Guest post from DrLaura: "Summer of Love"

Jack and I had grown up together, but we didn’t become close until our first summer back from college. We were both a little shy, yet he was a perfect gentleman, the kind that every girl dreams of: He would bring me flowers, he was interested in my feelings, and he always made me feel like there was no one else in the world, and my insecurities would melt away. We would go on long walks and just talk about the beauty of the flowers in bloom and the wonderful community that we’d grown up with – one full of morally grounded friends, trained in the Church’s scriptures.

One sunny day, he asked me to join him on a picnic. It was warm and you could hear the wind rustling the leaves in the trees ever so gently. He took hold of my hand and said, “I have something special to show you – come with me!”, and he gazed romantically into my eyes.

I held his gaze for a long time, but I knew in my heart it wasn’t right – we were but children, unmarried and not ready for anything more. I knew this from our spiritual training learned over those many years of Sunday School. And he knew it too – he was pure of heart but weak of spirit, and I would have to be strong for both of us. I let his hand go, and his face fell.

But I could feel my emotions begin to overtake me too, and, as an older and wiser woman, I now know that I was feeling the first hints of a deep romantic love. I felt almost a spectator viewing the proceedings third hand as I heard myself ask, “What is it?”, and the happiness returned to his face as he again grasped my hand and pulled me toward old Miller’s hill. “You’ll see,” he said with a smile.

As we neared the top, the wind was building, but I was so full of happiness that I was deaf to anything but the sound of my heart and could only feel the warmth of Jack’s hand. When at last we stopped and as I looked deep into his eyes, I felt a passion burning in my breast – so much so that I barely noticed the darkening skies or the far-off rumble of thunder.

And then he bent down and, emptying the pail that he’d used as a picnic basket, spread out the blanket on the ground. I turned away, afraid of him seeing the rising emotion on my face. And as I turned I felt a drop of rain and heard the “plink, plink” of droplets hitting the bottom of the pail. Jack placed a hand on my shoulder and as I turned back towards him I felt uncontrollably drawn to him. “Jill, I…” he began.

And as he grasped my blouse there was a flash of lightning followed by a boom of thunder, and we began to fall as he tore off my

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