The Guardian Trilogy: The Complete Collection - Guardian, Allegiant & Reborn

by Sara Mack

  “I’m self-conscious, okay?” I defend myself. “A good tan is not that important to me anyway.”

  Shel squints at me because she’s facing the sun. “Just take off your damn clothes,” she chastises. “Be a girl with me.”

  I give her a look.

  “There’s no one here, but me and Matt,” she grins. “And he’s taken.”

  I roll my eyes and sigh. “Fine,” I huff as I stand and pull my shirt over my head. I drop it on the pool deck and drop my shorts on top of it. I plop back down in my lounge chair. I stretch out and lean back, closing my eyes to the blazing sun.

  “Thank you,” she says dramatically.

  I open one eye and stick my tongue out at her.

  “Where are Matt’s parents?” I ask.

  “At a veterinary conference in Chicago. They’ll be gone till Saturday.” She gives me a sneaky smile.

  “Ew,” is all I can say.

  “Ladies,” I hear Matt approach. I turn to look in his direction as he walks up the deck steps with two drinks, one in each hand. He steps up to us. “For you,” he hands me something frozen with a straw.

  “What’s this?”

  “Daiquiri,” he smiles as he holds one out to Shel.

  “Awww, you remembered,” Shel says in a mushy tone. She reaches behind her back and starts to tie her straps so she can sit up.

  “I got it.” Matt hands me Shel’s drink so he can help tie up her suit. He’s all thumbs with the small strings, but manages to get them secured.

  I watch in amusement as I take a sip of my drink. Yum. Strawberry.

  “Thanks babe,” Shel says as she sits up. Matt’s still leaning over her and she kisses him. What I thought would be a quick kiss turns into something deeper.

  I choke on my drink.

  They both turn to look at me. “Are you all right?” Shel asks.

  I try to clear my throat and nod at the same time. “You two...it’s going to take…” I cough into my arm, “a minute to get used to…” cough, cough. “Seeing you together,” I manage to finish. Cough.

  “Wrong tube?” Matt smiles as he takes Shel’s drink from me and hands it to her.

  I hit my chest with my fist and clear my throat again. “Yeah.”

  Matt checks his watch. “I’m going to go throw the chicken on the grill,” he nods toward the patio. “It’s going on five; Dane should be off work any minute. That way we can eat when he gets here.”

  Shel nods as she adjusts the back of her chair to stay upright. “Whatever you say,” she beams up at him.

  Matt rubs her knee as he stands and heads off the deck. “Don’t think I’m not throwing you in later,” he teases Shel over his shoulder.

  She says nothing, and I look at her. She’s absentmindedly sipping her drink. “What, no snide comment?” I ask.

  “I meant you Emma,” Matt laughs as he glances at me before descending the stairs.

  “Ha ha. Very funny,” I say sarcastically. Cough.

  “So how’d you get today off so easy?” Shel asks me.

  I shrug. “I asked and I received. Why?”

  She looks at me like there’s something she knows but I don’t. She sips her drink. “No reason.”

  I pin her with my eyes. “What?”

  “Nothing!” she protests.

  “Tell me!”

  “I just think it’s funny that the golf course owner’s son is stuck working on a holiday and you’re not, that’s all.” She takes another drink.

  I frown. “Are you telling me Dane is working today because of me?”

  She shrugs nonchalantly.

  “You do know. Tell me.”

  She sighs sheepishly. “Matt might have mentioned something about Dane volunteering to work today, so you wouldn’t have to. Don’t tell them I said anything.”

  “You’re the one who brought it up!” I scowl. Why did he do that? Now I’m going to owe him. One more thing to add to the list of nice things he’s done for me. I take a long sip of my daiquiri. I may need more than one of these.

  We sit in silence for a few minutes, sipping our cocktails. Water laps at the side of the pool, and Katy Perry sings about being in love with an alien on the radio.

  “So,” Shel looks at me, her face serious. “What is going on between you two?”

  I stop mid-sip. “Us two who?”

  “Emma!” she groans and swings her legs off the lounge, so her whole body is facing me. “You know. You and Dane.”

  “Nothing!” I respond without hesitation.

