He nodded firmly and rose, reaching for a T-shirt. A peaceful silence greeted him as he descended the stairs, confirming his suspicion that morning activity would be minimal at the lake. After making coffee, he carried a steaming mug and a bowl of cereal out to the porch.
While the view was beautiful, his restless nature would not allow him to sit still for long. He explored the beach and the wooded trails, pausing to watch a pair of swans glide majestically across the water. They dipped their long necks in search of food, stirring the otherwise glassy surface of the lake.
Jason had returned to his room and was pulling on swim trunks when he heard the toilet in A.J.’s bathroom flush. “Finally,” he mumbled. He snatched up a towel and circled the open hall that led to A.J.’s bedroom.
“Come on in,” A.J. replied to his knock. He was in his boxers, looking out the back window at the lake. “What’s up?” he asked, turning to Jason. He still looked half asleep.
“Good, you’re in the perfect spot. I’m going for a swim, and I need you to keep an eye on me. Make sure I don’t drown and all.”
“Not a chance, bro. Swim at your own risk.” He yawned and scratched his stomach.
“There’s coffee downstairs. I’ll be in the lake.”
“You know it’s going to be freezing, right? But I’ll watch you just for the fun of it.”
“Thanks. The girls aren’t up yet, so I guess if I need help out there, I’ll have to settle for you.” Jason picked up a pair of jeans from the floor and threw them at A.J.
“Yeah, well, see that you don’t. I’m not about to go in there and freeze my balls off.”
“I’ll do my best. You’re on duty in five minutes.”
Out on the pier, Jason prepared to do some laps in the shimmering lake water. His body craved exercise like it craved oxygen, and a leisurely walk on the beach wasn’t going to cut it. Drawing in a deep breath, he executed a shallow dive into the still water. The cold was shocking, and he struggled for a moment to get his breathing into rhythm as he quickly began his front crawl.
The warm-up laps required little effort, and his mind began to replay the previous night’s events. When they had come in from the beach around midnight, A.J. and Allie had gone straight to bed. Rain had immediately busied herself setting the kitchen to rights. As she washed out soda cans and put glasses in the dishwasher, Jason had cleaned up their makeshift bar on the island.
When he finished putting the bottles away, Rain began wiping down the counters. He watched her quick, efficient movements as he leaned against the fridge. “You’re not going to stay up too late, are you? You look tired.”
She smiled demurely, playfully batting her blue-gray eyes. “That’s so sweet. You really know what a girl likes to hear.”
He shook his head as he realized his mistake. “No, no, you look great. I just meant…you’ve been doing so much for us. I want you to get some rest.”
Now she smiled wanly. “I like doing it. I’m just thrilled that everyone’s here. But I am going to bed as soon as I finish up in here.”
“Good.” He paused then added carefully, “So, are you really doing okay?”
“I guess so,” she decided with a shrug. “I mean, my pride’s hurt, but I’ll survive. At least he didn’t really fight me once I served him with papers. And thankfully divorce happens pretty quickly in Connecticut.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through all that,” he said with a frown.
“Thanks, Jay. But please don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I want everyone to have a nice, relaxing vacation.”
“But I do worry about you,” he said, and that’s when it had hit him. He
was
worried. It wasn’t just casual sympathy he was feeling, he was truly concerned for her. Seeing Rain hurting was painful for him. Just like that, the overwhelming urge to protect her was back, despite the fact that he had successfully put her out of his mind for five long years.
Then his arms had pulled her into a hug without his brain’s permission. She sighed happily as she leaned against him and he suddenly came to his senses. If he counted the fire incident, this was the third time he had held her in his arms in seven hours. He released her and even pushed her body away slightly, his hands on her shoulders. He steered her gently toward her bedroom door. “Get some rest,” he ordered.
“Can I put this away at least?” She laughed and held up a dish towel.
He plucked it from her hands. “Go.” When she turned around, he snapped it at her butt.
She giggled and scurried toward her bedroom, calling, “Goodnight, Jay,” over her shoulder. He had watched her retreat for a moment before he folded the towel and climbed the stairs, silently chastising himself. He was going to have to be careful, or he would end up an adult version of the obsessed, lovesick teenager he once was.
