My Blue River (8 page)

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing,” mused Claire.

“Seriously. What?”

“I think you’re holding back. I think you just might consider everything about him stimulating. You’re blushing and you can’t take your eyes off him.”

“Neither can I,” chimed Sallie. She was looking at Jack adoringly and yet from the other side of the room, Zeek was staring the exact same way at Sallie.

“No, trust me. We’re
just friends
. In fact, we established that fact just yesterday.”

“Really?” Sallie’s voice raised an octave in complete hope that I was telling the truth.

Claire shook her head at Sallie as if to say, “Forget it, sister.” She leaned closer to me and said, “By the way, he can’t keep his eyes off you, either.”

Sallie’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. Claire mouthed “I’m sorry” to her. I couldn’t help it. A smile stole my lips.

6. Daydreamer

By the first of August, I had reached my limits for hard labor. I was tired of painting, scraping, repairing, gardening, and everything else that had been asked of me. Whether my parents liked it or not, I was taking the day off.

As usual, Jack was at our house working. I would say he was pretty much a permanent fixture at this point. I was on the porch swing with my camera—and my zoom lens. I knew exactly what I was up to.

I settled into the swing and tried to look as though I wasn’t up to anything naughty, but in all reality, I was plotting a covert operation. Jack and Dad were planting trees. I marveled at how Jack moved and how hard he worked. I felt a twinge of guilt for what I was about to do, but I didn’t move from my spot on the swing. I wished I had his energy and his enthusiasm for this type of work but I didn’t. It just wasn’t me.

Just as a quiet summer breeze floated by, I found my thoughts drifting not just to Jack, but to the idea of
me
and Jack. I watched him work as if he were a magician. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. He put both hands at the belly of his shirt and began to lift it—
yes!
I snapped a couple of photos.
Thank you zoom lens!
Wait a minute, no, false alarm—he was wiping the sweat from his face. I continued to watch, hoping for what his next move might be.

I looked up again and this time he was grinning. He threw his head back in an exaggerated laughter at something my dad had said.
Quit trying to impress him; he already thinks you’re the best
. I snapped a few more shots of him laughing.

He began to lift his shirt again.
Please, please…yes!
He took it off!
The display of the sweat dripping off of his chiseled chest was wonderful. I felt flush as he stole a glance in my direction; he smirked and I let out a gasp.
How arrogant!
He knew I was watching.
Now I feel stupid
. I quickly tucked the camera behind my back. If he knew I had a camera I would never be able to live it down.

I laid my head back against the swing, closed my eyes and focused on my surroundings. I inhaled deeply, contemplating each scent. I knew the familiarity of my Coppertone sun block but the scents of the yard were new. The yard was dotted with lilac and rose bushes. Every once in a while a breeze would throw a floral scent my way. It was pleasant. I loved roses and was developing an affinity for lilacs. Just a couple of months ago I found fresh air to be overrated; I now found it intoxicating. I picked up the scent of pine trees, and a multitude of wildflowers I couldn’t even begin to identify. The nearby hay and alfalfa fields weren’t as irritating as I once found them to be.

I turned my attention to the sounds around me. I heard birds, bees, the bug zapper, the occasional moo of a cow, and the crow of a rooster. In Blue River, we didn’t have an automatic sprinkler system. We set and moved our own sprinkler lines. I listened; the sprinkler had a rhythmic, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch—then a rapid firing of chchchchchchchch, and back again, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch. I found myself extremely relaxed. I remembered that if I were in my California home, dirty old Mr. King would be gawking out his window at me as I lounged in our swimming pool. In California, our homes were barely ten feet apart, if that. Privacy was desired but never obtained. A point for Montana, but who was keeping a tally?
Nah, why keep score?

I drifted back to Jack again, envisioning him sauntering over to the swing, bending over me—kissing me passionately.

I let out “mmmmm,” when I heard—

“And just where are you?” asked Jack.
How embarrassing
. The blood rushed to my cheeks and my tongue was tied.

I stammered. “I-I-I”

“You seem to be a million miles away,” he stated.

If he only knew; I was right here and daydreaming of him.

“More like around thirteen hundred. I was daydreaming about being on a beach in California,” I lied.

His eyes danced with excitement—he had been struck with an idea.

“Oh. Well, hey, tomorrow—you and me—I have somewhere special I want to show you,” said Jack.

I was still drunk from the daydream so without thinking, I accepted. I didn’t wonder where we were going or what we were doing, I simply answered
yes.

He turned to leave then hollered over his back, “Oh, and Addy…”

“Yeah, Jack?” I asked.

“Enjoy the pictures!”

I groaned.
Why had I been such a daydreamer?

7. The Beach

Announcing the arrival of morning, the bright summer sun whispered through the sheers of my bedroom window. As I woke, I immediately regretted accepting Jack’s invitation to go “somewhere special.”
Why did I do this to myself? Now my stomach has butterflies!
I knew I was asking for trouble—most likely really good trouble—but trouble nonetheless. Jack had been on my mind constantly these days. I was finding him to be so much more of a desirable person than I could have even imagined and after my rather vivid daydream about him kissing me, I now felt uncomfortable seeing him today. I was torn between, “get out of my head” and “please, let there be a kiss today.”