  She eyes me suspiciously. “I think I believe you,” she murmurs. “I told Matt if anything were going on you would tell me. And you haven’t. Yet.”

  I look at her incredulously. “There is no ‘yet’! There won’t be a ‘yet’!”

  She sips her drink again. “You two have been spending a lot of time together.”

  “Yeah, at work,” I emphasize. “And we all know the reason he works there, don’t we?”

  Shel’s eyes get wide. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She tries to look innocent and turns around to put her feet back up on the lounge.

  I remember my promise to Matt, the one where I wouldn’t tell Shel I knew about the favor she had asked of him, thus resulting in Dane’s Bay Woods employment. I’ve already said too much. I decide to let the topic die. I take another long pull on my drink. Something bothers me.

  “Do you really think I would jump into a relationship so soon after James?” I ask her. Unbidden, Mrs. Davis’ voice pops into my head. “Whore!”

  Shel looks at me with sympathy in her eyes. “I don’t. But I could see Dane making you feel better. I wouldn’t think less of you if you had a connection with him.”

  “We’re friends,” I concede.

  “That’s good. And if it ever develops into something more, hey, you could do a lot worse.” She gives me a look.

  “What do you mean by that?” I shake my drink to dislodge the frozen pieces. It’s almost gone.

  She looks at me like I’m stupid. “Oh, so you haven’t noticed he’s gorgeous? And loaded on top of being a nice guy?”

  “Loaded?”

  “The boy’s got money, Em. You didn’t know?”

  “I knew he had a nice car….” I frown. If Dane is well-off, then why is he working at the course? Oh yeah. Me.

  “Matt said the company Dane had an internship with his last year of college kept him on. I guess he’s this amazing artist.”

  “He’s an artist?” I ask, completely baffled.

  Shel laughs. “Maybe you two should get to know each other better off the course. You can start today.”

  I tip my glass up to swallow the last of my drink. Yep, I know I’m going to need another one of these. I glance around the pool deck. “Where’s your cabana boy?”

  Chapter 27

  About four daiquiris and three hours later, I pull myself out of the pool after being pulled in – again – by Matt and Dane. For some reason they find forcing me into the water extremely hilarious. To be fair, I did laugh really hard when Shel went in first; Matt had snuck up on her and pushed her in by surprise. When she surfaced looking like Cousin It, and heard my hysterics, she decided it was my turn to go in. From there it just turned into a vicious game of who-can-we-throw-into-the-pool-next.

  I haul my dripping self to my chair to enjoy the last of the day’s sunshine. Dane walks over to me and shakes his hair over my stomach.

  “Hey!” I protest.

  “You’re already wet,” he says and sits down in the lounge Shel previously occupied. He stretches out on the chair with a groan. “I’m beat.”

  “Hard day at work dear?” I ask and giggle. Four daiquiris may be too much for me. Wait. Make that five if you count the first one.

  Dane grins. “Why yes, honey, thanks for asking.” He’s had a few too many as well.

  He closes his eyes and places his hands behind his head, lifting his chin toward the sun. My eyes travel the length of his body of their own accord
, I swear. Everything about Dane is well-defined and hard to ignore. His arms, his chest, his abs, the way his black swim shorts hang off his hips…

  Bad Emma! I need to redirect my thoughts.

  “So, why’d you do it?” I ask to clear my mind.

  He opens his eyes and asks, “To what are you referring, Smoochie Poo?” while trying to keep a straight face.

  I crack up. When my laughter subsides, I clarify. “Volunteer to work for me.”

  “Who told you that?” he asks. I catch his eyes dart to Matt and then back to me again.

  “You’ve got to stop doing stuff for me,” I protest and try to look serious. “I already owe you enough as it is.”

  Dane looks at me like he’s dealing with a child. “Please,” he says sarcastically. Something catches his eye and he turns to the pool. I follow his gaze to find Matt and Shel making out in the water.

  “C’mon!” he yells at them and picks up a pool noodle that’s lying by his chair. He tries to throw it at them, but it’s too light and doesn’t even make it half the distance. “Nobody wants to see that!”

  “Then close your eyes!” is Matt’s smart response. “Whose house is this anyway?”

