by Lin Stepp
The boys’ childish chatter drifted across the yard, making Carter smile. Beau and Taylor had formed a strong friendship over the summer. Carter liked watching his boy contented and carefree now, riding his bike happily around the lake road, helping his grandparents on the farm, doing odd jobs about the assembly grounds with the tourists, learning to swim strongly enough to make it to the raft in the middle of the lake.
Snapping shut his cell phone, Billy Wade came out the back door, followed by Rhea and Jeannie. “Another place has been hit by the vandal,” he groused, slumping into a metal lawn chair.
“Tonight?” Jeannie asked, coming out on the porch to curl up on the glider beside Billy while Rhea settled herself into an old rocker, propping her long legs up on a side table.
Billy frowned. “No. Hiram thinks it probably happened last night. But he didn’t discover the damage until he made his rounds tonight. It took place behind the old Gilliland cabin at the springhouse.”
“That’s funny.” Jeannie made a face. “Someone already broke into that cabin earlier in the summer. Wonder why they came back to bother that old springhouse again after all this time?”
Jeannie blew a wisp of short, frosted hair out of her face. “I just don’t understand any of this at all. We’ve had random breakins all summer long and they don’t seem to make any sense. Nothing is ever taken.”
“I know,” agreed Rhea. “And the sheriff says there have been instances of vandalism in other areas nearby.”
“Like over at the Tritt and Gilliland cemeteries.” Jeannie wrinkled her nose. “Ew. Someone dug up some places around some of the graves.”
“It seems obvious that this vandal, or group of vandals, is looking for something.” Billy Wade kicked at a stick on the patio in annoyance. “But what? Rhea, is there an old story about some Dean or Layman ancestor burying a string of pearls or some valuable artifact we don’t know about?”
Rhea laughed. “If there’d been something valuable buried here by one of the Deans or Laymans, they’d have dug it up a long time ago and cashed it in during the lean years.”
“Maybe it’s only someone nutty.” Jeannie slipped her feet out of her flip-flops. “I mean, there are a lot of crazy people out there that do all sorts of things that don’t make sense. Like those sick people who set fires.”
Rhea laughed, a throaty sound that always made Carter’s blood stir. “Well, thank goodness we’re not dealing with an arsonist. I’d rather have some loony digging holes around the place than setting fires!”
“Eventually, he’ll slip up and leave a clue and we’ll find him.” Carter let his eyes slide up over Rhea’s bare legs.
“I hope so.” Billy Wade followed Carter’s eyes thoughtfully and raised his eyebrows at him with a grin.
“Guess what?” Jeannie changed the subject.
“What?” Rhea answered, obviously glad to let talk of the vandals go.
“Estelle saw Marshall Sutton and Marion Baker driving out of the parking lot of the Shady Grove Motel last night.” She turned a mischievous glance to Carter. “I hope that doesn’t upset you hearing that, Carter.”
He laughed. “Believe me, it would be a relief to hear of Marion setting her sights on anyone else around here but me.” Carter saw Rhea frowning. “However, your news might upset Rhea since she and Marshall are still going out together.”
“Oh, pooh.” Jeannie waved a hand in the air. “Marshall Sutton is not in any way right for Rhea. For the life of me I can’t figure out why the two of them are still dating.”
“Excuse me.” Rhea kicked at her playfully. “Keep in mind that I’m sitting right here, Jeannie. Perhaps Marshall and I are dating because there’s an attraction between us.”
Billy Wade cleared his throat. “Nothing personal, Rhea, but Jeannie and I never have much liked Marshall Sutton. I’m sure that influences our thinking.”
“Yeah.” Jeannie giggled. “I just cringe to think of us having to be nice and host Marshall for dinner someday because the two of you have gotten engaged or married or something. Yuk.”
Rhea looked at her in surprise. “Would that be so bad?”
“Oh, come on, Rhea, you know it would.” She crossed her arms in exasperation. “Even you try to figure ways to get away from him when he comes in the store. You know it’s true! Whyever do you keep dating him?”
“Yeah, Carter’s a lot more fun to be with,” Billy Wade said, sending a look Carter’s way.
Jeannie grinned. “That’s the truth. It’s been fun the evenings we’ve gotten together this summer—just like old times.”
Carter watched Rhea’s eyes flash in irritation as she looked from Billy Wade to Jeannie. “Well, I guess I’ll have to look around and find someone to date that the Ledford committee likes better.”
“Oh, don’t get mad now.” Jeannie punched at her playfully. “You didn’t like Tucker Glenn, that guy I started dating one of the times Billy Wade and I broke up, and you didn’t hesitate to say so.”
“You dated Tucker Glenn?” Carter laughed out loud at the thought.
