Nobody But You(41)

But she was mad at him.

He stood there arms crossed, face carefully neutral, and she realized she wasn’t the only mad one.

“Since when do we gossip about each other?” he asked Kenna and Hud.

Not mad, Sophie realized, but…unhappy, frustrated…sad? She’d never seen him anything less than one hundred and ten percent confident, but here, with the people he should have felt the most at home with, he was off his axis. Dammit. Dammit, that made her want to hug him.

Kenna bit her lower lip and looked at Hud.

Hud hadn’t taken his gaze off Jacob.

Say something to make him feel welcome, Sophie found herself wishing. Anything.

Hud’s mouth tightened. “Since one of us vanished without a word.”

Sophie’s heart fell a little bit.

“We had plenty of words,” Jacob said. Still acting neutral. But he wasn’t, and how the hell was it that only she could see it?

“Before maybe,” Hudson said. “Not since.”

Jacob nodded his head in agreement.

Sophie’s chest felt too tight. She wanted to step in front of Jacob, face down his siblings, and yell, “Don’t you know coming here was hard for him? That he just lost someone near and dear to him and he needs you?” But she didn’t. Couldn’t. It wasn’t her place.

And besides, she was holding on to her own mad. By a thread.

Kenna blew out a large sigh and looked at Sophie. “I’m so glad I don’t have a penis. It seems like such a handicap.” She turned back to her brothers. “I don’t care about before. I care about now.” She came around the counter and gave Jacob a kiss on the jaw, having to go up on tiptoe to do it. “And in my opinion, now is looking pretty good.” She turned to Hudson. “Yeah?”

Hudson’s gaze never left Jacob. “It’s looking up anyway.”

Jacob headed over to Sophie, pulling her aside. “Hey. What are you doing here?”

She schooled herself not to melt because, hello, she was still mad at him. “Delivering flowers to Kenna.”

Both Hud and Jacob did a double take.

“From who?” Hud asked.

Kenna sighed. “It’s no big deal—”

“Who?” Hud asked again.

“Mitch,” Kenna said, and seemed satisfied when both Hud and Jacob narrowed their eyes.

“Why?” they asked her in unison.

Kenna laughed in delight. “Ask him,” she said. “Maybe you could do it together.”

“I’ll do it,” Hud said so darkly that Sophie actually felt a little sorry for this absent-but-clearly-about-to-die Mitch.



It was another two hours before Sophie was off work. She’d paid for a day pass at the campground, but when she got to the boat at North Beach, she had a ticket because the pass apparently wasn’t good for the dock she’d chosen. Furious, she left the dock and walked along the embankment above the beach. She was exhausted and pissy. She was spoiling for a fight and knew it. Just as she knew who she wanted to fight with—Mr. Not Lake Patrol.

The smarter thing would be to get back on the boat, go lie down, pull the covers over her head, and sleep until a better day came along. That’s not what she did. She headed toward the first cabin.

Jacob’s.

That’s when she heard it, a rhythmic thunking. She recognized the sound as someone chopping wood. Her dad had chopped wood. They hadn’t needed it much, since the Dallas winters were usually mild, but he’d found comfort in the mindless work. Or so he’d said. Sophie had never seen it lift his depression. But then again, nothing had lifted his depression, nothing had ever made him happy, and she had a deep-seated fear of ending up that way, never happy.

She knew her dad’s depression wasn’t his fault, but that hadn’t stopped her from being profoundly affected by his condition. There’d been no more smiles and cuddles. No more love or even basic interest in her life other than to express disappointment. She told herself she understood. He was ill. He’d suffered. She got it.

But deep down, she didn’t really quite get it. Inside she was still that pathetic little girl looking for her daddy’s approval.

And if that didn’t put her in a mood…And it didn’t stop her from making her way to the edge of Jacob’s property, where she found Mr. Not Lake Patrol himself.

He wore those sexy jeans, now so low-slung from his steady, economical movements that they were just about indecent. His entire body swayed with easy grace as he wielded the ax, his broad, smoothly muscled back moving so fluidly that she found herself sitting right there on the wild grass embankment above the beach. Because her feet hurt, she told herself, and kicked off her heels.

She needed a break, that’s all, and she leaned back on her hands to watch. In spite of her pissiness, all that hot and sweaty man flesh made her a little gooey inside. The only thing that could’ve improved her view would’ve been a Scandal-size glass of wine and a big bowl of popcorn.

Jacob stopped and swiped his brow, and then tensed and turned, finding her in one sweeping glance. It was as if he’d felt her the same way she always seemed to feel him, and at the realization, she froze.

Damn.

She really had no idea what drew her to him. Okay, scratch that, she knew. He had a way of looking into her eyes and really listening when she spoke that made her feel…important. But he was also dark and brooding and so effing sexy he set her every nerve ending on fire with just one look.