  Dane turns to me. “He’s got a point,” he says and makes a face.

  I raise my hand to the side of my face like a blinder. “This blocks it out,” I smile.

  He follows my lead. Now we’re turned toward each other with our hands blocking the sides of our faces. “We look stupid,” he laughs.

  I can’t help it. “You always look stupid,” I say, suppressing another giggle.

  “That’s it!” he says and lunges forward. He grabs my arm as I try to fend him off.

  “No!” I squeal as I kick.

  Dane leans his shoulder toward my stomach, pulls my arm forward and easily picks me up off the lounge chair, tossing me over his shoulder.

  Yep, I’m in the pool again.

  I resurface, sputtering. “Thanks a lot!” I swim over to the side where Dane is laughing. He offers his hand to pull me up.

  Inspiration hits. I pretend to reach for his hand as I grab the side of the pool. Instead of taking it though, I push myself out of the water to wrap both my arms around his leg and then let my body weight pull me back down.

  “What the!”

  He’s caught off balance from leaning forward to help me and he goes into the pool over my head like I’d planned. I get taken under a little too, and when I wipe the water from my eyes, I try to contain my laughter. I know I’ll be in trouble when he pops back up.

  I manage to pull myself out of the water just as Dane’s hand grazes my heel. I squeak and jump when I feel his touch. I don’t want him to catch me. I run past the lounge chairs and right off the side of the deck. I don’t know where I’m headed, but I don’t want to be caught.

  I round the side of the pool and crouch down by the far corner. It’s above-ground, so it sits slightly higher than my head. Matt and Shel are laughing, and I hear Dane’s feet as he runs off the deck to find me.

  “You can’t out run me!” he yells.

  I don’t know which way he’s going to come around the pool, so I keep turning my head from side to side. When he appears at the corner directly in front of me, I let out an “Oh shit!” and take off toward the back of the house, rounding the side and heading to the front. I turn the corner and press myself against the siding. I need to catch my breath. I expect him to come right after me, so I peek around the corner of the house. I don’t see him. I take some more time to breathe. The thought crosses my mind that I’m really out of shape. Or just buzzed.

  I decide to slowly make my way across the front of the house, to the next corner. It never occurred to me that he would backtrack and creep around that way to lie in wait. When I turn and see him casually leaning against the side of the house, I jump and let out a loud scream. I start laughing and back away with my arms out in front me.

  “I’m sorry!” I laugh. “Don’t throw me in again!”

  Dane smiles at me mockingly. “Now why would I do that?”

  I keep backing up. I look around the front yard. “Leave me alone! The neighbors can see us!”

  He keeps advancing.

  I’m not paying attention and the back of my foot hits the rubber edging on Mrs. Randall’s flower bed. I stumble and the next thing I know I’m falling backward into a bunch of daylilies and mulch. I turn to try and catch myself. “Ahhhh!” I land on my side with a thud.

  Dane is hysterical with laughter. Literally holding his sides. I start to crack up along with him.

  “That,” he walks up to me, “is better than anything I would have done to you.” He offers me his hand. “Are you all right?”

  I nod and wipe some tears from eyes. I grab his hand and he pulls me to stand. Globs of mulch are stuck to my skin on my side, my stomach, my shoulder, down my leg; there’s even some in my hair. I start to brush myself off. Dane helps a little.

  “Are we even?” I ask, still laugh-crying.

  “I think so. That. Was. Great.”

  “Well, my middle name is Grace,” I tease.

  He pauses for a minute. “Really?”

  “No!” I shake my head smiling.

  Dane bends down and picks up a yellow daylily I broke off a plant. He tsk-tsks like I’m going to be in trouble then gently tucks it behind my ear.

  I reach up and adjust it so it won’t fall. “Can we go back and lay in the sun now?”

  He nods, still laughing, and we head to the pool.

  As dusk falls, Matt moves Shel, Dane, and I farther out into the yard for fireworks. We arrange our yard chairs in a line, like we’re at a theater. Shel throws herself into the chair next to me after hanging our swimsuits up to dry. She has a bottle of water in her hand.

  “Daiquired out?” I ask, nodding toward her water bottle.

