by Brenda Novak
“You’re working yourself up over nothing. It’s not like we’d ever get married,” he said.
“That’s comforting, anyway.” Joe nodded as though he’d finally caught on. But Kennedy wasn’t sure what his friend had grasped. The only thing Kennedy knew was that Grace already meant more to him than Joe did. He was willing to risk his friendship with the man who’d saved his life for the one woman in town who, if he fell in love with her, would be least likely to love him back.
Grace took her time in the shower. She was hoping Joe would be gone when she returned. But he wasn’t. He was lounging on a log near the picnic table, eating breakfast.
His eyes followed her from the moment she came into sight until she sat in one of the three camp chairs across from him. She could feel Kennedy’s eyes on her, too, and wished she didn’t have to be here, with either of them. She couldn’t stand Joe, and Kennedy knew too much for comfort.
“Are you hungry, Grace?” Teddy asked.
She nodded and Kennedy gave his son a plate with two pancakes, bacon and an egg to carry over to her.
“Want some juice?” Heath stood ready at the pitcher.
She smiled. She was coming to like Kennedy’s older son as much as Teddy. “You bet.”
Joe helped him pour the juice, then took the cup before Heath could and walked over to give it to her himself. “Nothing tastes as good as pancakes and bacon when you’re camping,” he said.
“I think the s’mores we made last night tasted better,” Teddy said.
Grace had to agree with Teddy. But Joe was so eager to remain the center of attention he ran right over Teddy’s comment without responding. “I make a mean Dutch-oven cobbler, don’t I, Kennedy?”
Kennedy seemed more reserved today. “Yeah,” he concurred, sounding pretty neutral. Grace couldn’t tell if he was pleased to have Joe with them or not. He had a politician’s impeccable manners, but he certainly wasn’t going to any great lengths to make his friend feel welcome.
“I can make it for you guys tonight,” he said.
Grace’s food suddenly lost its flavor. Joe was staying all day?
“Do you like peaches or blackberries, Grace?” Joe asked and, if she wasn’t mistaken, he smiled at her dawning realization.
“I don’t have a preference,” she said. She wanted to suggest they head back but she knew how disappointed Heath and Teddy would be and couldn’t make herself do it. She’d survive until tomorrow. The one advantage of having Joe here was that she wouldn’t have to worry about doing anything stupid with Kennedy.
“I like blackberries!” Teddy announced.
Joe tossed his empty plate in the black garbage bag anchored to the table. “Blackberries it is, then. Anyone interested in riding into town with me so I can buy the ingredients?”
Heath volunteered, but Joe gave Grace’s foot a little nudge. “What about you?”
“No, thanks.”
“Grace is going swimming with me, right?” Teddy said.
“Right,” she replied.
“Hooray! I’ll go change.” Kennedy’s youngest hurried to the tent.
“Kennedy, what about you?” Joe cast a sidelong glance at Grace, giving the impression he didn’t want to leave Kennedy alone with her.
“No, thanks,” Kennedy said. “I’m going to clean up.”
Joe obviously wasn’t happy that Heath was the only one who’d agreed to go with him. But a moment later he shrugged. “Okay. Let’s go.”
After climbing into his truck, he rolled down the window. “We’ll be back in an hour or so.”
“Make sure Heath wears his seat belt,” Kennedy said.
Joe waved his words away. “Relax. You tell me that every time I take him somewhere. It’s the law, remember?”
“One you don’t seem to mind breaking,” Kennedy responded.
“Personal freedom vs. personal safety,” Joe said, a reckless glint in his eye. “No one’s going to tell me what to do.”
Considering his attitude and Raelynn’s accident, Grace thought it was little wonder Kennedy would be concerned, but she didn’t say anything until after Joe and Heath had driven off. Then she motioned toward the plastic tub Kennedy had just filled with soapy water. “I’ll do the dishes. It’s my turn. You go swimming with Teddy.”
