The cabin looked just as Jesse remembered it, small and alone in a thick stand of trees. The rain had stopped and when they stepped out of the Scout, he could hear the river churning along the bank in the distance. Angelita was still mad; he could tell by the irritated look on her face as she got out of the Scout and looked around. He knew she’d calm down as soon as she warmed up and had some food.
“Is that the river I hear?” she asked as he pulled his bag from the back of the Scout.
“Yes, we may be able to see it from the deck if the leaves aren’t blocking the view.” He pulled her wet clothes from the back and wrung them out like a rag.
Angelita watched him and scowled. “Great, I’ve got nothing dry to wear.”
“I packed some extra clothes in case yours got wet.”
She turned to face him on the front porch. “If you’d told me we were staying overnight, I could have packed my own bag.”
“Good thing you didn’t.” He watched her brow furrow. “Your fancy luggage would’ve been ruined in the rain.”
Jesse opened the door and stood back so Angelita could go inside first. The air smelled damp and woodsy. With a flick of the light switch, he saw a huge stack of firewood by the hearth and blessed Jerry for following his instructions.
Angelita walked to the bathroom, clicked on the light, and turned around to face him. “This is it?” she asked. Her eyes darted between the bathroom and the bedroom on the opposite wall. “Who gets the bedroom?”
His plan necessitated only one bed and very little sleep. But he wasn’t about to own up to it. Yet. “You do.” He began stacking wood in the fireplace. “I’ll crash on the futon.”
Angelita walked over to the pea green futon and pushed it with her fist. “This thing is hard as a rock. Hope your back’s up to it.” She turned in a circle, considered the place through narrowed eyes. He tried to see it as she would and thought she’d pronounce it unsuitable. It had always met his needs just fine.
“It’ll do,” she said. “As long as the water’s hot and the pressure’s good.”
Jesse lit a match for the fire starter. “Look through the bag and dig out whatever you want to wear. There’s a pizza place that actually delivers here from town, so don’t worry about impressing anyone.”
She lugged the entire bag into the bathroom and shut the door with a slam. He could only shake his head and wonder how long she’d shower and what she’d emerge wearing. Once he got the fire started, he found the beer he’d asked Jerry to get in the refrigerator and plopped on the floor by the hearth to wait.
They’d had fun today and he’d seen her let her guard down and enjoy herself in a way he hadn’t before. At least from that standpoint, the trip had been a success. Throughout the day, there’d been an undercurrent of desire, in the shared looks and simple touches. He wanted her like he hadn’t wanted another woman and yet felt hesitant to take her without…what? Promises? A future? Since when did he think of a woman in terms like that?
He’d never thought of women as anything other than necessary and very delightful diversions. His first priority was to Ty and, in many ways Kerri Ann. Maybe because Angelita knew Kerri Ann and Ty, and she knew the history of their relationship, he felt willing to move forward with her. He couldn’t be sure, but he did know if they became lovers, tonight or any other, it wouldn’t be a casual fling.
He didn’t have time for his thoughts to settle before Angelita emerged from the bathroom wearing the t-shirt and shorts he’d packed for her. They belonged to Ty, the old Sequoyah County Football shirt and drawstring shorts. They’d fit Ty when he was ten. They fit Angelita like the wetsuit. Except this time there wasn’t a bathing suit, or even underwear, between the clothes and her skin. It’d be a cold shower for Jesse. Very cold indeed. “I see you found the clothes.”
She looked down at herself and cringed. “You’re lucky I left the others for you. I had half a mind to stick you with these things.”
“I thought they’d fit.” He shrugged and stood up. The faded gray fabric was as good as see through. He needed to shower and fast. “There’s beer in the fridge and wine on the counter. Take your pick.” At the door of the bathroom, he turned and delighted in the view of her backside. “I put the menu on the counter. Order whatever you like. I’ll eat anything.”
***
Angelita meandered around the small cabin, fingered knickknacks on the coffee table. She walked to stand in front of the popping wood. The fire felt good on her skin, but she couldn’t relax enough to sit and enjoy it. She saw her cell phone on the counter and grabbed it. No service. Sophie had called last night and pleaded with Lita to call her father again. He’d been harassing her at the store. Lita had ignored his repeated calls, but after speaking to Sophie, she intended to call him as soon as they got back. It would have to wait until tomorrow.
She heard the shower begin to run and felt her pulse race. Jesse stood fifteen feet away, gloriously naked. Why, she thought as she ran her hands through her wet hair, did she have so little self-control where he was concerned? All day he’d taunted her with his easy smile, carefree attitude, and piercing eyes. Damn it, she didn’t need this kind of distraction in her life.
