One Reckless Summer (14 page)

Oh God—yeah.

They both cried out at the firm, deep entry, and all he wanted to do was fill her, fill her,
fill
her, over and over. He still quivered a little, but nothing mattered in this moment but thrusting into her sweet wet warmth, again, again.

He soon let the arm that supported her dip between her thighs, let his fingers sink into her slick folds to stroke the little nub there, swollen beneath his touch. When she began to move more rhythmically, he knew he was hitting the right spot.

Sweat rolled down his temples, his chest, and he felt it gluing their bodies together below, too. The dark water looked like black glass beside them, reminding him how alone they were here. Turned out there were one or two things this godforsaken land was good for, and just now, he was
glad
the other side of that lake was so damn far away.

“I want to make you come, pussycat,” he murmured in her ear. He wanted to feel her convulse against him, wanted to hear her sobs of pleasure. In front of him, her breath grew labored, rough,
beautiful
. She moved more intently against his hand, saturating his fingertips with moisture.

Come
, he willed her,
come for me
. He’d always enjoyed bringing women pleasure during sex, but with Jenny, it was different. It was as if…making her come made him worthy. And despite himself, he wanted that, he wanted to be worthy of Jenny Tolliver.

“Come, baby,” he whispered in her ear. “Come hard, just for me.”

“Close,” she breathed, the word barely audible. “So close.”

And then her body jolted in front of him, and she let out a hot little cry, and she moved against his hand harder for a few amazing seconds, whimpering her pleasure. And she started to go still after that, limp, clearly weak, but he couldn’t let her. He anchored his arm back around her to keep her upright, and as blood gathered below and heat shot through his veins, he said, “Damn, honey, I’m coming, too.”

His head fell back, his eyes shut, as he drove into her welcoming body, groaning his release again, again, again. He kept plunging inside her, to the very last, grabbing on to every ounce of pleasure he could take—because he needed it so bad.

He could never let her know that, of course, how bad he needed what she gave him. And now that the waves of orgasm were passing and sanity was returning, he knew he’d come too close to that tonight already, too close to letting her see the power she suddenly held over him. He didn’t want to scare her anymore, but he also didn’t want to appear weak. To her, or to himself. He’d had a few moments of weakness with her here tonight, but he needed to be strong for
Wayne
, strong for what was coming. So he said nothing when it was over, simply pulled out of her and tried to forget that the girl had actually made him tremble in her arms.

It was as they both drew their blue jeans back up that she said, “We didn’t use a condom again.”

He let his head drop back, releasing a huge sigh. “
Shit.
I wasn’t expecting to find—”

“I know,” she cut him off. “A girl sneaking around your house in the middle of the night.”

“That about sums it up. Sorry, pussycat.”

“Well, it takes…two to tango, as they say.”

She stood before him, biting her lip, looking innocent and wild all at once. And he wanted to kiss her some more, but decided it would be a bad idea. So instead he just said, “’Night, honey.”

“Goodnight.”

Be careful on the lake.
He wanted to tell her that, too, but held it in. It was too much, too much like caring.

Yet she’d never know if he stood on the shore, watching the dark shadow of her canoe glide across the lake’s surface, creating the tiniest of wakes in the moonlight, until she’d reached the other side. And that was exactly what he did.

We’re going to the moon because it’s in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It’s by the nature of his deep inner soul…we’re required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream.

Neil Armstrong

I
’ve lost my telescope again.” It was an embarrassing admission, all things considered, but at the moment it didn’t seem as important to Jenny as it had the first time.

“What?” Sue Ann gasped, turning to face her. “Where?” They sat side by side atop a picnic table in
Creekside
Park
, watching Sophie play on the swings.

“Outside the Brody cabin.”

Sue Ann blinked. “Outside the
what
?”

Jenny gave her only a short, sheepish glance. “You heard me.”

“Well, I hope you’re not planning to drag me back over there with you to get it this time.”

Something inside Jenny felt somber, sad. She just kept watching Sophie’s swing glide back and forth as she said, “I don’t think that’ll be necessary. I’m pretty sure he’ll bring it back to me again. Because I’m pretty sure he’s going to feel the need to check up on me again.”

Clearly, Sue Ann began to comprehend the enormity of the situation, since her voice dropped an octave and she grew more somber herself. “I guess this means you know what he’s hiding now.”

She nodded succinctly. “Yep.”

“Well?”

Of course, Sue Ann expected to be told. And it was the first time in her life that Jenny had seriously considered keeping something from her best friend. In the end, though, she’d decided, just like the whole
first
Mick Brody
incident, that
she
had
to tell her. They were practically sisters. How could she not?

Before she spilled the beans, though, she turned to Sue Ann and took both her hands, because this wasn’t just any secret—this wasn’t just sex in the woods. “This is some serious shit, Sue Ann, so you have to swear you will not breathe a word of this, and if you think you can’t make that promise, tell me now. I mean it.”