“I’ve got this,” he said. “It’ll only take me a minute.”
She was about to insist but, deciding against it, started toward her tent instead. It was probably best to avoid contact with Kennedy as much as possible.
“Grace?”
She turned. “What?”
“Who called you last night?”
She hesitated, but ultimately couldn’t see any harm in telling him the truth. “George.”
“The man you want to marry?”
“That’s him.”
“And…”
She gave a little shrug. “I guess you could say the wedding’s off.”
“And the relationship?”
“That’s off, too.” She tried to inject some indifference into her voice but could tell from his expression that she hadn’t managed it very well.
He stood clutching the frying pan he was about to scrub, as though he didn’t know what to do with it. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. He’s better off,” she said and went to change.
12
Kennedy sat on the beach with Joe, watching Grace play with Teddy in the water. His son was pretending to be a dolphin and splashed loudly while Grace guided him around, laughing. Kennedy noticed a marked difference in her when she was with children. She acted so carefree.
A few minutes earlier, Heath had presented her with a pretty rock. She’d made such a big deal of how beautiful it was, he’d been searching for another one ever since.
Her enthusiastic response made Kennedy want to get up and search for a pretty rock himself.
“When you invited her up here, did she agree easily?” Joe asked, crossing his long legs in front of him. Because Joe had more than his fair share of leisure time, he was deeply tanned and had been eager to remove his shirt. He claimed he wanted to catch a few more rays, but Kennedy suspected he was hoping to impress Grace.
She didn’t seem to notice.
“Easily enough.” Kennedy was wearing a T-shirt with his swimming trunks, but considered taking it off so he could get in the water.
“You asked and she accepted, just like that?” He snapped his fingers.
“Teddy’s been spending some time at her place lately.” Kennedy shoved the warm sand around with his bare toes. “I think she came because of him.”
“So you’re telling me she’s more interested in your boys than she is you?”
Kennedy glanced up in surprise. “Probably.” He didn’t want to analyze Grace with Joe, didn’t like Joe’s attitude toward her.
Joe took a pull on the soda he held casually in one hand. “Why would you think that?”
“Because of the past, I guess.”
“What happened wasn’t our fault.”
“Maybe some things weren’t.”
“You’re saying other things were?”
Kennedy knew Joe was baiting him, but he cared more about answering this question honestly than whether or not Joe liked what he had to say. “More or less.”
Joe scowled. “You had a girlfriend. You never even messed with her.”
“Maybe not, but I certainly wasn’t nice. And you and the others—”
“Don’t try to put me on a guilt trip,” Joe interrupted, raising a hand and shaking his head. “She couldn’t wait to get her pants down.”
Kennedy didn’t appreciate the vision Joe’s words created in his mind. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I’m just saying I wasn’t going to turn her away. She was beggin’ for it.”
Kennedy felt his muscles tighten, but he knew better than to reveal how much Joe’s words bothered him. Joe was trying to get a reaction, hoping to learn how deep Kennedy’s feelings ran. “I think s
he’s more upset with the way she was treated after those incidents than with the incidents themselves,” he said calmly.
Joe gave a disbelieving bark. “What’d she expect?”
Kennedy had to work to keep the disgust from his face. “I sincerely hope you don’t need me to answer that.”
Grace squealed as she let Teddy dunk her in the water, and Joe returned his attention to the lake. “Whatever you think, it looks like she’s back for more of the same. Only she’s being selective this time.”
“What’re you talking about?”
“You don’t suppose the fact that you’re a rich widower has anything to do with the way she’s doting on your two motherless boys?”
Kennedy was beginning to wonder how he’d tolerated Joe for so long. “No, I don’t.”
Joe chuckled. “I never figured you for naïve, but there you go.”
