One Reckless Summer (7 page)

Looking enlightened, Sue Ann shrugged. “Hmm, I suppose you don’t. So what did Mr. Brody have to say on his little visit?”

“Well, he was still very adamant about me not telling anyone, so I had to promise again. So we both have to keep our mouths positively
shut.
”

“Any clues about what the big freaking secret is?”

Jenny shook her head. “Nope. But the good news is that he claims he’s usually into safe sex.”

“Good,” Sue Ann said on a nod, adding, “Of course, you’ll still get checked out.”

“Of course.” She was still “good Jenny,” after all—one romp in the woods didn’t take away a lifetime of safety training. “I thought I’d see if there’s a clinic or something in Crestview, where people won’t recognize me.”

Sue Ann lifted one finger in the air. “There is. Jeff’s little sister had a…misadventure on spring break last year and I got to be the lucky one she confided in. Anyway, I went with her, and I can get you the address. What else did he say?”

Jenny shrugged, sighed—then spilled the beans. “That he’s coming back.”

Sue Ann’s jaw dropped. “Say that again.”

“He’s going to come back over, to check on me, to make sure I don’t feel the need to suddenly go telling anyone.”

“Damn, he’s serious about this.”

“I told you that.”

“And it doesn’t concern you? That he’s hiding something? Or…hiding out
himself
? What if he’s…on the run for committing some crime? What if he’s breaking some serious laws over there, doing something so awful that we can’t even imagine it?”

At this, Jenny caught her breath and looked up.

Just as Sue Ann added, “Remember, this is Mick Brody we’re talking about.”

Oh God, it
was.
Mick Brody. Maybe she’d somehow forgotten that. She’d been so caught up in the sex and all the confusing feelings it brought over her, about herself, about her feelings for Terrence, about everything inside her. But Sue Ann was right—any sensible person would be worried about this. She felt utterly foolish to have let the sex aspects of the situation fog her brain even for a minute. “My God,” she murmured, “I let him in my house.”

“Well,” Sue Ann reasoned, “he did have your telescope. And you probably didn’t want to make the guy mad by telling him he had to stay outside.”

That was true—he
had
pretty much barged his way in. “But I…offered him iced tea. I made small talk with him.” She cringed. “And sure, I tried to act belligerent and irritated, but I didn’t even argue when he said he might come back.”

Sue Ann bit her lip, looking pensive. “Was he…scary about that? Threatening?”

“Not really.” She sucked in her breath, remembering. “He sort of…kissed me good-bye.”

Sue Ann blinked. “What
kind
of kiss?”

Jenny tried to explain. “Just a soft, tiny, little one. I barely felt it.”
Except for the fact that it vibrated all through me.

“Holy crap.”

“Yeah, it kind of confused me, too.”

At this, Sue Ann sat up a bit taller, suddenly looking mischievous. “Maybe this means you’ll get to have more sex with him.”

And Jenny gasped. “No way! I mean, really—
no way.
”

“Why?”

Given the discussion of the last few minutes, she couldn’t believe Sue Ann had to ask. “Um, because he might be a criminal, as you just so aptly pointed out? Because I don’t even know him? Because even if he didn’t act totally scary last night, he still is?” She hadn’t been planning to have sex with him again
anyway,
but after being reminded that he was keeping some big, bad secret from her on his side of the lake—it was out of the question.

“And did any of those things stop you in the woods?” Sue Ann asked.

Jenny replied by pointing a threatening finger at her friend. “I was in a bad mood and he pissed me off.”

“And you really taught him a lesson by riding him to orgasm the way you did.”

Jenny let her mouth drop open and her eyes go wide. “Stop it already.” Then she motioned toward the lake, where Sophie was still having a good time swimming around by herself. “There’s a five-year-old present.”

Sue Ann swiped a hand down through the air. “She doesn’t know what
orgasm
means.”

“Well, she
will
soon if you keep discussing it like it’s the weather.”