As I readied myself for the day, I pondered my thoughts about Jack.
Why do I think about him so much? Why am I so curious?
But I knew why. Besides his drop-dead gorgeous looks, he was a person who exuded a special type of personality that was a combination of gentle compassion, sexiness, and perhaps a bit of mystery. With the exception of both of us being smartasses, Jack and I were in no way compatible. However, I knew that fact wasn’t keeping me from feeling more than I should for him. I cursed myself for being so careless. I should have known that spending so much time with him would be dangerous for my heart. He seemed to have a genuine interest in getting to know me and somehow he was drawing me into his world.
I should have declined his invitation. I should have never gone to The Barn with him. I should have never looked into his eyes.
But in the end, I answered my original question. I knew my reason for accepting his invitation wasn’t just to get out of chores. It was because I was beginning to love being around him, his laugh, his smile, and especially his sense of humor, which was quick enough to keep up with mine. He didn’t seem to be bothered by my excessive sarcasm and nothing got past him.

Unfortunately, I knew Jack and I could be nothing more than friends. I held my position. I would leave for college, going back to my beloved California. I didn’t want to leave anything behind when I left for college, especially my heart.
No way, that won’t be me
. I would stick to my plan, enjoy Jack’s friendship and besides, he hadn’t made any advances that told me he was interested in anything other than friendship. I didn’t know why I was concerning myself so much with this nonsense.

He took pity on me and promised he wouldn’t arrive too terribly early. He stuck to his word. But my body had begun to get used to the “early-to-rise” concept and now I was ready and had been waiting long enough to feel a touch of anxiety rise in my chest. I was so excited to spend time with him that it had reached a point of being silly. I felt like a little girl on Christmas morning, as if I knew Santa had come and I was about to see a pretty, pink bike under a Christmas tree. The morning seemed to drag on and I became more and more anxious for his arrival. I kept peeking out the windows, intermittently cursing myself for being so excited.

When I saw his Jeep coming down the driveway, promptly at eleven o’clock in the morning, my heart almost burst.
Stop it, Addy. This is ridiculous
. I didn’t wait for him to come to the door. My parents knew the plan and they were thrilled I was going out instead of sitting in my room sulking about the Aaron Davis Rescue Mission. I flew out the screen door, not bothering to stop it from banging.

“Morning! Do you have your swim suit?” asked Jack.

I gave a confused look. “Uh…”

“I’m so sorry. I should have mentioned that yesterday,” he apologized.

“Well, I don’t, but let me go get it. In fact, I’ll just put it on under my clothes.”

“Great. In fact, that’s a really good idea. There’s nowhere but the wide open spaces of Montana to change clothes in private where we’re going.”

My jaw dropped.
Where could we be going that provided no place to change your clothes in privacy?
But that didn’t stop my enthusiasm. I ran to my room and selected my most flattering bikini. I did a double check in the mirror
. Is this too skimpy? Why am I tempting him? Why am I torturing myself?
I put on my bikini and the lyrics, “itsy, bitsy, teeny, weeny, yellow polka dot bikini” came to mind, only my bikini was turquoise with small white dots. I put my denim shorts and a white Hollister t-shirt back on, slipped into my flip-flops and practically ran down the stairs. I was running too fast and as I touched the third to the last step, a small nail rearing its ugly head caught a part of the foam of my right flip-flop and I went flying forward. I let out a yelp. I barely caught the last available part of the handrail.
Whew! Close call
. I stopped to compose myself by taking a few deep breaths.
Well, that could have gone horribly wrong.
My zeal for this day was about to get me into trouble.
Time to calm down, Addy. Showing up outside with cuts and scrapes wouldn’t be very appealing. It sort of takes away from any attempt at looking hot in a bikini.

I decided I should slow down and act casual, but I wasn’t sure if it was working. This time, I slowly walked through the screen door and stopped on the porch. Jack was leaning casually against his Jeep. He looked like a model in a Jeep Wrangler ad, only no one would want to buy the Jeep; they would want the guy. I felt a tingle shoot through my body as he flashed a smile at me. I smiled back. He summoned me to him with his index finger.

We got in his vehicle. I couldn’t help but feel special when he opened my door for me.
No one has ever done something like this for me.
I buckled my seat belt and I immediately felt his eyes on me. I turned to face him and found that he was holding up a red bandana and grinning from ear-to-ear.

“Here, please put this over your eyes,” he requested as he extended the bandana to me.

I reluctantly took it. “Seriously? Do we
really
need the blindfold? Is it seriously
that
special?” I asked with a smile, as I put the bandana over my eyes and tied it in the back of my head.

“Yes, we need the bandana and yes it’s that special.” He let out a soft chuckle that had I not known him, would have almost sounded evil. “And quit fiddlin’ with it,” he insisted.

“I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. I saw you peeking.”

“I’m not peeking.”