“She’s here because she enjoys Heath and Teddy,” he said. He knew she’d also come to recover the Bible, but he didn’t mention that. What she felt for Heath and Teddy was sincere. Kennedy could tell. He wasn’t sure why she’d taken to them so easily, but he guessed it was because his boys weren’t old enough to be a threat to her. They loved her, and she loved them back. Simple. Uncomplicated. Nothing to fear. If Kennedy was willing to settle for a strictly platonic relationship, she’d probably be friendlier to him, too. But the physical part of his attraction to her was too strong to deny. Even if he told her he wouldn’t touch her again, she’d be able to feel that he would touch her if she ever gave him the chance. And that instantly relegated him to the “threat” category.
“You said earlier that you might take her out when we get home,” Joe said.
“So?”
One eyebrow slid up. “Would you do that openly?”
Kennedy wished his friend would leave. He preferred swimming in the lake with Grace, Heath and Teddy to sitting on the beach with Joe. But he didn’t want to interact too much with Grace under Joe’s watchful eye. If Joe saw anything that made him uneasy, Kennedy had no doubt he’d go straight to Otis and Camille. He might anyway. “Maybe.”
Joe sat up taller. “Really?”
“She was only thirteen when your uncle went missing. Forgive me if I don’t see her as a homicidal maniac.” Kennedy suspected he should care more about the past than he did. But at this point, what was happening in the present was far more important to him.
“What about her reputation?”
“I told you, she’s different now.”
At the irritation in Kennedy’s voice, Joe paused, but only briefly. “Kennedy, screw her brains out if you have to. But don’t let it go any farther. You have too much to lose.”
“Your respect for women is inspiring,” Kennedy said dryly.
“Cindy wasn’t like Raelynn, or maybe you’d understand.”
Cindy was Joe’s ex-wife, but she wasn’t nearly as bad as he made her sound. As far as Kennedy could tell, she’d tried to make their marriage work. It was Joe who’d caused most of their problems. He’d gambled away their money and cheated on her, probably more than once.
“It’s hot out here,” Kennedy said, unwilling to argue. “Let’s go in the water.” Standing, he pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it on the sand.
Joe rose, too, and grabbed Kennedy by the elbow. “If you got serious with Grace, your parents’ll leave their money to charity.”
“I’m more worried about being disowned than disinherited.”
“Still, no woman’s worth that amount of money.”
“From what I hear, you have your own problems to worry about,” Kennedy said.
Joe assessed him coldly. “What are you getting at?”
“Buzz said you’re racking up quite a few new gambling debts.”
A touch of belligerence showed in Joe’s manner. “I can take care of them.”
“I bailed you out last time. But I won’t do it again. If your father finds out what’s going on, I won’t be the only one disinherited, so I suggest you mind your own business.”
“And keep my mouth shut around your parents.”
“Exactly.”
Shaking his head, Joe laughed as though the conversation had been nothing but a joke all along. “I can’t believe it. I’m being blackmailed by Dudley Do-right.”
“If that’s how you choose to look at it.”
“Kennedy, if you take her out, they’re going to hear about it without my help.”
“At least you won’t be involved, stirring things up and making them worse.”
Joe sobered. “You think I’d do that?”
Kennedy doubted Joe would hesitate if there was something to be gained from it. “Of course not,” he lied. “I’m just making sure you’re covering my back, that’s all.”
“I’ve always covered your back, brother,” Joe said. “Haven’t I proven that?”
Joe’s was the hand that had gripped Kennedy when he was drowning…. “Sure you have,” he said. “Let’s go swimming.”
“There you are. We got no worries. What our parents don’t know won’t hurt ’em, right?” he said and took off for the water.
Kennedy didn’t answer. He was thinking of the reverend’s Bible, still in the glove box of his SUV, and wishing he could agree.
That night Heath and Teddy insisted on having Grace lie down with them so they could tell spooky stories in the dark. But with all the exercise they’d had, it wasn’t long before the tent grew quiet. She could hear the steadiness of their breathing as they slept, but she stayed a while longer, simply because it felt so good to be with them, curled up in their sleeping bags, one on either side.