Jason made a turn underwater and increased his pace slightly, berating himself all over again. His love life was already a mess. The last thing he needed was to complicate matters further. He and Cara had grown apart; he was fairly certain they were both aware the relationship was crumbling. But neither of them seemed to have the time or the desire to acknowledge that painful truth.
Jason could feel the tension building in his muscles, and he pushed himself harder. Workouts were supposed to release stress, not add to it. He switched seamlessly into an aggressive butterfly stroke, forcing his mind to go blank as he plowed through the chilly water.
****
Rain emerged from her room a little before noon and almost ran into Allie coming out of the bathroom. “Sorry,” she said with a laugh, as Allie stepped aside to let her enter.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m still half asleep.” Allie reached her arms toward the ceiling in a dramatic stretch. “A.J. wants me to go relieve him of his lifeguard duty, so I’ll be on the porch. I’ll bring you a coffee.”
Rain wasn’t sure what that meant exactly, but when she finished in the bathroom she found Allie on the porch, sitting at the little iron table.
“Jason’s swimming laps,” Allie explained as Rain sat down. “A.J. needed to try to make some phone calls, so he went around to the front yard.”
Taking a sip of her diet soda, Allie leaned across the table toward Rain. “So, what do you think of Jason?” she asked in a quiet, conspiratorial voice.
Rain struggled to follow the rapid subject change. She took a big gulp of coffee, but it didn’t help. “What do you mean, what do I think of him? I think he’s great.”
“Come on, Rain. You know what I mean. He’s a hottie, no? You should go for it.”
“Well, first of all, he has that girlfriend, remember?”
Allie let out a dismissive snorting sound. “Please. I can see the way he looks at you still! All’s fair in love and war, you know.”
“Secondly, the ink on my divorce papers is barely dry! Even if he
was
free, I should not be jumping into a relationship now. But, I will admit he is hot. Seriously hot.”
“Look, Rain, things don’t always happen when the timing’s right. Maybe this is supposed to be your chance. Both of your chances. We all know he was totally in love with you in high school. Of course, a lot of guys were.”
Rain thought she detected a hint of bitterness in Allie’s voice. “That is not true! Besides, you certainly had your share of dates. And obviously, you ended up in a great marriage. Me, not so much.”
Concern darkened Allie’s face. “I’m so sorry about everything, Rain. I should have tried harder to warn you about what a jerk he was. Is. But things got so weird senior year, once Brandy went missing and we were subjected to all the interrogations and suspicions.”
“You couldn’t have known how big a jerk he would turn out to be, Allie. Anyway, Jason tried to warn me, and I wouldn’t listen. It
was
a weird time, and Rick was one thing that seemed…I don’t know, stable.”
“Well, that’s in the past. You deserve to be happy. I really think you and Jason could have something together. You just need to give him a little push, and see what happens.”
“A push? What, should I attack him? I’m not
that
hard up.”
Allie choked on her soda. “No, that’s not what I mean! Although I don’t think he would file for sexual harassment if you did. Just, you know, flirt a little more. Let him know you’re interested.”
Warm blood pooled in Rain’s cheeks as she shook her head doubtfully. “I don’t know. I mean, we’re finally friends again. Anything else could get messy.”
“Sometimes messy can be fun,” said Allie, wriggling her eyebrows suggestively.
****
Rain hurried into the bathroom and started the shower when she saw Jason climb up the ladder hanging from the pier. She rolled her eyes at her reflection in the mirror while she waited for the water to warm. It was ridiculous to bathe before heading to the beach. But after her conversation with Allie, the thought of putting on her new bikini made her stomach twist anxiously. Another pass with the razor wouldn’t hurt.
When her suit was on and covered up by a cute strapless sundress, she made her way into the kitchen to join her friends. Jason was eating a big plate of leftovers from her dinner last night. Allie and A.J. looked as though they were headed out somewhere.
“Hey Rain,” Allie greeted her in a cheerful voice. “A.J. and I are going to go into town. He needs to get online and I want to pick up a few toys for the twins. Also I’m going to grab the ingredients for ants on a log so I can make some for our poor, deprived A.J.” She winked at A.J. and he made a face.
“Oh,” answered Rain, a little doubtfully. That would leave her alone with Jason. She suddenly wondered if that was Allie’s point. Rain raised a single eyebrow at her friend. “Want me to come along?”
