The Lure of White Oak Lake (8 page)

“This is gonna be so great! Even if we don’t win first prize, I will still be so freaking happy!”

“Dude, you’re breaking me.”

“Oh, sorry.” Austin let her go. His smile was huge, his fists clenched. “This is so awesome!”

Morgan couldn’t help but laugh at his enthusiasm. It felt good to make someone that happy. “We need to get her in the water and see if she’ll float.”

~~~

Jaclyn groaned when she looked at the caller ID. “Maddie, it’s so good to hear from you. We haven’t talked in like thirty minutes.”

“Your son and future girlfriend are on the pier behind her house, and the bookcase she just bought is in the water. What are they doing?”

Jaclyn looked out her window. “I have no idea.”

“They’re…climbing into…Austin’s in his school clothes…they’re hugging…no, Austin’s climbing her like a cat—oh! They’re in the water.”

Jaclyn sighed. “I hope he didn’t have his phone in his pocket.”

“Ya know, the hose incident made me think she was crazy, but when she came into the store this morning, she seemed perfectly normal. Now I’m not so sure. Oh, man, they’re soaked and covered in mud. Austin has his shoes on.”

Jaclyn waved at Chet as he walked in. “Can you do me a huge favor?”

“A six-pack of Bud will buy you anything, sugar,” he said with a smile.

“You got it if you’ll close up for me. Maddie, I have to go.”

“Tell Chet I said hello.”

~~~

By the time Jaclyn walked down to Morgan’s, they had what was left of the bookcase up on the deck. Neither of them noticed her as she approached. With looks of determination on their faces, they talked about sealants and pontoons. “Do I even want to know why the two of you threw a perfectly good bookcase in the lake?”

“The regatta, Mom! Miss Morgan’s gonna be my partner.”

“Whoa, just Morgan if that’s okay with you,” she said, looking at Jaclyn.

Morgan had swept her hair off her face with muddy hands. Her T-shirt was stained, and her shorts were threatening to slide off her hips. At that moment, she looked just as young as Austin did. Jaclyn found herself grinning at the sight. “That’s fine with me.”

“Mom, I can do it, right? Please say yes. You know I’ve always wanted to race.”

“Sink more than likely, but yes, you can be in the race.” Jaclyn raised a finger. “I have a stipulation, though. I don’t want to have to remind you to do your homework, and on your interims, I’d better not find anything lower than a B. Deal?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Austin cuffed Morgan on the arm and nearly sent her flying.

“And you,” Jaclyn said, looking at Morgan, “need to eat more because if you don’t, the weight distribution is going to be messed up, and you’ll sink faster.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Morgan said with a smile.

Jaclyn nodded. “You’re a fast learner, Morgan Chassion. Now, Austin, come with me. Morgan, go shower and come down to the house when you’re finished. I have spaghetti in the Crock-Pot.”