“Weather,
shmether
.” Sue Ann at least lowered her voice again, though. “Despite my misgivings about this guy, it was still mind-blowing sex, which counts for a lot in life. So…why not consider having
more
of it if the opportunity arises?”

Jenny pursed her lips. “Mind-blowing or not, what happened the other night was a…
weird, crazy
aberration in my life. It was…freeing, momentarily. But then it was also kind of scary. Because I lost my telescope. And because now I have to go slithering over to Crestview wearing dark sunglasses to make sure I’m still healthy. And because what do we really know about Mick Brody—besides that he comes from a scary family and has some reason he doesn’t want me on his side of the lake? Plus, as you well know, I hold sex as a special thing. I don’t do it with strangers for mere physical pleasure.”

“Unless they really piss you off.”

Jenny rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair, ready to end this conversation. “Will you pass me a Diet Coke from the cooler?”

“Fine, be that way,” Sue Ann said lightly, and after they’d both popped the tops on their cans, only music from the radio mixed with the sounds of Sophie splashing.

Though as Jenny lay soaking up the sun beneath cotton clouds floating in the expanse of blue above, she couldn’t stop remembering the way Mick had kissed her last night. She wouldn’t have dreamed he could deliver a kiss so soft, and what she hadn’t dared tell Sue Ann was that it had tingled on her lips long after he’d gone. It had made her wish she’d kissed him during sex like she’d wanted. And it had made her less afraid of him.

That was stupid, though—she knew that now. She should still be
plenty
afraid. He was still a guy who might have robbed a liquor store and God knew what else. He was still a guy who had a secret he wouldn’t tell her, and she knew it couldn’t be good, since secrets seldom were.

And that was why she
absolutely, positively
would
not
have sex with him again, no matter what happened. It was the only sensible way to play this.

And yet, as the scent of Coppertone and the sound of Aerosmith’s “
Livin
’ On the Edge” took her back to her youth, she glanced across the lake toward those woods, half-frightened of when he would come back and what his secrets were—and half-frightened that he
wouldn’t
come back and that the mystery of Mick Brody would be just that, forever. A mystery.

Walking into Miss Ellie’s garden on her dad’s arm felt a little surreal. Festive yellow streamers festooned tables spread with food as well as the crisp white gazebo in the center of the garden, and colorful balloons sprang up here and there. But, of course, it was mostly the people she noticed.

She knew all the faces, only they were older now. Except, that is, for the children running and playing among the flowers and shrubbery—and it felt strange to realize she’d moved away so long ago that these little kids were now more a part of the community than she was. And the fact that she was literally
on her dad’s arm
felt…well, a little pathetic under the circumstances.

It was
mere
seconds before people started recognizing her, saying hello. Caroline Meeks, another neighbor from up the road, and Reverend Marsh, who had officiated at her mother’s funeral and wed her to Terrence. Moments later, as she handed off a plate of lemon bars wrapped in cellophane to Linda Sue, one of Miss Ellie’s daughters, she heard herself explaining, ever-so-vaguely, as she had to the others who’d greeted her, “Just here to visit with Dad for the summer.”

Ugh, maybe she’d been wrong in what she’d told Mick—maybe she
did
lie.

And what was wrong with these people? Had the ladies from the mah-jongg party
not
done their social duty by spreading the word that Jenny Tolliver was indeed Jenny
Tolliver
again, no longer Mrs. Terrence Randall?

After a few long minutes of greeting still more
Destinyites
and complimenting dresses and saying things like, “Could you
ask
for a prettier day for a party?” she was finally rescued by a tap on the shoulder from Sue Ann.

She turned to find her best friend in a pretty white eyelet dress, saying, “
Fabu
frock, Jen,” about Jenny’s pink-and-white-print sundress. Jeff stood behind her, handsome and clean-cut as ever, holding Sophie—in an equally lovely dress—on one hip.

“Good to see you, Jen,” Sue Ann’s husband said with a broad smile, and she loved him all the more for not mentioning anything about her being back in town for the summer, or why.