  “For now,” she smiles. “This will hopefully prevent a horrid hangover in the morning.” She takes a swig. “You should probably have some too,” she suggests. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drink so much.”

  I laugh, agreeing with her. “Five drinks was probably a very bad idea,” I say knowingly, although I still feel okay right now.

  “Hey Grace?” Dane asks me from the end of our theater seating. “Can you pass me a Coke please?”

  Ever since my flower bed fall he’s been referring to me as Grace. “Yep.” The cooler is by me so I reach in to grab a can. I pass it to Shel who passes it to Dane.

  “Thanks, Grace,” he snickers at me.

  I roll my eyes.

  “Okay!” Matt calls out from in front of us. “These fireworks are going to be fabulous! I got them at Wal Mart.”

  We all laugh. Matt lights the first one and skips a few feet away from it. It’s a roman candle fountain that shoots multi-color sparks into the sky. It’s kind of small and lame.

  “Ooooo,” we all laugh. “Pretty.”

  “It’s not that bad,” Matt says, defending his show.

  Matt proceeds to light roughly seven more fireworks and they’re all the same thing.

  “Jesus!” Shel yells from the chairs. “Didn’t you read the box when you bought these? Are they all the same?” she complains.

  “Hush woman!” Matt yells back to her. “It’s the best I could do on short notice.”

  Matt lights two more and then tells us, “This is the last one. The Grand Finale!”

  “Thank God,” Shel whispers to me.

  Matt lights the last firework and it’s more of the same. Maybe a little larger than the others and it has some sort of noise element that every so often shrieks into the sky. When it burns out, Shel and I clap wildly for the end of the show. Dane whistles.

  Matt walks up to us. “That was awesome!” he says sarcastically, then changes his tone, rubbing his belly. “I’m hungry. You guys want anything?”

  “I could use some food,” Dane says, and I nod in agreement.

  Shel stands up out of her chair. “Me too.” She looks at M
att. “I’ll help you.” She reaches for his hand as they walk away from us and back into the house.

  Dane and I are left in our chairs, surrounded by the tiki torches we lit earlier to fend off mosquitoes. He looks over at me. “Feeling all right after your fall, Grace?”

  “Yes, I’m fine,” I smile and start to laugh thinking about how ridiculous I must have looked.

  He laughs with me. “That was classic.”

  When our laughter subsides, we sit in silence staring into the yard. Suddenly, he stands and takes two steps toward me. “Walk with me?” he asks.

  I give him a puzzled look. “Okay.”

  He takes off toward the back yard, where Matt had been just a few seconds ago. It takes me several steps to catch up with him. I walk beside him for a few feet, until we’re completely out of the tiki torches light. He’s uncharacteristically silent. I continue to walk beside him, deciding that he’ll talk when he’s ready.

  “Watch your step,” he says and reaches out to grab my hand as he helps me over some railroad ties that are lying in the yard.

  “What are those doing there?” I ask as I climb over them.

  “I think they’re left from Dr. Randall’s failed attempt at a garden.”

  “How long have you known Matt’s family?”

  “A long time,” he shares. “Since I was five.”

  Dane continues to walk further into the backyard. How far does it go? I can barely see in the darkness, but he apparently knows where he’s headed. Finally we reach our destination at the tree line, which I assume marks the edge of the Randall’s property. He looks up and I follow suit. Up in one of the larger trees I can make out the outline of a tree house.

  “Matt’s?” I presume.

  He nods. “His and mine. We had another small one over there,” he points and searches the trees for it. When he does, my arm moves, and I realize he’s still holding my hand. I pull it away, and he gives me a curious look. “I guess it’s gone.”

  Eyeing the tree house cautiously, I ask, “Are we going up in this one?”

  “Oh no,” Dane shakes his head smiling. “We’d probably fall to our deaths. I just wanted to see if they were still back here.”

  I walk over to the tree and touch one of the boards nailed to the trunk. I look up and see several more leading up to the house. Dane remains silent. Reminiscing about his youth? I turn and open my mouth to ask him what we’re doing out here, but when I look at him, he’s staring at me in that way that makes me uncomfortable.