She’d been so distracted by him she hadn’t even asked him if he’d contacted his friend and found out about the consulate. She moved to the kitchen and searched the drawers for a bottle opener. What she really needed to do was make arrangements to get back and deal with her problems, instead of running from them. As she twisted the opener into the wine’s cork, the bathroom door opened and Jesse appeared, shirtless and smelling of soap. His cargo shorts hung low on his hips and drops of water ran down his chest at will.
She flashed back to their first meeting, when he’d scared her half to death coming out of the bathroom at Cal’s. He moved toward her, his shirt in his hand, the look in his eyes the same that had broken her concentration all day.
“You order the pizza?” He yanked the shirt over his head.
She couldn’t decide if she felt relief or disappointment that he’d covered himself. What was wrong with her?
“Ah…no, I didn’t.” She handed the menu to Jesse. “You decide. I’m so hungry it doesn’t matter what you get.”
He poured her wine in a tumbler and told her to wait by the fire while he ordered enough food to feed four. He joined her on the futon after he’d hung up the phone.
“I guess I’m not the only one who’s hungry,” she said.
“You’re not. Besides, there’s nothing better in the morning than cold pizza.” He tapped his bottle of beer to her glass. “Cheers.” He watched her as he swallowed. “How’s the wine?”
The only taste on her tongue was desire, laced with anticipation. The wine could have been the best in the world or caster oil. “Good.”
“Shower okay?”
“Perfect.” He’d rested his bare feet on the coffee table and crossed his ankles. His arm stretched along the back of the futon and she could feel his fingers playing with the damp ends of her hair. It was just the kind of casual contact he’d tormented her with throughout the day. Except now they were alone with nothing to do but wait for dinner to arrive. She needed a distraction and fast. “I heard you and Cal arguing the other night. I hope it wasn’t serious.”
Jesse looked into the fire for a long time and she wondered if she should have asked. “Cal and I…well, let’s just say we’ve been avoiding this argument for years.”
She hated to see the pain in his eyes, especially when she’d witnessed Cal’s behavior the day before she left. She could only guess they hadn’t settled anything or made up. Didn’t they know how precious their relationship was and that it shouldn’t be compromised by petty disagreements? “Want to talk about it?”
“No, it’s…it’ll work itself out.”
“Okay. If you don’t want to talk about your problems, then how about we talk about mine? Were you able to reach your friend at the paper about the consulate?”
“Umm,” he no
dded and put his feet on the ground. “I talked to him yesterday. He said he’d check it out. He hadn’t heard anything, but he’s a feature’s guy, so he might not have paid much attention.” He put his empty bottle on the coffee table and looked at Angelita. “I told him to let me know as soon as possible, so maybe by Monday.”
Jesse got up to get a beer and added another log to the fire on the way back. “Have you made any decisions about your father, what you’re going to do?”
Making decisions about anything wasn’t her forte. “No.” She sighed. “I need to talk to Sophie about it. He’s been hounding her too.”
“Sophie?”
“My business partner. You’d like her. She’s blond, southern, and very attractive.”
Jesse laughed. “You’ve just described every woman in Atlanta.”
She’d forgotten he’d lived there. “I can’t imagine you in Atlanta. You seem so happy here.”
“I am happy here. I…” He took a deep breath. “My mom had just died, Kerri Ann and I were headed for divorce, and I needed to get away. It’s hard to explain without it sounding shallow, but, for the longest time, I felt like I’d missed out on something. The freedom I assumed I’d have in college. Ty changed all that. It’s hard to go wild taking night classes and going home to a wife and kid. Atlanta was my time to sow my wild oats, as they say.”
“How long did you live there?”
“Three years.”
“That’s a long time to sow your oats. What made you come back?”
He was staring into the fire again, his feet propped lazily on the table. But there wasn’t anything lazy or easy about the look on his face. “I worked hard there, made a lot of money. I played as hard as I worked, sometimes harder. It was fun at first, really fun. I’d see Ty every other weekend and we’d go do all the stuff you do in a big city—the zoo, museums, ballgames. Thankfully he remembers those times as being as fun as I do.” He took a sip, smiled wistfully like he was reliving the good times in his mind. “But then, after a few years…” He shrugged. “It got old, the constant work and play routine. Whenever I slowed down long enough to think about things, I realized how bored and unhappy I’d become. The city and all its impersonal glitz, all the stuff I couldn’t get enough of at first, started closing in on me.
“One night,” he continued as if in a daze, “I was out at a bar and someone offered me a line of coke. For a second, just a second, I actually considered doing it.” He looked at her then and held his eyes to hers. “I’d never done drugs before, ever. But I was feeling restless and unhappy and I thought, why not? I could use a pick me up. That’s when I knew it was time to go home.”