And she wasn’t eager to face Kennedy and Joe again.
She could hear the men talking out by the fire. She liked the sound of Kennedy’s voice, but since Joe had arrived, Kennedy hadn’t been the same man. His eyes rested on her often enough, but he didn’t speak to her if he could avoid it. He stood aside when Joe offered to rub sunscreen on her back and didn’t step up when she refused, said nothing when Joe insisted on carrying her water during their hike, and watched silently as Joe baited her hook when they went fishing. Joe brushed against her at every opportunity, too—with a hand, an arm, his chest.
His touch made her recoil.
“I wish Cindy would get a freakin’ job,” Joe said, his voice rising easily to her ears.
“What do you care if she’s still living off the divorce settlement?”
“It bugs me,” he said. “Anyway, she has too much time on her hands.”
Grace tried to block out his voice. The scent of dirt and lake water on the two sleeping boys made her smile. They’d had so much fun.
“I heard she wants to open her own restaurant,” Kennedy said.
“Can you believe it? She actually had the nerve to come to me for money, wants me to invest ten thousand dollars.” Joe laughed incredulously.
“Don’t you owe her at least that much?”
“Hell, no.”
“That’s not the way she tells it. She says you pawned her grandmother’s ring and—”
“I don’t care what she says. I don’t owe her jack shit. I paid for groceries and rent while we were married. Does she owe me for that?”
Grace felt herself drifting away and forced her eyelids open. She shouldn’t fall asleep on Kennedy’s sleeping bag. Getting up, she attempted to cross quietly to her own tent, but the zipper gave her away.
“There you are,” Joe said. “Come sit down with us for a few minutes.”
Grace would’ve refused, but she needed a drink of water, anyway, and a final trip to the restroom.
“Kennedy thinks I should give my ex-wife ten thousand dollars,” Joe said as she poured herself a cup of water from the jug on the table and took the chair on the other side of the fire. “What do you think about that?”
Cindy had been one of the more popular girls in school. She and Joe hadn’t gotten together until after Grace had left Stillwater, but Grace thought they’d
probably made a good couple because they were both so shallow. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I don’t owe her anything.”
“If you say so.”
The shadows caused by the flickering fire made it difficult to see much detail, but something in Kennedy’s expression made Grace wonder what he was thinking. Today, she’d sensed a certain amount of conflict in him when he was around Joe and was a little surprised by it. They’d always seemed so close.
“You ever been married?” Joe asked.
She took a sip of water. “No.”
“Do you ever plan on marrying?”
Wincing at the reminder of her breakup with George, Grace cradled her cup in her hand. “At this point, I’m not sure. There’s certainly no rush.”
She already missed the security and affection George had provided. But she was also experiencing a slight sense of relief. She’d dragged around so much guilt for being unable to give him what he wanted that she felt lighter now. Somehow free.
Kennedy stirred the fire. She met his gaze through the sparks, then glanced away. Whatever was going on between them wasn’t diminishing from lack of interaction. It was growing stronger, more difficult to resist. Remembering the taste and texture of his kiss, she felt an unmistakable response.
“Would you like a cup of coffee?” Joe asked.
She cleared her throat. “No, thanks. I’m about ready to turn in.”
“So soon? Come on. I drove all the way out here to have some fun. The least you can do is hang out with me for a few minutes. There’re so many things I’m dying to ask you.”
The foreboding that plagued her so often returned. “I can’t imagine why you’d want to ask me anything.”
“I’m not the only one. You hold the key to the big mystery, right?”
“Wrong. I don’t know where the reverend is.”
“That’s what you call him now?”
She cursed her stupidity. She’d been away from Stillwater too long. “What do you want me to call him?”
“If I remember correctly, it was always Daddy before.”
“He never legally adopted me. And I’m thirty-one years old.”
“Still, you could’ve said ‘my father.’ I don’t know where my father is.”
