That’s just the way we are. Who is there that you can have some kind of emotional closeness with?”“There’s really only you and Julie and Jake....”“You have a physical relationship with Julie and Jake. I know that. Give them a chance to show you some emotional closeness as well. In fact, go looking for it. When you find it, it will be wonderful. You’ll never be tempted to settle for just sex again.”“Gramma,” Jake said, “can Carol come over and visit with Julie and me for a while?”“Sure. Carol,. Looks like it. Bill's only going down for a week or so, to help me get started. But I won't have the kind of money it would take to fly back here, even if the schedule permitted it, and I doubt if it does. Their short season will be winding up, right around Christmas time." Christmas in ... what was the name of it?" Hermosillo. In Sonora." Don't they have a winter league in Venezuela you could have signed up for? Or Australia, maybe? Jesus, Freddie!" Josie, c'mon. You know I'm not doing this. " I know," she said tenderly, "but we all have to start somewhere.There was a time when I was just like you and with all the insecuritiesthat go with it but, bit by bit, I dealt with them either by realisingthat my worries were groundless or, as with the boobs, making changestowards becoming the person I wanted to be. I could argue that myboobs are just as fake as yours and the only real difference between usis that I no longer care!" But Ophelia," I started before she interrupted me."And. You seemed to be a matched set. Keep it that way, don’t get jealous of each other, or it’ll tear you apart. Does he treat Carrie better? I thought not. Just keep doing what you guys are doing now, and it’ll be fine.”We woke in the night, hearing voices. Sarah flew into my room in a panic. “It was Carlos. Some guy chased him off, let me know through the door he’d be watching the rest of the night.”I held her until she calmed down, then we moved into the master bedroom, leaving the kids to sleep,.