Billy Wade laughed, too. “Yeah, that little weasel moved in quick as a snake when Jeannie and I had one of our fusses.”
Rhea looked at her watch and frowned. “I really need to get home,” she said. “I have to get up and do the tour in the morning. And I promised to help Nana set up and get ready for her quilting demonstration before that.”
Carter’s eyes moved to the tree house to where the boys played. “Are you sure it’s all right if Taylor spends the night here? I can take him on home if you think it would be too much.”
“No.” Jeannie waved away his concerns. “I already promised them and Taylor’s no trouble.”
“Yeah, it’s fine,” Billy added. “I’ll drag them both out of the tree house in a few minutes and get them cleaned up for bed.”
Carter stood up. “Then I’ll walk Rhea home.”
“I know the way, Carter.” She gave him an annoyed look.
“Awww, let the man be a gentleman.” Billy Wade sent Rhea a grin.
Rhea rolled her eyes and stood up in resignation.
After saying their good-byes, Carter and Rhea started the walk home down the Assembly Road.
As they neared the covered bridge, Carter reached over to take Rhea’s arm. He liked the looks of the long expanse of dark bridge ahead. “You didn’t seem overly upset about Marshall being seen with Marion.”
Rhea jerked away and stalked ahead of him. “Don’t start with me, Carter Layman. What Estelle saw could have been anything. Marshall works in banking, Marion in real estate. They might have been simply working together.”
Carter laughed. “Yeah. I’d say they had a workout at the Shady Grove. You may be right.”
She gave him a dirty look and then took off running. “Bet I can beat you to the other side of the bridge!”
Carter took off after her. Even given a late start, he was still unable to let any dare from Rhea slip by him. Neither of them had ever been able to pass up a dare between them, no matter how foolish—often getting them in a peck of trouble over the years.
Rhea beat him by a stride and turned to give him a grin before sauntering on down the road.
“Cheater,” he said, following along behind her. He owed her one now.
When they got to the split in the road, Carter took her arm again. “Come down and see what the workers did to the gazebo today.”
“It’s dark.” She balked, looking down toward the lake.
“It’s not that dark. Come on.” He practically hauled her down the bank to the large white gazebo by the banks of Laurel Springs Lake.
“Oh. How nice.” Rhea smiled with pleasure as they climbed the steps into the graceful, hexagon-shaped structure. “You had the benches built back around the sides.”
“Just like in the old picture.” He knew it would please her. “And I had the floors redone—better for dancing.” Carter tried to take her in his arms to dance around the large space, but Rhea pulled ba
ck, walking over to the rail to look out over the lake.
“It’s hot tonight,” she said to cover for the flush on her face.
“Yeah, it is.” Carter grinned. “Think I’ll go skinny-dipping like we used to.” He started unbuttoning his shirt.
Rhea’s eyes flew to his.
He lifted his eyebrows. “I dare you to go, too, and I’ll race you out to the raft.” He threw out the old taunt as he pulled his shirttail out of his shorts.
Carter watched Rhea hesitate, struggling with old memories. As kids they would strip off their clothes in a flurry to see who could swim out to the raft the fastest. Later, of course, they only stripped down to their underwear.
“Don’t you dare take all your clothes off.” She watched him unbutton his shirt with a frown.
“I’ll stop at my skivvies. But you’re a double-dog coward if you won’t race me. I raced you through the bridge.” He grinned at her in challenge.
He saw her consider his dare as he pulled off his shirt, and then, in a familiar flurry, they were both ripping off their clothes and shoes to see who could get to the water first.
Rhea dived off the dock moments after Carter. He heard her strong strokes behind him and then saw her gaining on him as they swam furiously out into the dark water.
It was over four hundred yards to the raft, almost a quarter mile, and they were both winded as they reached the ladder almost at the same time, Carter just a few feet ahead of her.
“You had a head start,” Rhea complained, panting as she uttered the words.
Carter brushed the water out of his eyes and shook his hair, sending sprinkles of water over Rhea.
She scooped up a handful of water and sent it his way in retaliation. A small water fight ensued, both of them soon laughing and Carter binding her arms behind her back so she couldn’t pummel him with water again.
And then it hit. The sizzle. The passion. One of those wonderful moments. Blood rushed through Carter’s veins, and he had his mouth on Rhea’s before he knew what he was doing. She kissed him back with fervor, looping her arms around his neck to stay afloat in the water.
Carter wrapped a leg through the ladder for support and moved his free hands over her water-slicked body, pulling her tight against him, almost skin to skin.
Remembering she was innocent, he carefully kept his hands from exploring and touching as they yearned to do. But he reveled in the feel of her against him, always the perfect fit to him.
