begged off on the rest of the evening, citing the morning’s long drive to Key West. From just north of Ocala, it’s pushing 500 miles, the last part of it in heavy traffic on the crowded highway leading into and out of the island chain.

Madi, Elle, and Leah stayed up to distribute the loot and pack Madison’s bags. I went to sleep with a smile. It had been a breathtaking and illuminating day, and I could tell from having seen the display of fashion that I had a scenic, if likely nerve-wracking, month in the offing. I had also discovered that I was terrifically turned on by my precocious 14-year-old niece and her friend. Although the knowledge was pretty jarring, I liked it.