Sue Ann looked appropriately worried, even gulping, and took a minute to think. Finally, she bit her lip and said, “Okay, I promise. I swear.”

Jenny let out a deep breath—one that it felt like she’d been holding all night since leaving Mick on the southern shore of the lake—and told Sue Ann about Wayne. It had been eating her up since she’d found out, and she’d never felt so caught between a rock and a hard place in her life.

Thankfully, they were in a quiet area of the large park, so at least she could talk with Sue Ann without worry they’d be overheard. She concluded with, “So, as you can see, this is freaking
serious
. There is an
escaped convict
across the lake from me, and Mick is
harboring
him. It’s so illegal that I can barely fathom it. And now I
know about it
, Sue Ann—I
know about it
.” Then she gasped. “Does this make me an accessory?”

Next to her, Sue Ann looked understandably horrified. “Now I’m kinda sorry you told me.”

Uh-oh. “Why?”

“Because maybe now I’m an accessory to the accessory.”

Jenny winced. “Oh damn, sorry—I didn’t think of that.”

Just then, Sophie stopped her swing, digging small tennis shoes into the sand beneath it, and yelled over to Sue Ann. “I’m going to the castle,” she said, pointing. Apparently, this was what Sophie called the big plastic apparatus just beyond the swings consisting of numerous tunnels, ladders, and slides.

“All right, honey. Be careful,” Sue Ann called,
then
turned back to Jenny, lowering her voice. “And that goes for you, too. Be careful with this, Jen.”

Jenny bit her lip. She’d been turning it over and over in her head. “How do I not tell my father? I mean, he would be
so
deeply disappointed in me if he knew I was keeping something like this from him.”

Sue Ann watched Sophie climb up a ladder, then disappear into a small
towerlike
structure, and Jenny could almost feel her friend’s maternal instincts kicking into high gear. “Maybe you
should
tell him, Jen,” she said, turning back to face her and looking much more serious than usual. “I mean, he’s a freaking
escaped convict.
”

“Who’s not hurting anybody,” Jenny couldn’t help pointing out. “He’s just…dying here.”

“That doesn’t make breaking out of prison any less against the law. This is…big, Jen. Like you said, serious shit. And your father
is
the chief of police. I think that really obligates you to tell him.”

Jenny let out a huge, draining sigh. “I know. That’s what’s killing me. It was one thing to keep quiet when I didn’t know Mick’s secret, but now that I know, it feels like I’m…breaking a sacred trust not to tell my dad.”

“That seals it then. If it feels wrong not to tell him, then you should tell him.”

“Yet in another way, it feels just as wrong
to
tell him. I mean, all my life, I’ve had a pretty clear understanding of right and wrong—my parents made sure of that. But this, Sue Ann, this straddles the line for me. And…this isn’t just about
Wayne
. If I tell, Mick might go to jail, too.”

“Well,
yeah
,” Sue Ann said, eyes wide. “He’s harboring a
fugitive
!”

Despite Sue Ann’s theatrics, Jenny only swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat. “
Wayne
didn’t look much like a fugitive lying in that bed.”

Sue Ann sighed in return, as if seeing Jenny’s point, but then she simply shook her head. “This is bad, Jenny—really bad. I don’t like it. I don’t like you being in the middle of this.”

She tried to play it off a little. “Well, I don’t know if I’m in the
middle,
exactly. Just sort of…on the side.”

“Still, this is your
dad
you’re not telling. Your
father.
If he knew you were hanging out with someone who’s harboring a fugitive, he’d have a heart attack. And if he knew you were having sex with the guy…
and
protecting him from the law…
oh my God.
You really
have
to tell.”

Yeah, she knew that. She’d already told herself the same thing. “Except that…I can’t see what good it serves. And…then there’s Mick.”

“Who is sounding like a very scary guy the more I hear about him. He robbed a liquor store, for God’s sake.”

“A long time ago. And he’s changed since then.”

Sue Ann’s eyes flew wide once more. “Would you listen to
yourself!
Justifying it!”

Wow. At that moment, Jenny suddenly realized how awful it all sounded, like she was some dumb, enabling sort of woman—but for some reason, after last night, she really believed Mick, deep down inside. She really believed he wasn’t that guy anymore. “I just…don’t want to get him in trouble,” she tried to explain.

“Why?”

Good question.
“Well, we…have sex. We…had sex
last night.
”

Sue Ann’s jaw dropped. “You know, I keep thinking I’m going to quit being surprised, but congratulations, you got me again. You had sex with him
after
the whole
Wayne
thing?”

Another sigh left her. “Guilty as charged, officer.”

“Um, outside again?”

It was almost a relief to get Sue Ann on a topic that held more prurient interest for her. “You got it. Standing up. Against a tree.”

“Holy God,” Sue Anne breathed.

“I really didn’t mean to. I know it was a bad idea under the circumstances, but when he starts kissing me and touching me, Sue Ann, what can I say—I turn to putty in his hands. Complete putty! And you should also probably know—” She stopped, swallowed. Crap. “There was no condom.”

