How to Knit a Love Song (11 page)

“We’re almost there.” Cade heard her clambering off the tree behind him but didn’t look back.

He turned left. The narrow trail opened up into a bright, open spot. The waterfall poured down the rocks from above, splashing into a wide pond at the bottom.

Abigail, now beside him, gasped. “It’s incredible.”

She brushed his arm with hers as she moved in front of him, and his whole body reacted to her touch. He felt like a fifteen-year-old, unable to control himself. He took a deep breath.

“Can we swim? It’s so weirdly warm today for being almost November. It would be a shame to waste it. Do people swim here?” she asked.

“People do. Now that you know where it is, you can come back anytime.”

“Now? You want to?”

Cade couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. She wanted to skinny-dip? The idea both aroused and surprised him. “Naked? Now?”

Abigail looked horrified, and he saw her get nervous, all over again. She was as tense around him as he was around her. “No, no, I meant…I guess I thought underwear kind of looks like a bikini, but…oh…I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Was she kidding? An opportunity to swim almost naked with a gorgeous girl? Even if it was with her, this might make the trip worth it.

Cade took off his shirt. “Why not?”

Abigail gasped again.

Cade stepped out of his boots and shucked off his jeans and socks, leaving only his boxer shorts and his cowboy hat. “I’m even taking off the hat. Don’t tell anyone.” He set his hat carefully on top of his boots.

Abigail’s peal of surprised laughter rang through the trees. Cade ran forward and cannonballed into the middle of the pond, right where he knew the hot spring met the cool water cascading from above. He came up with a yelp and turned to look at her.

Cade lost his breath, and it wasn’t because of the water.

Abigail was moving quickly, probably trying to get in the water before he saw what she was wearing, but he saw, all right. Pink panties decorated with a ribbon bow and a matching pink, lacy bra. She might have thought it would look like a bikini, and she was right in that it covered the same amount of skin that a bikini would have, but it looked like underwear. No, scratch that. It looked like lingerie.

Cade tried not to stare, but she was stunning. Why had he been avoiding her, again? Why was he not trying to see more of her, like this? Maybe if he could think straight, he’d remember.

Abigail looked at him quizzically, and he tried to adjust his face. He must be leering at her like Stephens had at the diner.

She ran toward the water and did a cannonball like he had, but in the wrong direction. It was deep enough there to be safe, but that was the cold end. The super-cold end. That was the end no one ever went into because the hot mineral water didn’t make it that far.

Abigail came up screaming. “Wow! Oh, holy hell, this is cold! How do you stand it!” She panted and dog-paddled toward him. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Then she said, in a different tone of voice, “Oh!”

She’d reached a warm part, he could tell. He watched her face relax, and a part of him that should have been relaxed very suddenly wasn’t.

“Oh, this is wonderful.” She kicked and flipped herself upside down and came back up. Water streamed down her face, over her eyes and lips. Her sexy, full, very wet lips…

Sadly, he’d probably have to stay right here until she got out and drove back to the ranch. Or maybe he’d have to stay here forever. If he got out of the water now, she’d be able to see what she’d done to him.

She swam closer to him. “Oh, it gets warmer the more you go this way.”

He nodded, unable to trust his voice.

“This is amazing!”

She
was amazing.

He had to stop thinking like this.

She swam past him and got out, climbing onto the large, flat rocks next to the pond. “Do people ever jump from up there?” She pointed up to the rock overhang above them. Cade could barely drag his eyes away from her underwear, now almost see-through, to look up. She seemed less self-conscious now, and he was glad. Really glad.

“Oh, yeah. Some do.”

“Have you ever jumped from there?”

“Sure.”

“I want to.”

“Then go for it.”

“But I’m scared of heights.”

He laughed. “That’s not a height, so you should be fine. It can’t be more than ten, eleven feet.”

“No, that’s okay. That’s too high for me.” She looked nervous.

“If you want to, you should do it.”

“I’m not good with scary things. I hate roller coasters. And I’d never bungee jump, even if you paid me.”

