“Aunt Jenny!”
“I-I-I’m f-f-f-fine.” Goose bumps ran up and down her body, and she couldn’t stop shaking. She bobbed in the water for a moment, trying to catch her breath and sight of the oar. Just when she spotted it, she heard the long, even strokes of Jared swimming toward her. She spared a glance his way and gasped—not from cold—but from surprise. The man swam like a fish.
Determination fueled her on. Her breaststroke was awkward and choppy, and she refused to put her face in the freezing water. Slowly she gained on the oar. But Jared was right behind her. She thrashed her arms faster and sucked in air, along with some lake water. Five more strokes, and she’d have it.
Jared reached the oar moments before she did. Panting, she drew up alongside, unable to believe he’d beat her. Her head start had been huge. So much for girl power.
He turned the oar around, until the fat end was facing her. She grabbed it like a lifeboat, not caring that it did little to hold her up. Her breathing was fast and uneven, his slow and rhythmic, like he’d just walked across the yard. And while her teeth chattered away, he wasn’t acting the least bit cold.
In one stroke he was by her side, an arm around her waist. Water swirled around him as his leg brushed against hers. The corners of his mouth slid upward in a slow, sexy grin, drawing her attention to his mouth and then down to his broad shoulders. “And here I didn’t think bunnies liked to get wet.”
FOURTEEN
In a blaze of orange and pink, the sun set behind the ragged tops of the Olympic Mountains. Long shadows stretched across the lake. Frogs sang. And a blazing fire shot sparks into the dark night.
Jenny looked around the fire pit. Instead of just having Maddy over for Monday margaritas, Jenny had decided to include a few more friends. If she was going to jump back into her old life, she was going to do it with both feet. Yesterday, after she’d returned from Cody’s baseball game, she’d called Maddy again and asked her to bring her husband, Don. Then Jenny had called Sharron and Rob and also invited them. The four of them had arrived a couple of hours earlier, and with the fire crackling on the beach and a canopy of stars above them, it felt just like old times. Or almost. Jenny glanced at the empty seat on her left. Out of habit she’d brought six chairs down to the beach instead of only the five they’d need.
She knew tonight would be difficult, a minefield of emotions. It was the first time she was getting together with friends since Steven’s death. As she’d poured margaritas for the girls and handed beers to the guys, she couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, like she was doing something wrong. But then she’d glance over at the extra chair, and a sense of peace would come over her. Almost as if Steven were there, telling her,
Yes, you’re doing the right thing. It’s time to move on
. But she didn’t think he meant moving on with Jared.
Not for the first time did her mind stray to him. And each time she thought about him, she grew warm. She’d worried about how she was going to handle tonight, with Jared and her friends here. But, thankfully, Jared had unknowingly taken the matter into his own hands. Earlier, he’d left on his motorcycle, and she hadn’t seen him since.
And here I didn’t think bunnies liked to get wet.
Warm grew to hot as she remembered what he’d said to her in the lake yesterday. Remembered how his hands had slipped beneath her soaked tank top and found bare skin. How his hands had wrapped around her waist and held her close as they’d both paddled to stay afloat. Limbs had intertwined as cool water washed over heated skin. Something had shifted in the way Jared was treating her, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. On second thought, she was worried she liked it too much.
The voices of her friends floated around her. Don and Rob were deep into a friendly argument over which they found more challenging—sturgeon fishing or halibut—while Maddy and Sharron chatted about all things baby. Jenny had forgotten that, how since both of her friends had had children a couple of years ago, kids were the main topic of choice. When they’d started talking, Jenny had braced herself. Not long ago, she’d been certain she and Steven would be planning for a family about now. But the sharp sense of loss she’d expected never materialized. Instead, in its place, only a tender memory of what could have been resided.
“I couldn’t believe it either,” Sharron was saying. “My back was turned for less than a second, and before I knew what was happening, Amber had gotten into the Vaseline and smeared it all through her hair.”
“That must have been miserable to get out,” Jenny said, drawing her legs up and wrapping her arms around her denim-clad knees. She braced the soles of her tennis shoes on the chair’s seat.
