One Reckless Summer (32 page)

Mick still didn’t quite look at her—she sensed this was something very new for him, this idea of building something lasting with a woman—but he silently reached out, grabbed her hand, and squeezed it, saying, “Thanks, pussycat.”

And of course, for her,
his
suggestion was much scarier than hers—it meant going someplace entirely new, without much of a plan. But she quickly decided it would be unfair to rule it out. Mick Brody had shaken up her life, made her take chances, made her live. Maybe she should let him keep right on doing it.

After the errands and a nice lunch at a café in Crestview—the first time they’d ever eaten in a restaurant together—they headed back to Mick’s cabin, where he still felt safer leaving the truck. Even though Jenny knew he didn’t have to hide now, he seemed to think it wise to remain out of sight, and she could live with that for the time being. It was dusk by the time they rowed back across the lake, but he fixed the A/C while she grilled chicken breasts and corn on the cob on the back porch.

They made love in the freshly cooled house, in the living room this time, like when they’d first met—not for old times’ sake, but because at that moment, the bedroom had just felt too far away. And as they lay mostly naked together on the couch beneath the old crocheted afghan, Jenny suggested yet one more trip back across the lake—to look at the stars.

“Woman, you must think I’m a machine,” he groused beneath his breath. “Digging graves, rowing boats, keeping you satisfied in bed—a man needs to rest once in a while, you know.”

“I’ll row,” she volunteered. “And you
are
a machine. A
sex
machine.”

He shrugged easily against a throw pillow. “Well, you got that part right.” Then he kissed the tip of her nose. “And
I’ll
row.”

After climbing up on the same rocks that had brought them together in the first place, and without even setting up the telescope, Jenny leaned her head back and said, “Look up, Mick. Look at the sky.”

When he did, she heard his sigh of awe. The night was particularly clear, and the hour was just right to see the Milky Way streaming across the cosmos in all its illuminating glory.

“The Milky Way,” she informed him. Then explained how the galaxy was shaped like a disk and the Earth was near its outer edge. “So what you’re seeing is…all the trillions of stars stretching across it to the other side.”

“That’s pretty amazing,” he murmured. “How have I not seen this before?”

“Well, in the city, lights and pollution block it out. And you have to have a clear night at the right time of year. And you have to remember to look
up
, too,” she teased him, since she was pretty sure he hadn’t been very aware of the stars before she’d come along.

“I’ve been doing that a lot more lately,” he confirmed. “You’re right, about it making your worries seem less important. It helped sometimes, in those last days with
Wayne
.”

He kissed her then, and she teased him that if he stayed in Destiny, they’d have this great view all the time. He teased her back that if she came to
Cincinnati
, he’d be keeping her too busy in bed for her to have any energy to go stargazing.

After finding Saturn and Venus and the Hercules Cluster through the telescope, they came back to her house and slept in her bed in their underwear, and Jenny wasn’t sure about where to live—but she loved knowing that, one way or another, it was going to be with Mick. He wasn’t going to leave her.

She’d spent all summer thinking that by now, August, she’d probably be alone, without a lover, and mourning the loss. Instead, she had a man who loved her, a man who she loved—and trusted. A man who made her
feel
wonderful about herself. A man who was going to stay in her life and not leave her feeling abandoned.

The following day, Jenny and Mick sat at her kitchen table nibbling at the last bits of breakfast—scrambled eggs and sausage links, with English muffins. She didn’t normally make such hearty breakfasts every day, but having Mick around the house gave her the urge to…be domestic, and to keep their strength up after the workouts they gave each other in bed every night.

“I’m gonna head back across the lake for a while this morning, pussycat,” he said after draining his glass of orange juice. “Got a little more work to do.”

“I’d go with you again,” Jenny replied, “but I have lunch plans with Sue Ann and some other friends today.” The truth of it was
,
she was so deep in that “in love” stage that she wanted to spend every minute with him. But she was old enough to know you didn’t throw your girlfriends over for a guy—no matter how hot and sexy he was.

“No problem,” he said. “I’m just gonna do a little more cleaning and load some more junk in the truck to be hauled away—stuff that should have been done years ago. And maybe I’ll let the air out of the blow-up mattress I’ve been sleeping on there, since I…kind of have a new bed now.” His eyes sparkled lecherously during those last words, turning her moist below—even this early in the morning.

“Speaking of your new bed,” she ventured, “have you…been thinking? About the possibility of staying in Destiny?”

He leaned back in his chair and blew out a long breath. “If it was just you and me, honey, sure. But it’s not. Have
you
thought about
Cincinnati
?”

She nodded. She had. And she wasn’t opposed to the idea, except that
here
she had a job. And he probably did, too. And that mattered. She’d taken the summer off, but she wasn’t made of money. “The thing is
,
school starts soon, so I doubt I’d find a teaching position this late in the summer other than the one I’ve been offered here. And despite the life of leisure I appear to live, my funds are getting a little depleted.”

He shrugged knowingly. “I hear
ya
on that. I’m in the same boat after quitting my job in May to come out here and take care of
Wayne
. I had some money saved, but it’s mostly gone now. Although”—he leaned forward toward her, his dark eyes pinning her in place—“I’d take care of you, pussycat, whether or not you find a job. You can count on that.”

That touched her, deeply, because she suspected Mick had never wanted to take care of anyone else but himself before—and Wayne, this summer. But she wasn’t the sort of woman who could be fulfilled letting a man take care of her. Okay, sexually maybe. And emotionally, too, even. But not financially. “Thank you for that. But it’s important to me to…do something, you know? In fact, as much as I’ve enjoyed my leisure time this summer, I’m ready to get back to work, back to teaching.”