“You moved up here, alone. And now you have to live with me, and I’m no prize. I’d say you’re all right with scary things.”

Abigail smiled. “You are scary, that’s true. But maybe that just means I’m at my limit for scary things. I’ve hit my quota for the month.”

“Well, if you’re not brave enough, then you’re just not brave enough.”

It worked. Abigail flushed and stood up, dripping water onto the rock. She surveyed the narrow path around the side of the pond that led up to the ledge. She walked up it, her hair still streaming water down her back. Over her buttocks. Down her legs.

Cade didn’t know being aroused could hurt this much. He moved into the colder end of the pool. Maybe that would help.

“Cade?” Abigail had reached the ledge. “I think this is a bad idea.” Her voice shook.

Good, maybe she’d take her time up there, and he’d recover a little. “You can do it!”

But instead of dithering and making him talk her into it, like the other girls he knew would have, Abigail just nodded. Then she closed her eyes and jumped. Her shriek cut off abruptly as the water closed over her head.

She came up laughing. She didn’t say anything; she just swam and laughed her way back to the big flat rock. Then she lay there, giggling.

Cade moved into the even colder water.

They fell silent. Cade was content to float.

After what must have been half an hour, Abigail stirred. She rolled to look at him.

“You must be a prune.”

“Yes.”

“And cold.”

“Thank God, yes. I’m cold.”

“I think I fell asleep.” She stretched. “Should we go?”

Cade nodded. This was a good time. Before she stretched again. He dashed out of the water and up the side of the pond. He grabbed his clothes, keeping his back to her. Once he pulled his jeans up his still wet legs, he was uncomfortable enough that he could safely turn back to face her.

“I hate putting on dry clothes when I’m wet,” he grumbled.

“You should have come up onto the rock with me.”

“That wouldn’t have been a good idea,” Cade said, his voice low.

“Why?”

Cade cleared his throat.

“Oh,” she said. She went shy all over again, and turned her back to step into her own jeans. She didn’t turn around again until her shirt was on and completely buttoned up.

“Thank you for coming out here with me,” she said.

“No problem.”

“I’m sure you had better things to do at the ranch.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

But the moment was broken. The words hung awkwardly between them. He had to hurry to keep up with her as they walked back to their trucks. She was up and over the fallen tree before he could offer to help.

In the dirt parking lot, she only nodded at him. She gave a small smile, but Cade didn’t know how to return it. He should say something, anything, but by the time he’d figured out a few words that might not be completely idiotic, she was in her truck and backing out of the lot.

Screw fifteen years old. He felt more like twelve. Idiot.

Chapter Fifteen

How talented you are! How clever!

—
E.C.

T
here were two bathrooms in Cade’s house. Abigail had been using the one downstairs for the past two weeks, even when she had to walk there quietly in the middle of the night. She tiptoed when she went, not wanting a floorboard to creak and wake Cade up.

But tonight, she really, really wanted a bath. She felt like she still had the pond water in her ears, behind her knees. And the only bathtub was upstairs. She was going to use it, but first she was going to make good and sure that he wouldn’t be around when she made her way there.

It was still his time to use the kitchen and downstairs area. As strange as she’d thought it at first, she was grateful for the schedule. Every time she saw him, she struggled with her feelings. She wanted to be friendly with him, wanted to be herself, but also to remain at a…what should she call it? A professional distance, yes, that was it. They were going to share land, share a driveway, share space, for the foreseeable future. It sure would help to have an amicable relationship.

Would he ever be able to have that with her? Everything he said seemed laced with something more. Today, at the pond, she would have sworn he’d been implying that he was attracted to her. That couldn’t possibly have been what he meant. She felt foolish for even wondering about it.

But the way he’d looked, for that moment, when he was still wearing his cowboy hat, naked except for his boxers? She’d lost her breath. She’d been glad when he’d jumped into the pond. It gave her a moment to gather her courage to take off her clothes.