Sharron took a drink of her margarita. “Tell me about it. Washing an eighteen-month-old’s hair once is bad enough. Having to do it three times in one day—a nightmare.”
They laughed, and Jenny once more felt a sense of peace.
This
was right. She was doing the right thing.
“What about Taylor?” she asked Maddy.
“A terror on two legs,” Maddy said with a smile full of love. “That boy of mine is never still. What I wouldn’t give for energy like that.”
“Hear, hear,” Sharron said. “I—”
Whatever she’d been about to say was cut off by the deep, throaty rumble of a motorcycle coming down the driveway. And with that sound, Jenny’s sense of peace flew right up into the starry sky.
Conversation ceased as four pairs of curious eyes looked at her. Maddy was the first to speak. “Who do we have here?”
Jenny couldn’t answer. Her gaze followed her friends’ to the lone figure on the bike. Her heart seemed to catch, stutter, then kick into overdrive as she watched Jared park alongside the Corvette. She knew there was the chance he’d return while her friends were still here; she should have insisted they meet up somewhere else. Tonight held enough challenges without having to deal with Jared and the tangled mess of emotions that always plagued her whenever he was near. But she’d desperately wanted to be on familiar ground for this first reunion.
Slowly, she unfolded her legs and sat up. “No one important,” was all she could say.
The engine fell silent, and the bike’s single headlight doused. Once more the fire was the only light. But even in the darkness, Jared’s tall form was unmistakable as he swung his leg over the bike and removed his helmet.
“That doesn’t look like ‘no one’ to me,” Maddy said, eyeing Jenny. “This wouldn’t happen to be your infamous partner? The one the whole town is buzzing about? I wondered if he’d make an appearance tonight. Don,” she said to her husband, “go over and make sure he joins us.”
Jenny felt her insides drop. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Maddy gave her a twinkling smile. “After everything I’ve heard about him? I do.”
“So do I,” Sharron said, walking over to the nearby picnic table and refilling her margarita.
Don and Jared made their way toward them. Jared wore a pair of faded Levi’s, a dark shirt, and his black leather jacket. His boots sank into the sand with each step. It was practically the same outfit she’d seen him in all week. There was absolutely nothing about it that should trip her heart and cause her breathing to come a little quicker. Nothing at all.
Jenny was saved from having to make introductions as Don took over. When Rob and Jared were introduced, Rob stood and shook Jared’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.” Jared withdrew his arm and shoved his hand halfway down the front pocket of his Levi’s. “I didn’t know you had friends over,” he said, looking to Jenny. Firelight softened his features, and she felt the weight of his deep blue stare all the way to her marrow. “I’ll leave you all to it. It was nice to meet everyone.”
She should have felt relieved. He was leaving just like she wanted. But as their gazes stayed connected, something passed between them. That look tugged at her and had her saying, “Why don’t you join us?”
Jared looked as surprised as she felt.
“Yes, stay,” Maddy chimed in. “We’re harmless.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Sharron joked. “But no one will bring out a guitar and force you to sing ‘Kumbaya’ or ‘Michael, Row the Boat Ashore.’ You have my word.”
“There goes my fun for the evening,” Rob joked.
Jared hesitated. It was so brief, Jenny was sure no one else caught it. Then he stepped around her and took the only vacant seat, the one next to her.
Don grabbed a beer out of the cooler and handed it to Jared.
“Thanks,” Jared said, reaching across Jenny to grab the bottle. His arm was so close that if she leaned forward just a fraction, his sleeve would brush against her.
“What do you think of Hidden Lake?” Maddy asked.
Jared popped the top off his beer. “Small.”
Sharron nodded her head. “Give me a big city any day.”
“Are you from around here?” Maddy asked.
“No.”
“Where did you grow up?”
He took a drink. “No one place in particular.”
Maddy shifted in her seat. “How long do you plan on staying?”
Jared’s deep blue gaze sought and found Jenny’s. “Depends.”
