“Oh, well, you see, Sam...” Philip Davidson began what seemed a practiced speech. “She’s coming along to visit some friends of ours. You remember the Greenbergs. She and Eve are planning to shop while I’m in meetings. Dave and I are going to talk a little business, too.” He smiled broadly at his son and clasped his shoulder. “It will be good for your mother to be away for a few days, Sam. She worries so about you.”

“There’s no need for her to worry,” Sam answered. “I’m happy, healthy, and recently graduated twenty-ninth in my class of thirty-eight. What mother wouldn’t be proud?”

Philip laughed and hugged his son. “You’re a blessing, Sam. Not so much to your teachers, but you’re a blessing.” He looked toward the front door and yelled for his wife, who emerged swathed in fur—a compact Yiddish teddy bear smearing red lipstick on her son’s cheek—and they were gone.

Eight hours later Sam led Violet into his bedroom—decorated, she pointed out with a giggle, in Early Sports Team. She sat on the bed, an awkward smile frozen on her face. He offered her a glass of wine and put a record on the phonograph. Violet recognized “There, I’ve Said It Again” by Vaughan Monroe.

Sam sat next to her and stroked her hair. “I do, you know,” he whispered into her ear. “I love you to the end. Forever. I want to marry you, Violet.” He turned her face to his and kissed her, soft as rose petals. Violet closed her eyes and listened to the music as he undressed her and eased her back onto the pillows. When she opened them Sam was straddling her body, fully clothed. He stared at her in the soft light.

“You are the most beautiful woman in the world, Vi. And I am the luckiest guy. Everybody loves you, but you’re mine.” He started a line of kisses between her breasts and down to her belly button. Violet grabbed his hair, confused. Sam laughed gently. “Close your eyes, Violet. Relax.”

She felt his tongue licking her and gasped. Sam pinned her hands down, twining his fingers in hers and holding tight. The entire world was Sam’s mouth, urging her toward a place she’d never imagined existed. Violet’s hips began to move. She arched her back and screamed, breaking her hands free and clutching Sam’s ears. She lay very still for a minute, then opened her eyes to find him smiling down at her.

“I...”

“Shh,” he told her. Sam threw his clothes across the room and lowered his body to hers. He was inside her in one smooth motion and started moving slowly. “Look at me,” he demanded. “I want to watch your face.”

She locked her eyes on his and wrapped her legs around his waist. And Violet understood, for the very first time, what the fuss was all about.