She’d been wrong. Underwear was nothing like a bikini. It just wasn’t. If she set that awful tension aside, though, it had been fun. Exciting. She was so happy she’d jumped off the rock. In the past, that would have been too hard. But here, now, it was all different. And his voice, strong and steady, telling her she could do it…She had believed him. And he’d been right.

Abigail looked at her watch. It was after eight thirty. According to the schedule Cade had made, she could have been down in the kitchen cooking dinner since six thirty, but it was too risky. She had seen enough of Cade today to last them both for a while.

She waited a little while longer before curling up on the bed and putting an arm over Clara.

Abigail wasn’t sure who needed a bath more, her or the dog.

She might have slept a little, because her eyes flew open in the dark room. Clara jumped, but kept snoring.

Abigail heard Cade’s door close.

She waited.

And waited some more. Nothing.

She took off her clothes and put on her robe. Gathering her toiletries, she tiptoed to the bathroom down the hall.

This was a man’s house, so she expected black towels and chrome details, toilet tissue on the floor and a stained bathtub. But she had to have this bath, even if the tub needed a good scrubbing first.

What she entered was a pretty bathroom, not feminine, but definitely not all guy. It had to be Eliza’s doing. The tub was an old clawfoot, chipped but satisfyingly clean. A dark green shower curtain went with the old wooden pedestal sink that had green trim. As she looked at it, she realized that it actually might be the same green as the trim on the outside of the house.

Abigail smiled. That seemed like Eliza.

She turned on the hot water and waited. Lovely and hot. Now, a touch of cold water.

A cup of tea would be nice.

And maybe a piece of toast.

Abigail padded downstairs. She put the kettle on and popped a piece of bread in the toaster. Then she sat in the rocking chair and closed her eyes for a moment while waiting for the toast to pop.

Then she heard a roar from upstairs, followed by wild barking.

She ran upstairs as fast as she could. Had Clara lost her mind and attacked Cade? She didn’t even know where Cade kept a phone so she could call 911 if she needed to.

At the top of the wooden stairs, she slipped in warm water. By wheeling and grabbing the stair rail with all her strength, Abigail avoided falling backward down the stairs. As she made it to the door of the bathroom, she heard Cade roar again.

“What
happened?
”

“It’s flooding! How did you do this? Get towels!”

“Where?”

“Hall closet. Now!”

Abigail grabbed as many towels as she could carry and ran through the water again. It wasn’t deep, but it seemed to be moving fast.

“Turn the water off!” she yelled as she came running back into the bathroom.

Cade was wearing nothing but his blue jeans, kneeling in the bathroom. He looked at her incredulously. “Water’s
off
. What, you think I’d leave it running?”

“How did that happen? I just left the room a couple of minutes ago. Does the bathtub leak?”

“Yes, it leaks. It leaks right over the top of the bathtub if it overflows! Start mopping! This is going to go straight through the floorboards….”

“What about the overflow valve?”

He glared. “It’s a clawfoot. Where would the water go?”

Abigail opened her mouth and closed it again. “Oh.”

She fell onto her knees, grasping at the belt of her robe, making sure it was firmly tied. He was practically naked already. She didn’t want to join him.

She’d had a sneaking suspicion that his chest would be good, not that she’d been consciously thinking about it. And this afternoon at the waterfall had confirmed that she was right. But she hadn’t seen this, hadn’t seen the muscles.

She guessed working a ranch was good exercise. She could see his bare back as he swept the water from the floor with a sopping towel. His muscles rippled across his back. She hadn’t ever known that muscles could actually do that. But his did.

“Here,” she said in a small voice. “This one’s dry.”

“You’d better have a towel for yourself, too.”

“I do.”

“Start drying.”

Abigail went out in the hall and worked backward, tracking the water to its farthest reach, mopping back toward the bathroom. She went through four towels by the time she got back to where Cade was.

She crawled toward him in the hall through the puddles, drying the floor, conscious of how her robe was hanging. Cade was being thorough, it seemed, and was still on his hands and knees in the bathroom. In all good conscience, she should join him and help him in there.

But it was such a small room.