Becky lifted her long golden hair from her shoulders for a moment and breathed a deep sigh of relief as the cool air hit her shoulders. The soft breeze blowing through the crowded sidewalk cafe was refreshing after the hot June morning she and Jack had spent on the beach.

The clear aquamarine water of the Mediterranean had felt heavenly as it had gently surged over her almost naked body. At first, she had felt a little shy and uncomfortable about appearing in such a revealing bikini, but when she got to the beach she saw all the women were wearing them. She would have felt out of place, she realized now, if she had worn her old one-piece suit from back home. Undoubtedly, Jack was right when he teased her and said she was slightly old-fashioned and too modest.

Of course, Jack wasn't audacious or extreme himself, and she was glad of that. Let others have their new-fangled ideas, she thought, but when it came to marriage she was a traditionalist and wanted a marriage that would last forever. With Jack's boyish manner and dry sense of humor she didn't expect to ever be bored. It was all going to be so perfect! When they returned home, Jack had a job with a new up-and-coming corporation, and she planned to work two or three years as a teacher. She knew they could have had a family right away if they had wanted to accept more help from their parents. But it was better, they had decided together, to struggle on their own and be independent.

So it wasn't really selfish of them to have allowed Jack's generous and wealthy senator father to send them on this wonderful honeymoon. Even at the beginning, she had instinctively sensed it would have been rude to refuse her future father-in-law's gesture. She had to smile as she thought of Jack's famous and rather flamboyant congressman father. He was an awful lot like Jack – exuberant and good-natured on the outside, but surprisingly sensible and old-fashioned inside.