There was a world of meaning in that single glance, and Jenny wasn’t the only one who noticed. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Maddy and Sharron exchange a knowing look.
Don laughed and wrapped his arm around Maddy’s shoulders, pulling her close. He gave her a kiss on her forehead. “You’ll have to excuse my wife. Before she decided to stay home with our son, she was a newspaper reporter. Always looking for a story.”
Maddy gave him a playful jab in the ribs.
“I ran into Paul last week,” Don said to no one in particular. Then he turned to Jared. “He told me you and Steven were in the same squadron. The Fighting Eagles, right?”
“Falcons,” Jared said, raising his beer and taking a long drink. “Fighting Falcons.”
“Steven always was a sucker for speed,” Maddy said, smiling gently at Jenny.
Jenny returned her smile, feeling only a small tug on her heart. “Yes, he was.”
“Remember that old Thunderbird his parents bought him our sophomore year?” Don said. “A rusted-out hunk of shit if there ever was one. But he loved that car.”
Yes, he had.
So had Jenny. She’d lost her virginity in the backseat.
“Isn’t that the car you two took drag racing?” Maddy asked her husband.
Don laughed. “We caught a bucket load of shit when we got home that night.”
Maddy shoved her hands into the pockets of her fleece coat. “If Taylor ever pulled a stunt like that, disappeared for hours without a clue to where he was, I don’t know what I’d do.”
“I do,” Don said. “You’d send me out to find him.”
Maddy nodded. “Sad, but true.”
Everyone chuckled.
From there the conversation took a turn down memory lane. Don trotted out one crazy story after the other about the stunts he and Steven had pulled all through school while Rob added a few stories from more recent years. Never ones to stay quiet, Maddy and Sharron jumped in, adding their versions to the mix. Soon, everyone was laughing and talking and telling one silly childhood story after another. Everyone except Jared.
Jenny glanced his way. In the warm glow of the firelight, she searched his profile, but his expression gave nothing away. He listened to the stories, smiled, and laughed in all the right places. But he never added a story of his own. Not a single childhood memory about summer camp or how his parents had grounded him for staying out too late. No mention of siblings or pets or a torturous family road trip. Not once during the whole evening did Jenny get a single glimpse into Jared Worth’s life. She couldn’t help but sense he was keeping a part of himself separate. Distant.
She glanced around their small group, certain someone else would have also picked up on it, but no one had.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that Jared’s childhood had been anything but normal.
A log fell in the fire and sent a shower of sparks upward.
Rob pushed up his sleeve and glanced at his watch. “I hate to be the party pooper, but we’d better get going. We only have the sitter until nine thirty.”
“Is it that late already?” Don stood and held out his hand to Maddy.
She took his hand. “When did nine get to be late?” she said jokingly as she stood up.
Don shrugged into his flannel shirt. “The minute we became parents.”
Sharron laughed in agreement.
When Maddy and Sharron tried to clean up, Jenny shooed them away. “My party, my mess.” They argued, but she was adamant.
Before Maddy climbed into the passenger side of their truck, she gave Jenny a hug. “Tonight was good.”
Jenny returned the hug. “Very good.”
Maddy stared at her a moment longer. “Don’t be a stranger.”
“I won’t.”
“And, Jenny?”
“Yeah?”
Maddy motioned to Jared. “Go for it. I would.”
Maddy was still laughing when Don climbed into the truck and drove off. Sharron and Rob’s car was right behind them.
Jenny watched until their taillights had disappeared. Turning, she made her way back to the beach, telling herself it was because she needed to clean up. But the moment she saw Jared’s solitary figure down near the lake, she knew that wasn’t what had brought her back.
Slowly, she made her way toward him.
He looked so alone, standing at the water’s edge, staring out across the flat, dark surface of the lake. Jenny didn’t know what it was—the soft night air, the starry sky, the glow of the campfire in the near distance—but something made her want to reach out to Jared. To walk up to him, put her arms around him, and hold him tight. Assure him he wasn’t alone in this world.
The idea was so preposterous, she stumbled in the sand.