Austin cuffed Morgan again. “Cool! We’ll talk about our plans while we eat.”

~~~

“I like her,” Austin said as he sloshed alongside Jaclyn toward the house.

“Oh, I’m sure you do since she was nice enough to ruin the bookcase she just bought for the regatta.”

“I liked her before that. She hears me, ya know. When I talk to her, I don’t feel like a little kid, and she looks at me. Sharon, your last girlfriend, used to say, ‘yeah, uh-huh,’ but she was always looking at her phone or something else.”

“Don’t take it personally, baby, she did the same to me. That’s why we stopped dating. And Morgan’s not my girlfriend, we’re just friends.”

“But she’s like you, isn’t she? She likes girls?”

“Yeah, but that’s her business, so don’t tell anyone. Let her do that in her own time.”

Austin grinned as he looked at his mother. “So you like girls and she does too, so…”

“You sound like your Aunt Maddie. Morgan and I are like everybody else. Just because we share that in common doesn’t mean we’re automatically going to get together. And besides, baby, she’s just here for a short time. Once she finds a job, she’ll have to move on.”

Jaclyn could tell by the expression on Austin’s face this news wasn’t pleasant, but she felt he should understand that before he let himself get too attached. “If she falls in love with you, she might stay.”

“Oh, my God, you are your Aunt Maddie in male form.”

Austin grinned and bumped into Jaclyn, soaking her hip. “I’m your kid, though.”

Jaclyn laughed and looped her arm around his. “Yes, you are. I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”

J
aclyn couldn’t help but grin as she listened to the two sitting at the kitchen table. Morgan’s damp hair had begun to curl at the base of her neck and around her ears. A small line formed between her brows as she sketched something. Austin’s head was almost touching hers as he watched the drawing intently.

“Yeah, yeah, I see what you’re saying. The pontoons would keep us afloat. But we can’t paddle if they’re on those long arms. Could we glue them to the side of the shelf?”

“There’s not enough glue on the planet.”

“Brackets,” Jaclyn offered as she set the bread on the table. “Some sort of bracket to hold them to the side of the not-boat.” She pointed to the top of the squared-off case. “That’s going to cause a lot of resistance, too.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure what to do with that yet.” Morgan looked at Austin. “Any ideas?”

They began brainstorming again, and Jaclyn developed a new respect for Morgan. She was intelligent, despite the fact she was going to try to cross the lake in a bookcase. But Morgan asked for Austin’s input instead of just taking over. She was making him strategize and think.

“Okay, set your plans aside, dinner’s coming.” Jaclyn began bringing the plates to the table. Morgan jumped up and began to help, and this prompted Austin to do the same.

Austin grinned as he sat and picked up his fork. “I can’t wait to tell Logan that I’m in the regatta, he’s gonna crap a kitten.”

“We’re eating, son.” Jaclyn gave him the “shut up” eye.

“Sorry,” he said, looking over at Morgan. “First prize is always cool. Last year, Mom donated a stocked tackle box and a rod and reel. Aunt Maddie and Uncle Heath put in a deer stand, and Rosie’s gave out a certificate for free pie for a whole month. If we win, we could divide the prize.”

“I’ll take the pie,” Morgan said with a smile. “You can have the rest.”

Austin looked surprised. “You don’t hunt?”

Morgan shook her head. “I couldn’t kill anything even if I was starving.”

Austin’s brows shot up. “Fish?”

“I’ve never done it.”

Even Jaclyn’s brow rose then. Austin gasped. “You never fished? Around here, that’s like being a…a virgin.” He held out a hand. “Don’t be embarrassed, I’m a virgin, too—I mean, I’ve fished, but I’ve never…you know.”

Jaclyn set down her fork and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Remember what I told you about his lack of filters?”

Morgan put her napkin over her mouth to hide her smile as Austin said, “What? Hey, Morgan, don’t tell anybody, okay?”

“I won’t,” she said with a chuckle.

Austin grinned. “Mom gets freaked out when I say penis. Her eyelids flutter, and her face turns red.” He pointed at Jaclyn. “See?”

Jaclyn was doing exactly that. “Son!”

“I don’t know what the big deal is, it’s a body part and—”

“Not at the table, remember your manners.” Jaclyn’s face was red as a beet as she regarded Austin.

“Sorry again,” he said as he shot a glance at Morgan, who had completely hidden herself behind her napkin. Her entire body was shaking with silent laughter.

Jaclyn cleared her throat. “Do you have homework?”

“Yes, ma’am, I have to write a stupid paper on why we shouldn’t drink and drive for English class. None of us even has a learner’s permit. I don’t know why Mrs. Hemphill is making us do this.” Austin shrugged. “We made notes in class. All I have to do is comment on each point and type it up.”

Morgan cleared her throat and took a sip of her tea afterward. “What’s the most important reason you don’t drink and drive?”

“Because you could kill someone or yourself.”

She nodded. “It’s important to understand that. Most people believe it won’t happen to them, but it does all the time. You could look up the statistics on accidents caused by driving under the influence for this area on the Internet and add them to your report. That would show your teacher that you really took the time to investigate the subject.”

“Good idea, I’ll do that.”

Jaclyn looked at Austin like he’d grown another head. Anytime she’d suggested digging deeper on a topic, she’d been rebuffed.

“This is delicious, Jaclyn. Thank you for inviting me over,” Morgan said.

“Yeah, it is, Mom, thank you.”

“You’re both welcome.” Jaclyn noticed Austin using most of his table manners. He wasn’t inhaling the food like he did normally, his napkin was on his lap, and his elbows were off the table. She decided then that Morgan would have to eat with them more often.

“Do you work every day at the store?” Morgan asked.

“Lately, I have,” Jaclyn said with a sigh. “Chet helps out some. I hired a high school senior to help me on the weekends. She’s just about ready to be on her own.” Jaclyn pushed her salad bowl aside and stirred the spaghetti on her plate with her fork. “The schedule isn’t as bad as it seems. I open at six in the morning and usually close around six in the evening. By then, business slopes off.”

“In the summer, she goes in at four thirty, and the store’s a madhouse. Whew! Talk about grumpy,” Austin said, keeping his gaze on his plate.

Jaclyn shot him a look. “Summer is our bread and butter. As you can tell, weekdays are very quiet around here, so income from the summer months when people from the surrounding areas come to the lake supports us through the year.”

Morgan looked at Jaclyn thoughtfully. “You don’t appear to have any competition.”

Jaclyn shook her head. “This part of the lake is surrounded by the town and homes. The rest of it stretches out into the marsh and is inaccessible except by boat. Gavin Cullum has a floating bar that’s only open May through September, but it really doesn’t hurt my sales.” She smiled at Morgan’s empty plate. “There’s plenty, would you like some more?”

“No, thank you.” Morgan patted her stomach. “I don’t suppose you noticed that I wiped out half the bread.”

Jaclyn glanced at Morgan’s tiny waist. “You could use about ten extra pounds, you know.”

“Stress consumes my appetite, but tonight, I feel pretty relaxed. Maybe it was the unexpected swim I took,” Morgan said, smiling at Austin.

“I’m sorry I used you as a float. I was trying not to get my school clothes wet,” he admitted sheepishly.

“You climbed my ribs like a ladder.”

Austin chuckled. “You better eat some of Mom’s pecan pie then.” He got up and collected his empty dishes along with Morgan’s. “I gotta go do my homework, so I can work with you tomorrow after school.”

Jaclyn watched him go into the kitchen and looked at Morgan. “Thank you for doing this with him. This is the very first time I haven’t had to tell him to get busy on his schoolwork.”

“I think I’m the one being done all the favors. I’m excited about the regatta, and I haven’t had anything that’s made me feel that way in a while.”

Jaclyn nodded, knowing exactly how Morgan felt. “How about a slice of pecan pie? We can sit out on the porch and enjoy the evening.”

