Sometimes It Lasts(Sea Breeze #5)(27)

“He sure loved you. I’m glad he had you in his life, Eva. You made his life special. He didn’t get to grow up and have a family of his own but he did know what it was like to be in love.”

I smiled. “I’m glad I had him. He will always have a place in my heart.”

“Yeah, I know. That makes it easier sometimes when it hurts. I know he’s still alive in our hearts.”

I reached over and took Jeremy’s hand. We stood there in silence both remembering happy times.

“I’ll have that with Daddy too. The memories. The good times,” I said as a lump formed in my throat at the thought of Daddy being gone like Josh one day.

“He’ll be alive in all our hearts too. Just like Josh. They won’t every really be gone. Not for us.”

Jeremy slipped his arm around my shoulder and I leaned into him as a single tear slid down my face. He was right. Daddy would never be gone. I’d hold him close, forever.

“Why don’t we go down to the lake and swim. We haven’t done that in years. Then you can show me all those constellations you used to try to convince Josh and I were up there.”

I nodded. “Yeah, let’s go do that. I don’t want to go home just yet.”

* * *

The moon gave us some light but we left the truck headlights on and shown them down over the water for extra light. Jeremy turned on the radio and left the doors open so we would have some music too. This was how we had spent many a summer night in high school. It was nice to remember.

I tried not to think about Cage and all we’d done down at this lake. It would only make me miss him more. Tonight I wanted to be free of the ever-constant ache in my chest.

“You ever wonder what’s in this lake besides catfish?” Jeremy called out when I surfaced from swimming underwater. He was grinning at me like he expected me to go screaming from the water. Crazy boy. I wasn’t scared of the lake. I’d been swimming in it all my life. I knew there were critters in it but I also knew they were more scared of me than I was of them.

“I’m not one of your silly little dates, Jeremy. That won’t work with me,” I called out.

“What about if I tell you I killed a bed of moccasins yesterday morning down by the bend?”

Rolling my eyes I swam over to the edge and sat down in the shallow water. “You’ve been killing snakes down here since you learned to shoot a gun.”

Jeremy laughed. “You’re no fun at all, Eva Brooks.”

Smiling I stretched my legs out in front of me. The water wasn’t too warm yet. It would get warmer with the heat of the summer. I always like it at night when it was cooler.

“You act like you grew up with boys.”

“Strange I know,” I quipped. I had grown up with boys and he knew it.

Jeremy came over and sat down beside me. “What time do I need to have you back for your Cage phone call?” he asked.

“He calls at eleven unless he text me that it will be later.”

“It’s after ten now. You ready to head back?”

I wanted to be there when he called but we had time. “Not yet. It’s peaceful out here.”

“Yeah, it is. Something healing about this place.”

We didn’t talk anymore. We didn’t have to. We both understood that words really weren’t needed.

CAGE

I hadn’t seen Eva in two weeks. One more week left to go and I wasn’t sure I could make it. Ace had left me alone when it came to the partying thing. We had also started talking again. We were cool now. I was going to see if I couldn’t make this living arrangement work until Eva was ready to move up here. It helped me save money.

Tonight the team that had been working the camp was heading to go play some pool and drink a few beers. Everyone was ready to unwind. The kids were exhausting. After two weeks of it we all needed a break.

“You riding with Trey? He’s the dd tonight.” Ace asked as I stepped out of my bedroom. I wanted a beer. But I also wanted to be sure and get home in time to call Eva tonight.

“Just make sure you got your phone. You can call your girl from there. Take it outside or something. You can’t drink and drive.” He was right. I tucked my phone down safely in my pocket and grabbed my wallet.

“Yeah, I’m riding with Trey,” I said.

* * *

Trey drove a van. Not a mini van like a real legit van. It was open and I watched as two other players climbed in behind a female. Shit. I didn’t know girls were gonna be riding with us. Maybe going was a bad idea.

“You coming?” Ace asked as he stepped into the van and looked back at me.

I needed some down time. It wasn’t like Eva would forbid me to go places were girls would be. She’d never told me I couldn’t go to Live Bay. I was the one being ridiculous.

“Yeah, I’m coming,” I said, and crawled in behind him.

The female with us was Hayden. Figures. She lived here and I’d seen here with more than one of the guys on the team. Apparently she liked to jump around. I closed the door behind me and sat down beside Louis.

“We’re all here, let’s roll,” Ace called out from the back. He’d crawled in beside Hayden.

* * *

The bar was empty until we got there. The name of it was The Dawg House. Seeing as our mascot was a Bulldog I figured this place must be an exclusive place for the college. At least ten pool tables filled the place as well as several flat screens on the walls and a few dartboards. This wasn’t bad.