Mourning Glory by Warren Adler Page B

harm?
    It was certainly a better course of action than living on
empty dreams and surrendering to the inevitable life in the lower depths, the
slow lane, the bottom of the barrel. Time for a little realism here, she
rebuked herself. Better to try for the roses than settle for the weeds. Her
optimistic speculation was exciting her.
    She thought about possible ages in her target range. The
fifties, of course, would be ideal. But rich men widowed at that age, she had
observed, seemed to look for girls in their twenties, trophy wives. Sixty to
seventy would probably be the logical range for her. Even a young over-seventy
might fill the bill.
    Mrs. Burns had suggested a Jewish widower and had given her
reasons, which had at first seemed shallow, stereotypical and comical. She had
heard that oft-repeated cliché, reiterated by Mrs. Burns, that Jewish men were
supposed to be steady family types. They also did not drink, like non-Jews.
Their loving over-possessive mothers were supposed to have instilled in them
gobs of guilt, and when they fooled around they compensated by being even more
generous to their wives, as she had learned by observing them at Saks. Of
course, that wasn't the life she wanted. She would much prefer a faithful
husband who was satisfied with her in every respect.
    Certainly, from her observations and experience, Jewish men
seemed to treat their wives a lot better than Italian men, who preferred the
company of other Italian men to their spouses. In her mother's case, she
couldn't blame her father. To her mother every man was a perpetrator of sinful
acts. In fact, most things, especially thoughts, were sinful to her and
required weekly and sometimes daily exorcism by the priests. Grace considered
it a minor miracle, coming from that background, that she had, defying the
devil, ever summoned up the courage to get laid.
    It occurred to her suddenly that she was really ignorant
about the aging process of men, especially their sexual capacity. Her
experience with Jason and the dentist had validated Mrs. Burns's assertion that
man's best friend was, indeed, their penis, and getting it up was a matter of
utmost importance to them. They were proud of their erections, especially their
endurance and capacity for orgasms. When that diminished Grace assumed that
their self-worth would be negatively affected. Viva Viagra, she thought.
    Thinking about this brought on another hot blush that
crawled up her back. She had never gone to bed with anyone over sixty, but the
dentist did have episodes when his erection had abruptly collapsed. The thing
had just deflated, as if someone had put a pin in a balloon, and no amount of
ministering brought it immediately back to life. The dentist was initially
depressed by the episode, although luckily, after a brief nap, he was able to
rise to the occasion, not that it performed any great feats that gave her any
pleasure.
    But the experience had taught her that an erect penis was a
very delicate and important instrument and meant more to a man than was
commonly thought among women. She suspected that men over sixty required a
great deal more sexual inspiration than younger men, and she would, of course,
be fully committed to providing that ingredient. Why was she dwelling on this
aspect? Had what she had witnessed with Jackie aroused such thoughts?
    She had heard many jokes about Jewish women and their
disinterest in sex, which might or might not be true. Certainly, she was
prepared to provide a marked contrast to that supposition.
    Depending on the man, she would show an aggressive interest
and an adventurous spirit in the sex act and whatever special desires the man
might have, especially at the beginning. She would encourage him to confide his
sexual preferences to her and would be enthusiastically open to everything for
his pleasure and appreciation. If the man would offer the same service for her,
so much the better.
    Nor was she a stranger to a circumcised penis, which had
not been