Sue Ann slapped her hand against her forehead. “All right, that’s it. I’m driving you to Crestview myself tomorrow to get that damn test.”

“Fine, you’re right, I’ll go—I know I need to do that.”
Since I
still
really don’t know him very well
,
after all.
But she kept that part inside, given that she felt more on the defensive with Sue Ann here than she ever had in all their years of friendship. They were usually like-minded on important things, but maybe it was hard to make
anyone
understand who hadn’t seen the expression on Mick’s face last night.

“So, wanting to protect him,” Sue Ann began, her voice a little softer. “Is this about sex, or is it about…something more with Mick?”

Jenny took a deep breath, trying to think through her reasoning. “I just…hate that he’s going through this.”

“He chose to.”

“He felt he couldn’t say no,” Jenny countered. “He loves his brother. If you could have seen the pain in his eyes, Sue Ann…”

But Sue Ann was having none of it. “They’re criminals, Jenny.
Crim-i-nals
. They break laws. They’re bad dudes, scary guys. You can’t go on like this, having sex with him, and protecting him.”

“You thought it was fine a few days ago. You said good sex was worth a lot.”

“Well, that was before I knew for sure he was breaking a law. Before, it was all…mysterious and sexy. Now, it’s just…illegal.”

“You can’t tell anyone,” Jenny felt the need to remind her, then let out a sigh. “I’m really starting to think I shouldn’t have told you.”

Then Sue Ann looked wounded. “I’m just scared for you, Jen. You’re my best friend.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m a little stressed-out right now.”

“So what are you going to do about this?”

“I don’t know. Think, I guess. And try to figure it out.”

Sue Ann took back on a scolding look. “And in the meantime, wait for him and his penis to return your telescope? I sure hope that penis is worth it, Jen.”

But Jenny didn’t answer. How could she make Sue Ann understand that it wasn’t just the penis—it was the whole darn scary
guy.
The truth was, despite believing all he’d told her, she did remain a little afraid of him—maybe more now than she’d been yesterday.

Yet the
really
scary thing here was that she wanted him more than she feared him.

Jenny poured iced tea into two glasses on the picnic table in the backyard, the scent of the pork chops her father grilled nearby making her hungry. Other than the heat, which seemed to grow worse every day, it was a lovely evening—birds chirped, flowers bloomed, and butterflies fluttered their way across the expanse of lawn that stretched between her place and Miss Ellie’s. It could have been a scene from
Snow White.
A shame her hands were shaking when she poured the tea.

“
D’you
hear about the big housing development going in on the old Ashcraft farm?” her dad asked, spatula in hand, eyes on the grill.

Jenny sat down at the picnic table, trying to calm herself.
Relax. It’s not really a lie unless he asks you a question and you don’t tell the truth
,
right?
“Um, no, Dad, I didn’t.” Then suddenly focusing on what he’d said, she felt confused. “A housing development? Here?” Things like that didn’t happen in Destiny.

“Yep, sure enough. And even though it’s not right in town, or near the lake here, sure is apt to change things a lot.”

Oh
,
of course it was still a lie. Everyone knew lies of omission were just as bad—sometimes worse—than regular lies. But stop this! Focus on the conversation
. “So who are they building these houses
for
?” Destiny’s population had held almost steady her whole life, and the only new housing had been three or four homes built by individual families and a nice apartment building near the railroad tracks that ran parallel to
Main Street
.

Her father looked just as baffled. “Who knows? But according to Johnny
Fulks
, the developer thinks
folks’ll
buy, and the town council thinks it’ll draw new business.” Johnny
Fulks
had been the head of the Destiny Town Council for twenty years.

Jenny tried to wrap her mind around that, but it was difficult since her mind remained wrapped around Mick Brody’s secret and how awful she felt not telling her dad.

“Hard to imagine that much change
comin
’ to town,” her father said. “Not sure I care for it much.”

She nodded, looked down at the wood grain in the table, and wished she didn’t know Wayne Brody was lying across the lake waiting to die right now.

“But I reckon you can’t stop such a thing,” he went on. “Towns change. They sort of…grow up, I guess. I just thought that sort of change had passed Destiny by, and I liked it fine.”

She barely heard him.
Don’t feel so guilty. You’re doing what you think is right
,
aren’t you?
The fact was, from the moment Mick had told her, she’d known she couldn’t rat him out. She knew she couldn’t make a man’s death harder than it already was.

But she’d never kept anything of any magnitude from her father—ever. He was a good man, and she’d always felt comfortable telling him things going on in her life. Even when she’d had to suffer the shame and embarrassment of Terrence cheating on her—although she’d first called Sue
Ann,
she’d phoned her dad right after. Now Mick Brody had her keeping all
sorts
of secrets from her dad. Secrets about what she did at night. Secrets about who she was seeing. Secrets about
escaped convicts,
for heaven’s sake.