This time when their eyes met, hers were dry. “No. But Peggy and I borrowed her dad’s rowboat one night and lost the oars in the middle of the pond and had to jump in and drag the boat back to shore.”
He fought against the need to laugh. “I’m sure Mr. McCormack wasn’t too happy about that.”
“He never found out.”
“He liked to go fishing in that boat. Did you have enough money saved up between the two of you to buy him a new set of oars?”
She shook her head. “I made them.”
“Oars?” She’d certainly surprised him. “That must have taken weeks.”
“Actually only one. I learned from the best how to use my grandfather’s woodworking tools. Once Peggy and I confessed to her mom what happened, she helped keep Mr. McCormack busy so that he didn’t have time to go fishing until I’d finished the oars.”
“And he never knew?”
“Well…we were a lot younger then and were so worried about getting caught that when he never said anything, we figured we’d dodged getting in trouble big time. I never really thought about it until a few years ago.”
Her smile had him asking, “What happened?”
“Her dad stopped by our house one night and asked if I’d be willing to make another set of oars for his cousin—like the one’s I’d replaced his with!”
“He wasn’t mad?”
“No.” Her eyes sparkled with life and laughter as she told him, “Apparently, the grips on his old oars weren’t as smooth and didn’t fit his hands as well as the ones I’d made.” She shrugged. “Who knew?”
“Apparently everyone but you and Peggy.” When she fell silent, he slipped his arm free so he could wrap it around her waist and lead her toward the woods. “How long have you wanted to be a carpenter?”
“Half my life,” she said, then pulled to a stop. “You weren’t supposed to ask me that.”
“Because?”
“I don’t want my dad to worry that I’ll stop working for the family business the way Grace plans to.”
“But you’ve thought about it.”
She sighed and began walking again. “Yeah. Does that make me disloyal?”
“To want to be able to do something other than work in the family business?” He tightened his hold on her and answered, “No.” Seeing the worry on her face, he reassured her, “I don’t gossip like your friends down at the diner. Your secret’s safe with me.”
“Did you ever think about doing something besides following in your father’s footsteps?”
He looked up at the stars and smiled. “Yeah…but I got to do it.”
“Oh?” she asked. “What was that?”
“Do you see that star over there?”
She turned to look in the direction he pointed. “Yes…isn’t that Polaris?”
“Brightest star in the northern sky. You can navigate by it.”
“You really wanted to enlist in the navy?”
“I wanted to sail the seven seas, learn to navigate the way ancient mariners did.”
“I thought you were just following along with the Gannon tradition of seafaring navy men.”
“There was that,” he admitted. “But even as a kid, I’d sneak outside with my sleeping bag and sleep out under the stars, wondering what it’d be like to use them to find my way out on the sea.”
“And did you?”
“Yes, and it was everything I’d imagined and more than I’d bargained for.” Before she could ask him to explain, he turned her into his embrace. Her gentle curves pressed against the hard planes of his body, setting off sparks that threatened to ignite. He didn’t have the will to step back or let her go.
“Will you kiss me in the moonlight, Cait?”
Every fiber of his being urged her to say yes. He didn’t know if he’d survive the night because in his imagination, he’d already sampled the honeyed sweetness of her lips.
Just when he thought she’d refuse, the stiffness left her limbs as she melted against him. “Yes.”
He lowered his mouth to hers. The tentative tasting led to a deep desire for more. When she sighed, he took advantage of the moment and traced the rim of her mouth with the tip of his tongue. When her tongue tangled with his, heat shot straight to his gut, and he angled her head back to drink from her lips. Pure and potent as wild honey, Caitlin went to his head like two fingers of Irish whiskey.
Coming up for air, he tucked her head beneath his chin and worked to steady his breathing. “You pack a lethal punch,” he confessed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
Her arms tightened around him. “I’ve been kissed before,” she said, “but not like that.”
He eased back until he could look into the depths of her emerald eyes when he asked, “And how’s that?”
“Like you’d die if you didn’t kiss me.”
“That about sums it up.” Reeling her back in, he undid her braid and speared his fingers into the mass of waves, reveling in the fact that she was warm, willing, and eager to kiss him back.
He had a gut-deep need to taste more…touch more…but it was too soon and he didn’t want to scare her off. “Caitlin—” He gave in and brushed his lips over hers.
“You make it hard to say good night,” she said when he eased her back. “All I want to do is keep on kissing you, but you tempt me to want more, to do more, and I don’t think I’m ready to rush into anything. I want to savor every moment—”
The urge to pull her back into his arms was so strong, he had to look away and then back, asking, “So you’ll be back then? I haven’t scared you off?”
She laid a hand on his arm and said, “I promised to help with Jamie. Besides,” she said. “I don’t scare easily.”
“I can be a patient man, Caitlin.” He slowly smiled and added, “I’ll give you a couple of days to think about whether or not you want to do more than share a few heart-stopping kisses.”
She tilted her head to one side. “My heart’s still beating. Maybe you should try one more time before I go.”