Allie smiled innocently. “No, no, you’re in your suit already, you should go out on the beach and relax! We won’t be too long.”
“Yeah, we’ll be back in plenty of time for our big meeting,” A.J. confirmed, looking less than excited about the prospect. “Meanwhile, anyone need me to update their Facebook status?”
Rain laughed. “I don’t even do Facebook.”
“Sure you do,” A.J. replied. “We’re friends. My page reminds me to reconnect with you all the time.”
“Yeah, I guess I have an account. I just don’t update it because what would I say? ‘Rain Anderson DiMarco was granted a speedy divorce thanks to Connecticut law and her husband’s uncontested infidelity’?”
They laughed, as she had intended them too. Allie wrapped her arm around Rain. “Well, now you will have lots to say. ‘Rain is at Silver Lake with her friends, having an awesome time.’ We’re going to take tons of pictures to post on your wall too!”
“Well, I guess I had better go and get some color then. I look sickly.”
“You do not,” argued Allie. “But go, relax! We’ll see you later.”
Jason rinsed his plate off and set it in the dishwasher. “Excellent food, Rain. Thanks again for preparing everything.”
Allie beamed at Rain behind Jason’s back and Rain shot her a warning look in response. “I’m happy to do it,” Rain commented. “Okay, I’m going to get my book and hit the beach.”
As Rain headed for her room, she heard Jason call, “I’ll see you out there, Rainy!” Rain nodded without turning around. She was certain Allie was grinning triumphantly.
Chapter 5
Rain’s knee bounced nervously as she sat in her beach chair and attempted to focus on her enormous novel. She managed to get through two pages before Jason’s shadow blocked out her sun.
“What are you reading?” he inquired, unfurling a towel onto the coarse sand.
“This one is called
The Passage
. It’s pretty good.” She lost her train of thought as Jason reached behind his head and pulled off his T-shirt. He was wearing tan cargo shorts that hung loose on his waist, and muscles rippled their way from his abdomen to his smooth chest.
Jason must have noticed her lingering gaze, because he glanced down at himself and shrugged. “My bathing suit is still wet,” he commented.
She bent her head, pretending to adjust the top of the sundress she had left on, and scrambled for something to say as warm blood crept up her cheeks. “I was just noticing your tattoo. That’s new.” At least that was sort of the truth. She
had
noticed the four vertical black symbols inked onto his shoulder as she admired his strong arms and broad upper body.
“Oh, yeah, that’s not really new. I got it about two years ago, right before I opened up the karate studio. It’s Japanese for ‘trust.’ As in, ‘trust in yourself.’ The Japanese language isn’t big on pronouns.” He sat down on the towel and rubbed his hand absent-mindedly over the intricate lines.
Rain saw an opening for easy conversation and she plunged in, making sure her eyes remained on his face. She wished for her sunglasses, but she had chosen a cute hat to shield her eyes instead. “So, did you always know you wanted to open your own karate business?”
“I thought a lot about it in college. Most of my college friends were busy partying like crazy, but I had sort of already gotten that out of my system by that point, you know? I took things a little more seriously and made a plan. I majored in Business Administration, with a focus on Entrepreneurial Business, and I minored in Asian Studies.” He drew his legs up and linked his hands around his shins. “What about you?”
“Well, I majored in Early Childhood Education. I suppose I minored in being Rick’s doormat.” She shot him a smile to make sure he realized she was making fun of herself and not looking for sympathy.
He returned the smile. “And how’d that work out for you?”
“Super. Seriously, though, I love teaching.”
“That’s awesome,” he replied, stretching out on his back. “If I fall asleep, wake me for the big meeting.”
“Am I that boring?” She pushed her toes playfully into his side.
“No.” His hand shot out and grabbed her ankle, despite the fact that his eyes were closed. “I just got up really early.” He squeezed and released her leg. “Now sing to me please.”
Rain gave silent thanks that she had shaved this morning. “Sure. How about a few rounds of ‘The Wheels on the Bus’?”
“I’d prefer a little classic Van Morrison, if you’re taking requests.”
She laughed. “I’m afraid you’re out of luck. Next time you should probably bring your own music.”