“You, too. And hey, thanks for letting the girls hang out with me yesterday, on a Saturday. It was fun.”

He shrugged. “No thanks necessary. I managed to entertain myself just fine on the golf course.”

Jeff had been a year ahead of them in school and now did administrative work for the highway department. He still looked like the varsity basketball player he’d once been, with trim, light brown hair, and the shirt and tie he wore told Jenny they’d just come from church.

And despite herself, she found herself
envying
Sue Ann a little. She had a perfect family and a perfect Destiny life. They lived in a nice Victorian in town that they’d renovated themselves, and Sue Ann worked part-time at Destiny Properties, also doing admin work. They served on community committees, Jeff was thinking of running for town council in the fall, and as Jenny looked at them standing there smiling and greeting people, she realized that they had…well, something like the life she’d had with Terrence, except that they were probably happier.
Truly, deeply
happy.

With Terrence, she was beginning to realize, she’d felt…content, but Sue Ann was supremely
happy
with her life. And Sue Ann could act as fascinated with the Brody incident as she wanted, but Jenny knew good and well from little things Sue Ann had said that she was still in mad, passionate love with Jeff.

“Jenny Tolliver, is it really you?”

Jenny spun toward the friendly voice to see her old friend, Tessa Sheridan—and she couldn’t hold in a small squeal. Tessa, a dainty blonde, didn’t look much different than when Jenny had last seen her, the summer before college. Back in high school, Jenny and Sue Ann had hung out with Tessa and
her
two best friends, Rachel and Amy—but Jenny hadn’t kept in touch with them the way she had with Sue Ann.

After giving Tessa a hug, she drew back to give her friend a thorough once-over, taking in her long, flowing skirt and gauzy blouse—inexplicably pleased to see that not every female in Destiny dressed exactly the same. “I had no idea you were back in town,” Jenny said.

Tessa looked surprised. “Sue Ann didn’t tell you?”

No
,
we’ve been too busy discussing the illicit sex I’ve been having in the woods.
“Um, I guess she forgot to mention. How long have you been back?”

Tessa rolled her eyes confidingly,
then
lowered her voice. “Too long,” she replied,
then
let out a small laugh. And in response to Jenny’s unspoken question, she added, “A lengthy story for another time. But the upshot is—after years in the city, I have to admit that Destiny holds a…certain charm.”

Looking around the garden party, Jenny couldn’t really deny that—but she was still surprised to hear it from adventurous Tessa.

Just then, Amy bounded up between them, naturally curly hair bouncing around her face, eyes bright and wide as ever. “Oh my God—Jenny! It’s so good to see you!”

Jenny felt almost overwhelmed—so many old, familiar faces, and now suddenly both Tessa and Amy were here. After giving the always-sweet Amy a hug, she said, “All we need to make the party complete is Rachel.”

In reply, Tessa and Amy exchanged looks and Tessa said, “Then you’ll have to go with us to
Chicago
in September to see her. She hasn’t been back to Destiny in the fourteen years since we graduated from high school.”

Somehow, though, Jenny wasn’t surprised. She remembered Rachel wanting to leave Destiny far behind, and it sounded like she’d succeeded. “Well, thanks for the invitation, but you’ll have to give her a long-distance hello for me instead. So what is she up to these days?”

Amy sighed enviously. “She’s in
Italy
right now. She’s traveled all over the place.”

“She’s an advertising bigwig,” Tessa said. “She runs herself ragged if you ask me, but she’s as sassy and full of energy as ever, so I guess that kind of life suits her.”

“Tessa and I take a trip to see her every fall, and we can barely keep up with her the whole time we’re there,” Amy added. “But I guess a small-town way of life has always just been more my cup of tea.”

For the first time, Jenny had a chance to wonder what Amy did for a living—or if maybe she was a homemaker with kids, a role that Jenny thought would probably make Amy happy. “So what have
you
been doing with yourself?” she asked.