She said that as the end of August drew near she began to panic; she knew she had to act or she’d be destined to a life of unfulfilled sexual potential. It seemed clear to her that that summer would set the pattern for the rest of her adult erotic life, and she refused to give up without a fight. So she hatched a plan. She knew Will arrived early for work and went to sit by himself by the creek in his tweed and suspenders to read, or maybe just to brood — either way, she found this little ritual quite sexy and mysterious. On the Monday of their last week, she decided to show up early and walk down to the creek to find him. She imagined sitting down beside him and engaging him in a conversation about whatever book he was reading. She even hid a pack of cigarettes in her back pocket just in case that was his thing. Except a rather big wrench was thrown into her plan when she arrived at the creek to find Will sucking off the theme park’s forty-five-year-old head groundskeeper.

“Why do you always have to say his age?” Will demurred.

“And here I’d thought all along those grass stains were part of your costume.”

“My —?”

“Like, didn’t Gilbert milk cows or something? I don’t know.”

As they laughed, I glanced again at Will’s face and yes, I thought, I could see it. There was something there. He was handsome, really. In a somewhat unconventional way. In fact, his look was just the right kind of strange to be the basis for proper obsession.

We spent the evening talking outside the makeshift library, Will seducing us with his elusive charm while assisting visitors signing books in or out of the yurt’s meagre holdings of dog-eared paperbacks. I gathered he was the camp’s volunteer librarian, at least for that evening. As it got dark he switched on a strand of multicoloured LED lanterns and two middle-aged women in fleece jackets came by doling out mugs of red lentil soup. The autumn air was crisp and wreathed with our breath. When I started to shiver Will offered me a corner of the blanket, but I declined.

“I think I’ll head home and have a hot shower,” I said.