And while part of her wanted to throw all that to the winds and say, ‘Yes, Mick, I’ll come to
Cincinnati
with you and we’ll figure it all out,’ another part of her wanted to do what
she
wanted for a change. She’d given up her dreams for Terrence, gone where he wanted, did what he wanted. So, no matter how much in love she was with Mick, she didn’t want it to be the kind of love that required her to sacrifice everything she cared about. She needed to do things better, smarter, this time. She needed to take steps to make this solid, make it last.

And the truth was
,
she had more than just a job here. She had her father. And her friends. Things that mattered. Things that…well, things she was slowly starting to realize she wanted to
keep
in her life. On an everyday basis.

“Okay then,” he said, pushing to his feet, “if you hate the idea of leaving, if you want to take this job, then…it’s all right, pussycat.”

She wasn’t sure how to read his words. “And you would stay, too?”

He hesitated slightly. “I’m trying to work that out in my head right now. I’m trying to tell myself it would be okay.”

She stood up next to him, took his hands. “It would. I promise. I would
make
it be okay.”

“You can’t control a whole town, Jenny.”

She released his hands to point a teasing finger at him. “Don’t sell me short, Brody—turns out I can do a
lot
of things I never thought I could.”

A few minutes later, she walked him down to the dock. She’d truly quit caring if anyone saw at this point—maybe it really
was
time for people to see, to know, to find out there was more to Jenny Tolliver than the good girl they all saw, and more to Mick Brody than the guy they’d known years ago. And Mick was slowly beginning to seem less worried about being spotted, as well, which she figured was a good sign all the way around.

Nonetheless, it was another quiet, still summer morning as the sun began to burn hotly down on
Blue
Valley
Lake
, no neighbors in sight. Mick kissed Jenny goodbye, told her he’d be back later this afternoon, and she watched him row away from her. He kept his eyes on her the whole time and she found herself wishing she could capture the moment, how strong and sexy he looked in the morning light, his T-shirt stretched taut across the muscles in his chest, that wayward lock of hair drooping over his forehead.

She’d just started cleaning up the breakfast dishes a little while later when she heard a car in the driveway and looked out to see her father’s cruiser. She opened the back door to greet him—realizing that Mick wasn’t the only person who always entered this house through that particular door. “Morning, Dad,” she said.

His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, but still, again, at least he was trying. “
Jennygirl
,” he said in greeting.

“Want some eggs?” she asked as he stepped inside. A bowl of them still sat on the counter. “I can reheat them.”

He shook his head. “That’s nice, but no. Just thought I’d stop by before I head to work since I…haven’t seen you much lately.”

“Thanks,” she whispered. He hadn’t seen her much since he’d found out about Mick Brody. But since Mick wasn’t going anywhere, wasn’t leaving her life as she’d expected, she decided it was time to start…initiating her father to that idea.

So she put on a smile and said, “Guess what. Mick fixed the air conditioner. He used to work in heating and cooling. A small part needed to be replaced, and he says it’s good as new now.”

The look on her father’s face told her he couldn’t decide whether to be happy or sad—she knew it was definitely good news that the unit wouldn’t have to be replaced, but that it was going to take a while before he got used to the idea of Mick being around, in her life, in
their
lives. “Well, reckon that’s a relief,” he said.

“And,” she began cautiously, dropping her voice despite their being alone, “I may as well tell you—
Wayne
died a few days ago, so…there’s no more secret to keep. It’s done now, and no one ever has to know.”

“Well, that,” her father said pointedly, “is a
bigger
relief. Best news I’ve heard in a while.”

She drew in her breath and stepped closer to him. “I’m really sorry, again, Dad, that I had to put you in that position. But at least it’s over now, and we can just sort of…pretend it never happened.”

He nodded, still looking troubled, uncertain, and it reminded her how much harder on him keeping such a secret had been than it had on her. He was a lawman, and she’d made him do something that went against his values, his very nature.

“And thank you again for…well, you know.”

Another nod from her father, although she wished things felt more comfortable between them. She’d hoped the news about
Wayne
would make him relax. Maybe bringing Mick up so soon had been a mistake—but she just wanted to handle her life honestly. She was so tired of trying to please other people.

After that, they struggled to make small talk—about her lunch with the girls later today, about school starting soon. Although he appeared happy when she said she was probably going to take the job at the high school and stay in town. How happy he’d be when he found out Mick was most likely sticking around, too, was another story, but she’d cross that bridge when she came to it. She’d had enough drama surrounding their relationship already and hadn’t particularly been prepared for more this morning.

So it felt almost like a reprieve when he said, “I’d best be
takin
’ off.”

“Okay. Happy police
chiefing
,” she said, trying for some lightness. “Maybe we can…have lunch soon.”

He nodded again, but this time didn’t smile. “That’d be nice.”

And she didn’t quite believe him.

Mick had watered the flowers on Wayne’s grave and spent a little time sitting on the ground next to the wooden cross there, thinking about his brother, about their past, about his future. He wasn’t a guy who believed in talking to dead people, but something about resting there in the morning shade had helped him start sorting things out.

The truth was
,
he didn’t know if he could live a happy life in Destiny. The further truth was
,
he couldn’t quite fathom some of the stuff he’d said to Jenny over the past couple of days. He’d heard the words leave his mouth—all this talk about being together, staying together—but it hadn’t sounded like him.