He tugged on her arm until she fell against him. When she gasped, he poured everything he was feeling into the kiss. Mouth, lips, teeth, and tongue gave and gave before finally, finally taking pleasure for himself.
Drunk on the heady taste of her, he set her away from him, held up his hands, and backed away. “Go now, or consider yourself shanghaied.”
“Aye, aye, Cap’n.” She gave a mock salute, turned, and sprinted for the driveway.
“Avast, ye coward!” he called after her. Then had to laugh at the way she turned around and grinned at him, all the while running backward toward the safety of her car.
“See you tomorrow?” she asked, holding the driver’s door open.
“If you wait for me to get home. I have office hours until six o’clock tomorrow.”
“Do you want me to bring dinner again?”
“No,” he told her. “It’s my turn to cook for you.”
Her smile glowed from within. “What are we having?”
“I don’t know yet…but I can guarantee it will be edible.”
“Sounds perfect.” She waved, climbed into her car, and was gone.
Watching her back out of his driveway, Jack felt as if the night air had cooled. She’d taken all of her warmth and sweetness with her.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. He couldn’t wait until she came back.
Chapter 7
“Anything new on the water tower?”
Caitlin smiled at her older sister. “Nope. It’s been declared off limits since the younger Smolinsky brother fell off the ladder and dislocated his knee.”
Meg sighed. “I know, but I keep hoping someone will brave the sheriff’s wrath and climb up the ladder and paint a heart with their initials in it, or better yet, propose marriage.”
“Like Dan did for you?” Cait asked.
Her sister stared into space. “I waited a long time to see my name painted up there in John Deere green. Never thought I would.”
“Well, no one new up there yet. And definitely not Dad and Mary, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Meg shook her head at her sister while Cait centered the bookshelf she’d built for Meg and Dan’s nursery. Taking a step back, she eyeballed the piece and ran the tips of her fingers along the top of it. “It looks good, doesn’t it?”
Meg slipped her arm around her younger sister and sighed. “You build beautiful things, little sister.”
Cait felt her face heat at the compliment. “Coming from you, that’s high praise.”
“Come on downstairs. Mrs. Winter stopped by yesterday with a cherry pie.”
“Hah! I knew she wouldn’t be able to hold out,” Cait said. “She talked to Grace the other day but said she’d wait until you were feeling better and could stop by.”
“I’m not sick, you know,” Meg grumbled. “It’s just hard since I didn’t have morning sickness with the twins.”
Cait nodded. “Maybe God gave you a break because he knew you’d need your strength to take care of those little hooligans.”
Meg chuckled. “They are, aren’t they?”
If her soft smile was any indication, her sister loved every minute of it. Cait walked over to her toolbox and started to clean up. “Can I take a rain check on that pie? I’ve got to head out. Gracie is keeping me busy these days.”
“I’m hoping to be back up to speed—”
“You need to get plenty of rest and take it slowly so that the precious little Eagan growing inside of you is healthy…and so you are too. I don’t envy you riding herd on three boys.”
“Who said it would be another boy?”
“Is it a girl?”
Meg’s expressive face had Cait sending up a silent prayer that it would be. “I want to be surprised this time.”
Cait laughed. “Danny and Joey weren’t a surprise?”
Meg teared up. “They’re the light of my life—so is Dan.”
Cait watched her sister’s eyes fill. She groaned and handed Meg a tissue. Her sister wiped her tears and blew her nose. “Sorry, but lately everything seems to make me cry.”
A sound from the other room caught Meg’s attention. “Let me check on the boys. They never sleep for very long.” Pregnancy softened Meg’s attitude and her tongue, but Cait and Grace were still taking bets that this new baby’s first word would be a four-letter one, just like his—or her—older brothers’.
Which reminded her of the bet going over at the diner. “Hey, Meg,” she called out walking to the boys’ room. “Have you talked to Peggy or Kate lately?”
“No,” she said, walking out of her bedroom. “Why?” Meg picked up Danny while Cait picked up Joey and held him close and kissed his cheeks, then traded with Meg so she could kiss Danny too. “Funny thing, that you and your best friend would be expecting right around the same time—again.” She wasn’t ready to tell her about the bet…yet.
“What’s so funny about it?”
“Never mind that, it’s what’s going on at the diner that you’ll probably find out about if you’re going to be visiting with your pal Honey B. today.”
“I am and I need to change these two before we go downstairs.”
“I’ll help.” Cait put off telling her sister until the boys were changed and running toward the top step.
“Wait for mommy!” Meg beat Cait to the stairs and scolded. “Mommy goes first.” She shook her finger at her toddlers. “Now, turn around and climb down.” They did as they were told and as soon as their little sneakers touched the bottom, they were laughing and running toward the kitchen.
“Juice!” Danny hollered.
“Cookies!” Joey echoed.
“Soooo,” Meg said, settling her sons at the table with their snack.
Cait paused to marvel at the ease with which her sister cared for her twins and kept them from squabbling. Finally she said, “I think it was actually old man Sweeney talking to Mr. Weatherbee who started the betting.”