“I take it you didn’t do the line?”
“Nope. I went home and started packing.”
“You’re very decisive, Jesse.” It was one of the things she found so attractive about him. Amongst all the others.
“It felt right and turned out to be. Partly because it was my decision to go home and not one that was made for me. I’ve never wanted to leave since.”
“Why would you?” she murmured. “It’s beautiful, your family’s here. You’re very lucky.”
“Why do you stay in Atlanta? You’re not close with your father and you don’t seem too eager to return.”
“My business is there, Sophie and Steve.”
“Steve?”
“Sophie’s husband. They’re my family. Besides, Atlanta’s all I’ve ever known.”
He inched toward her on the couch, ran his hand along her cheek. “Not anymore. You’re happy here too.”
“Vacations are supposed to make you happy.” Why did her voice sound so breathy? Could she be any more obvious? Just as she moved toward him, or him toward her, she couldn’t be sure, they heard a car door slam and footsteps on the porch.
“That’s the pizza,” he said, but didn’t move from his seat. “We’re not done, Angelita. Not by a long shot.”
Chapter 21
Bryce knew he was coming on too strong with Kerri Ann. But for the first time in his life, he didn’t care. With the flowers he’d picked from his neighbor’s garden tucked under his arm, he headed inside the Pizza Den and took a seat at the counter beside Ty. He’d known they’d be there. Lord knew Kerri Ann wouldn’t take more than two nights off work, ever. He didn’t mind her dedication to the restaurant, as he’d always understood it kept her pockets filled and her mind busy.
“Hey, boy,” he said to Ty as he sat. Bryce flipped the cover to his book. “Geometry, huh? Yuck.”
“My thoughts exactly.” Ty took a long gulp of Coke and tapped his pencil against his notebook paper. “You here to see Mom?”
Bryce had talked to Kerri Ann and knew she’d explained things to Ty. She’d told him Ty had been fine with the idea, even happy for her. It didn’t mean he hadn’t planned to discuss it with the boy himself. “Yeah, I am.” It wouldn’t be as easy as he’d anticipated. “You okay with that, with us…seeing each other?”
Ty grinned. “You want me to ask your intentions?”
“You can, if you want to. I’ll answer whatever questions you’ve got.”
Ty slapped Bryce on the shoulder and squeezed. “Relax, Bryce. I’m cool with it. Mom’s happy. That’s all that matters.”
“No, it’s not all that matters. You matter too.” He watched the boy’s eyes turn serious and felt glad he’d broached the topic right away. He wanted Ty to know how important he was to him, how much he wanted them to be able to hang out even though things had changed. “I don’t want you to feel like we’re competing for her time and affections. I want us to hang out together, the three of us, like we’ve always done.”
Ty nodded, but didn’t say anything.
“I love her, Ty. I have for a long time.” It felt good to say it out loud and know he wasn’t just making excuses. “I haven’t told her yet, although she’d be a damn fool if she hasn’t already figured it out. But you need to know I won’t hurt her or you.” Ty nodded again, clearly uncomfortable. It was time to change the subject. “So, you eaten yet?”
The boy exhaled audibly. “Yeah, I had lasagna. It’s good.”
“Always is.” He tossed the flowers from hand to hand, wondered what else to say.
“Those for Mom?” Ty asked with a smile.
Seeing the genuine pleasure on his face eased the tension in Bryce’s shoulders. “Thought she’d like them.”
“She will. Girls like that kind of thing.” Ty shifted in his seat, looked at Bryce. “If Mom had to pick someone to be with, I’m glad it’s you.”
He smiled and knocked Ty affectionately with his elbow. “I’m glad it’s me too.”
***
The first thing Kerri Ann saw when she came out of the kitchen was Ty, laughing and jabbing at Bryce. Her heart turned over in her chest. If she hadn’t already been head over heels in love with him, she’d have turned a corner just seeing them together. Her son and her lover, the man she loved and had loved for more years than she could count, were still friends. Everything she’d ever wanted sat right in front of her. So why did she feel so panicked about Bryce?
When he spotted her, he stood up and cleared his throat. “These are for you.” He handed her a wilting bouquet of camellias. “I think they need some water.”
“Thank you. That was really sweet.” She filled a large mug and set the flowers at the end of the bar. “You hungry?”
“I could eat.” He settled back into the chair.
She got him a glass of sweet tea. “What would you like?”
“Whatever you’ve got in the kitchen is fine. You know I like all your cooking.”
He made everything easy. Everything, but where their relationship was headed. “How about the lasagna? It’s a fresh batch and I can have it out in just a few minutes.”
Shoe Strings Page 21