~~~

Jaclyn’s pie melted on Morgan’s tongue as she swallowed the last bite, savoring the sweetness. “Why doesn’t Austin have his learner’s permit?”

“Because he’s only fourteen.”

Morgan’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding me? He’s what—nearly six feet tall? And he’s…he’s fuzzy.”

“He’s not even close to finished growing. Boys don’t usually sprout up until high school and sometimes college. Keeping shoes and clothes on that kid is like a monthly car note. The height he got from my father, he’s six-foot-six, but the fur, well, I figure that came from his father.” Jaclyn smiled at the befuddled look on Morgan’s face. “My sister Gayle is Austin’s birth mother. I adopted him when he was eleven months old.”

Morgan’s brows shot up. “I would’ve never guessed. You both look so much alike.”

“Everybody says that,” Jaclyn said with a smile that slowly faded. “It’s kind of ironic because you’d never know that Gayle and I are related. She inherited Grandma’s dark eyes and hair. She’s short, too. Five-foot-one is being generous.” Jaclyn smiled again. “I know you want to know why but are too polite to ask.”

“Well,” Morgan said with a shrug.

“Gayle was cut from a different cloth. Not only are her looks different, but her personality is totally foreign to Maddie and me.” Jaclyn shook her head. “The minute she turned eighteen, she took off, and no one heard from her except my dad when she needed money. And then she came back two years later with a little cotton top perched on her hip, named after the city where he was conceived. She didn’t even know the father’s last name.” Jaclyn leaned her head against the back of the porch swing, her gaze far away. “Gayle fancies herself a singer, and a recording contract is always looming but never manifests. A baby didn’t fit with her plans. I think she returned home intent on dropping off Austin on my parents.”

Jaclyn set her pie plate aside and pulled her knees up against her chest. “I took one look at that little face and fell hopelessly in love. I took him everywhere with me, rocked him to sleep at night when Gayle was out with friends, made sure he was fed and on a regular schedule. It all seemed so natural, then Grandma suggested that I adopt him because my sister was never going to be a mother. All it took to get Gayle to agree was my portion of the money Grandma intended to leave us when she died. To Gayle, it was a business transaction, nothing more.” Jaclyn looked at Morgan. “That’s why Grandma left me the store and the house. She wanted me to be able to support Austin without having to leave town for work. I was able to keep him in the store with me until he started to toddle, then Betsy watched over him until I got off in the afternoons.”

“That was a major undertaking. How old were you then?”