Cait could feel the heat of her sister’s glare and the sharp edge of Meg’s temper when she asked, “Betting?”
“Yep,” Cait said as cheerfully as possible. “Seems he’s not the only one in town who decided it would be a good thing to bet on who delivered first…you or Honey B.”
Meg’s mouth opened and closed twice before any sound came out. “Is he crazy?”
“No, but he sure does have an affection for you, Sis.”
As the boys finished, Meg and Cait wiped their hands and faces and set them down. “Play nice,” their mother warned. The boys ran to the playroom and were chatting in their own dialect—a mix of English and twin-speak. Meg watched her darlings playing. “How’s the betting going?”
Caitlin followed and told her, “I haven’t talked to Peggy in a few days—”
Meg laid her hand on Cait’s cheek. “You don’t feel feverish.”
Cait chuckled. “I’m not.”
“Did you and Peggy have an argument?”
“No.”
“Then why haven’t you talked to her yet today?” Meg asked.
“Because I’ve been otherwise occupied.”
“Ahh,” Meg said softly. “So Pop’s right.”
“About what?”
“Hmmm?” Meg asked. “Oh nothing.”
Cait rolled her eyes. “Come on, Meg. Have a heart. What did Pop say?”
“That you were sweet on my pal, Doc Gannon.”
Cait’s face heated beneath her sister’s perusal. “I don’t know that I’d use that exact expression.”
Meg folded her arms in front of her. “Just exactly how would you describe what’s been going on out there for the last few nights?”
Cait didn’t know where to start. “I’ve been helping take care of Jamie, stopping by on my way through town.”
“Then you haven’t been having dinner with him, alone, every night for the last three nights?”
“Is nothing sacred in this town?”
“Not when it’s newsworthy. The fact that Doc is keeping company with a female, who just happens to be my sister, is definitely that.”
“It’s not like we’re dating or anything like that.”
Meg reached for Cait’s hand and squeezed it before letting go. “How would you describe what it’s like?”
Cait sighed. “He makes my stomach fill with butterflies. My heart beats faster when he looks at me, and his eyes change from a gorgeous lake blue to dark and desperate sapphire right before he kisses me.”
Meg’s eyes rounded and then promptly filled with tears. “Oh, Cait,” she sniffed. “You’re in love with him!”
“I’m not…at least I don’t think I am. How would I know?” she demanded. “I’ve never felt like this before.”
“What about that landscaper over in Newark?”
“Steve? He was nice, but it’s not the same.”
“What’s different?” Meg asked softly.
“It’s the way I feel when he looks at me, as if he sees right into my heart and knows what I’m thinking.”
“And?” her sister prompted.
“The way he laughs…he’s got a great laugh…when he’s tossing a ball to Jamie. He really loves that dog…we both do, but—”
“You’re so far gone over that man that you don’t even know it.”
“I am?”
“Yeah.”
“What am I going to do?”
“What do you want to do?”
When Caitlin just stared off into space, Meg sighed. “There is that. Have you used protection?”
“Jeez, Meg, I’m twenty-six, not sixteen!”
Meg sighed
. “I know, I know. Old habits die hard. I care about you, Cait.”
Cait frowned. “That’s fine, but how about treating me like an adult?”
“I do…most of the time.”
“Unless you’re preoccupied.” Cait smiled at Danny and Joey as they both tugged on the blue truck, ignoring the red one.
“Sorry. I’ll work on my interrogation tactics. I’m going to need them in a few years.”
It was Cait’s turn to laugh. “OK, but you don’t have anything to worry about. We aren’t that involved yet.”
Meg waited a heartbeat before asking, “Why not? Doc’s a handsome man with a heart of gold, but—”
“I know. When he kisses me…” She lost her train of thought remembering the feel of being held in the protective circle of his arms, leaning against the strength of his powerful chest, feeling the pounding of his heart.
“Earth to Caitlin.”
“Hmmm?”
“You were saying?”
“I was?”
“You’d better stock up on supplies over at the drug store.”
Cait frowned. “Maybe I already have.”
“It’s hard to concentrate,” Meg said. “Isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Cait whispered. “Sometimes, I’ll be on the job and then my mind drifts off and starts thinking about something Jack said or did and I’ll lose track of where I am and what I’m supposed to be doing.”
“Add in the element of danger—really sharp power tools—and it gets even trickier.”
“Did you feel this way about Dan from the moment you met him?”
Meg smiled. “Yes. He’s the best thing that ever happened to me—even though I ended up with stitches in my hand because I was thinking about him instead of paying attention to what I was doing.”
Cait nodded. “I remember, and for what it’s worth, he says the same about you.”
“Nice to know,” Meg said, packing her diaper bag and gathering the boys. “Honey B. will have little Mitch at the shop today. If you have a minute, maybe you can stop by.”
“Sounds great. I need to get a few things from the shop before I meet you at Honey B.’s. I’ll go grab my toolbox—I left it upstairs.” She stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Hey, do you need help getting the boys in the car?”
One Day in Apple Grove Page 10