“You’re not used to being surprised, are you?” he asked. He was confident in his words. He was right and he knew it. I was used to being in control, unless it involved my best friend, Sheridan, who usually called the shots in our relationship.

“No, I’m not! Hey, I just thought of something. Aren’t you worried it’ll look as though I’m being kidnapped?” I teased.

“Nope. Not in the least. Besides, it’s very common for us backwoodsy Montanans to travel this way and when it’s hunting season, if we don’t get the big kill, we’ll just take a newcomer instead!”

“I knew it! You guys harvest organs, don’t you!”

“Yes, we do. The ones from California are a little chewy, like their raisins, but we’ll take ‘em.”

“Ha, ha, very funny.”

“What? I thought you’d like that. You seem to enjoy making fun of us Montanans.”

“Not all Montanans. Just the ones who haven’t seemed to join the 21
st
century and you Jack Cooper, seemed to have joined us so you have officially dropped from my list of those to insult. Claire, too, I really like her. But what’s with Mimi? She wears all that ‘80s makeup.”

My thoughts quickly drifted to the night I found Claire crying in the restroom at The Barn. I didn’t wait for a response to my question about Mimi and asked, “What’s up with this boyfriend of Claire’s?”

“Ethan? He’s from ‘Two Horse’ just down the road,” he replied.

Out of natural reaction, my head snapped to look at him but through blindfolded eyes, I couldn’t see his expression. “Two Horse? Seriously? You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

Jack burst into laughter. Once he recovered he said, “Yes, I’m kidding you. Actually, it is called Henley.” Moments ago he was laughing, but something in his tone changed and I knew if I could see his expression, it would be a serious one. He was deeply considering his next words and apparently, he opted for honesty.

He revealed what he was thinking. “The truth is, I’m not Ethan’s number one fan. He doesn’t like me and I don’t like him, but we put up a good front for Claire’s sake.”

“Why don’t you like him?”

“Because he treats her like dirt and in all honesty, I think he’s only after one thing, if you know what I mean, and after he gets that one thing, he’ll dump her.”

“That’s too bad. She seems smarter than that.”

“I keep telling her that, but she’s attracted to the fact that he’s a little older and that he doesn’t live in Blue River. I mean, I can understand that part. Most of us have known each other our whole lives. It’s hard to date people you used to run around in diapers with, know what I mean? Plus, we all know everything there is to know about one another and that’s not necessarily a good thing.” He paused. “Now that I think of it, you’ll be quite the fascination come the first day of school, if you aren’t already. You’ll be fresh meat.” He chuckled. “You won’t forget me, right?”

I laughed out loud. “Fresh meat? Wow. That’s a flattering thought.” Even though I was laughing, I said, “That’s actually not funny. But no, I won’t forget you. I hear you never forget your first blindfold.”

He burst into laughter. “I’m glad I had the chance to become a special memory for you.”

“So Jack, are we almost there or what? I’m tired of the blindfold.” Not to mention the last part of this trip had been very bumpy and Jack’s Jeep wasn’t the smoothest ride.

“Man, you’re such a whiner but a lucky one because we’re here.” I didn’t need my eyes to know he was smiling that beautiful smile that displayed his precious dimples. He sounded pleased with his surprise.

I heard him exit the driver’s side and walk to my side. He opened the door, took my hand, and helped me out until my feet reached the ground. Guiding me, we walked for a while until he instructed me to kick off my flip-flops. I was reluctant. Maybe he was tricking me into stepping into a pile of cow crap or something like that.

“Am I being punked?” I asked.

“Addy, you are so stubborn. Just do it, okay?”

I let out a sigh, “Fine. I’ll do it but I had better not regret it, Mr. Cooper.” I slightly elbowed him in the ribs.

“My dad is Mr. Cooper. I’m just Jack.”

“Oh, that’s right. I remember our introduction, you said, just call me Jack.”

“Yeah, yeah, enough of the trip down memory lane. Now kick off those flip-flops.”

I let out a heavy sigh like his request was about to kill me, but really, I was excited and although I was still getting to know him, I felt I could trust him. I slipped out of my flip-flops and he guided me forward a few steps. My feet were met with a pleasant surprise.

“Is this sand? Like, real sand?” I exclaimed.

Before I could question it further, he removed the blindfold and I discovered my surroundings resembled a beach.
I’m standing on sand!
The sand wasn’t like California sand. There were a lot of small river rocks, and it was more coarse, but it was still sand and this place did resemble a beach. Instead of waves, the river was flowing by at a slow easy pace, knowing it had nothing better to do today. The sandy edge of the river was a good half of a football field in length. There were a few bushes, some patches of soft grass and Pussy Willows. This was a very pleasant surprise.

“Jack! This is great!” I exclaimed.

Relief came over his face. “I was really praying you would like it. I know you’ve been missing your beach. I wanted to bring you here sooner, but I’ve just been so busy.”

“Wow! How far from One Horse are we?”

“One Horse—you’re killing me with that you know,” he said, but he didn’t sound angry or insulted, just amused at my ignorance. “We’re actually not far at all and this part of the land is owned by my family. We call this place The Beach.”