"I didn't want my shirt to get wet"

"I- I- I-," Candace stammered some more, "I didn't want my shirt to get wet."

"Huh?" Frank said a bit bemusedly.

"You know, from the sink and everything. A skirt would be drier since it wouldn't touch the sink."

"Okay," everyone said a bit skeptically, "and then what happened?"

"Well," Candace tried to finagle the rest of the story, "the sink sprayed water all over the place, and my shirt and skirt got all wet and ruined anyway."

"Oh, and then they lost your bags? Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry!" Janice expressed sympathy for her daughter.

Relieved that the rest of her story wouldn't have to be explained to everyone, Candace simply mustered up an "that's okay, mom. I'm sure there weren't that many people who saw me anyway."

"A damn shame, too!" Frank said in typical uncle.

"Frank!" Janice elbowed her brother-in-law with half-anger and half-playfulness. The other partygoers seemed to retreat to their own conversations, not noticing Candace too much. Just before she could retreat to the master bedroom to look at the family computer to buy things on Amazon, however, Frank caught up to her.

"Hey, Candacceee!" he said too leery for Candace's comfort, "I haven't seen you in forever! You've grown since senior year of high school, now you're a senior in college? Here, come sit with me and your mom and talk about everything that's happened in Boston!"

Before she could protest, Candace felt Frank take her right hand and drag her to the leather couch to sit between him and Janice. Candace was grateful for finally sitting down, but she could feel the cool leather on her bare back and thighs.

"So, what major are you?" Frank asked the nude Candace, struggling to make eye contact.

"Ummm, just Fine Arts. I hope to get my MFA after this," Candace said looking down at her uneaten food.

"Oooh, fancy!" Frank said with unusually high enthusiasm. "What's it like in Boston? Is it like Chicago and Minneapolis?", those being the only two cities Frank had ever been to.

"I guess so," Candace couldn't stand to look at Frank and where his eyes might be, "it's more like Pittsburgh and New York, I would say."

"Ohhh," Frank said, his gaze drifting down to Candace's toned abs.

"Frank!" Janice said to snap him out of it. "I'm sorry dear," she turned to her naked daughter, "you know how hard it's been for him ever since Aunt Sharon passed away."

"That's fine, Mom," Candace said turning to Janice but barely looking up at her, "may I be excused to go to the computer to look at my e-mails and stuff?"

"Just a second, hon," Janice piped up, "the party's almost over." She then stood up and exclaimed "Gather around, everyone, we have to take a family photo!"