River's End (River's End Series, #1)(83)

With a sinking heart, his absence proved that to her. She missed him way too much, and found it intolerably lonely there without him. She felt freer, however, and more comfortable to wander around the house and yard. Even enough to buy a pool and set it up.

Jack was busy the rest of the afternoon unpacking his stuff, checking on the horses, and doing the hundred or so other mysterious things that he did daily. Meanwhile, she floated in the pool, looking up at the sky and trying not to feel so tingly and aware. Foremost on her mind was to avoid watching Jack.

Towards evening, she suddenly felt Jack’s eyes on her from the porch. She lifted her head up and found him staring at her. The air was still nearly eighty degrees as a deep twilight turned the land to shadows and the mountains into purple smudges.

She nearly fell off her inner tube when she realized what Jack was wearing. Shorts. He stood there in navy blue swim trunks that skimmed his knees. She nearly choked on the water, never expecting to see Jack in shorts. His legs were toned, hairy, and not as tan as the rest of him. But he wore them well.

She stood in the pool and noticed the bag next to him. “Are you coming in?”

“No. We’re going to swim in a real place, not that plastic tub.”

“We?”

“You and me. Come on.” He held out a blue towel for her. She quickly got out and grabbed it, drying off. Her hands and feet had long ago turned to ugly, wrinkled prunes.

“The river? Now? It’s almost dark.”

“Never been night swimming, huh? It’s fun.”

She stared at his back in a white t-shirt. Why? And why was he acting so companionable towards her? “Are you going to try and kill me again?” she called after him, struggling to get her sandals on. She hopped after him with her towel wrapped around her.

“I didn’t try to kill you. I threw you in the river. God, lighten up. It was in fun.”

She finally caught up to him and glanced at the house, which was dark.

“Where is everyone? Doesn’t Charlie want to come?”

“Ian went to the bar and dropped Ben and Charlie off at different friends’ houses. There’s no one here.”

She frowned. It wasn’t often that the ranch was empty. “So what? I’m your last resort?”

“Something like that.”

She quit talking as they walked to the sandy beach. Once there, she stared at the water, now turned an inky color with the tangerine sky reflecting off its surface. It was beautiful, haunting, and totally different from its previous summer glory.

Jack laid out a towel and sat on it. Then opened the bag next to him. He brought out food and beer. Shocked, she came closer. “You wanted to have a picnic?”

“You haven’t gotten out of the water in nearly four hours. I’ve never seen anyone swim like you do. Must be a relief to wear the bikini to work.”

She glared at him. “I never got to swim like this as a kid. It was never this hot except for maybe five days a year, if we were lucky, and there was no place for us to swim, but the indoor community pool.”

“So hence, I get a new pool?”

She finally smiled as she sat down next to him, cross-legged, with the towel over her lap. She grabbed the cold beer he handed her and the deli sandwich. They ate in silence, watching the sun setting over the river, while the slight breeze stirred the cottonwood leaves behind them. It was so pleasant after the heat of the day, she sighed happily out loud. The beer was nice and warmed her insides as the sandwich and potato chips filled her up. She was more touched at Jack doing this than anything else she could think of.

“So how did you and Ian suddenly get so chummy?”

She glanced up. Was there an acidic tone to his voice? She scrunched her face and tilted her head. “Oh my God, are you actually checking to see if I was coming on to your other brother while you were gone?”

He stared, waiting for her to answer. She was so offended, she didn’t know whether to hit him or get up and leave. “As it happens, when you’re not around, they talk to me. I don’t understand it. That’s it. Shane and Ian are much nicer to me when you’re not around. You figure that one out.”

“Huh. Interesting.”

“No. Not interesting. Annoying. I was also spending a lot of time at the house because of the heat as well as Ben.”

“Ben? Why Ben?”

“I hate to tell you this, but he and Marcy are spending way too much time together. Do you have any idea how hard it is to prevent them from being alone together?”

He tipped his face towards her. “And you were trying?”

“Of course. My God, he’s way too young to start having sex.”

Jack smiled. She didn’t know why. He dug his bare toe into the sand as he took a long drink of beer. “Lil and I were only sixteen.”

“Well, I was thirteen. That’s no age to be having sex. He’s just a little kid. He should not even be thinking about it. He’s not like the jerks I knew as a kid.”

“Thirteen?”

She looked up at his face. The smirk was gone. “Seventh grade. It’s how I survived.”

“That’s not right.”

“Well, there was no one like you in my life to tell me differently. You need to talk to Ben. Warn him. Threaten him. Maybe even ground him.”

Jack laughed, his teeth flashing, and his eyes twinkled at her. “I can’t ground a fifteen-year-old boy for what he might do. That’s a sure way for him to sneak out to do it. I’m not so sure there’s anything I can do to dissuade him, if he intends to do it.”