Concerned about the rising level of their passion, he chuckled against her mouth. “I think there’s a little more of you up above than I remember, Rhea Dean.” It was hard to ignore her breasts heaving against his chest and, even in the darkness, he could see the white mounds of them pushing above her bra in the moonlight.
His words had the desired effect, and he felt her struggle back, loosening the grip of her arms around his neck. But her pulling away only gave him a better look down the length of her body, even in the dark, and before she could sputter a reply, he took her mouth again, plunging them under another time. There had never been another woman who made him feel like Rhea Dean, and kissing and hugging in the dark water was unbelievably sexy.
“This is heaven, Rhea,” he said at last in a husky voice, raining soft kisses down her face, over her closed eyes and cheeks.
She gave a little whimper as his hands traced soft patterns down her back and over her arms. Yielding sweetly to her emotions, Rhea pressed herself against him more tightly, finding his mouth again with her own, leading the way this time.
It was all Carter could do to hold himself together, to keep himself in check from taking more intimacies.
“Tell me you love me,” he said at last in a whisper beside her ear, his mouth raining kisses down her neck.
He felt her tense.
“You know you love me, Rhea.” He looked down into her eyes in the dark, reveling in the feel of her chest heaving against his. “Why can’t you admit it? Say it out loud?” He kissed her softly and then held her face in his hands. “You know I love you. Let’s quit pretending it isn’t true.”
Something in her eyes shut down then, and she drew back from him. Carter felt her pull her resolve back together.
“Race you back,” she said suddenly. She pushed off the raft and headed back toward shore before he had time to stop her.
Carter bit off an expletive before starting after her.
She was out of the water before he got to shore this time, pulling her T-shirt back over her underwear and slipping quickly back into her shorts.
He stood in the doorway of the gazebo, watching her dress. “How are you going to explain your wet clothes?”
She shrugged. “Tell the truth. That it was hot and I took a dip.”
His voice grew quiet. “But you won’t add that you took a dip with me, will you?”
She didn’t answer.
“Rhea, we can’t keep denying what we feel for each other. And we can’t keep playing games with everyone we know, pretending that we’re only friends.”
She gave him a defiant look. “We are only friends.”
He shook his head as he started to pull his shorts back on. “Rhea Dean, we are much more than friends.”
“There’s an attraction, I admit.” She sat down on the gazebo bench to lace up her tennis shoes.
“Well, at least you admit that.” He slid his arms into his shirt and sat down beside her.
“Look at me.” He reached over to lift her chin so he could look into her eyes. “I have loved you all my life and I still love you. I don’t want to just play games with you. I want you to be a part of my life.”
“I don’t want to hear this.” She stood up and started sprinting down the steps of the gazebo.
“Dang it, Rhea.” He slipped his feet into his loafers and started after her. Hearing him behind her, she ran. It took him a while to catch her and whirl her around to face him.
Panting, he asked her, “What do you want of me, Rhea Dean? Tell me.”
She shook her head and gave him an anguished look. “I don’t know. I don’t know.”
In annoyance, he leaned his face close to hers, to where she had to look into his eyes. “Well, you let me know when you figure it out.”
Then he stalked off down the road. He heard her following after him, but he didn’t turn around.
They walked in silence to the turning at the road to Rhea’s house.
“I’ll let you find your own way down the driveway to your house,” he said, breaking the silence.
She stood watching him, and he could see the display of confusing emotions playing across her face. How could she not know how she felt about him?
“Is it because you can’t forgive me for what happened?” he asked at last. “That I married Judith?”
He watched the pain flash over her face and knew that was it.
Carter sighed and shook his head. “We need to talk about this sometime. Really talk.”
She crossed her arms defensively. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I know, and that’s part of the problem.”
A small puddle of water had started to gather where she stood. He looked down at it in amusement. “You’re leaking.”
“So are you,” she said, smirking, and drawing his attention to the trickle of water running down his legs and onto the ground.
“I guess we’d better call it a night.”
She nodded as both of them let their eyes rove over each other one last time. “Thanks for walking me home.”
Rhea turned to start down her driveway but then glanced back with a grin. “I almost beat you, Carter Layman—and would have if you hadn’t gotten a head start.”
He grinned at her. She wanted the evening to end on a less emotional note. So did he.
Carter wiggled his eyebrows at her. “I hope the lake water comes out of that pretty lavender underwear.” He hooked his thumbs in his pockets. “You always did have the sexiest underwear.”
“W
ell, I can’t say the same for you.” She tossed her head as she headed down the drive. “If I’m not mistaken, there was a Mickey Mouse print on your jockey shorts.”
He laughed, turning his steps back toward the lake road toward home. “Taylor gave them to me for my birthday.”
“A likely story,” she added.
“Night, Rhea,” he called back, smart enough not to add his usual good-night call this time.
CHAPTER 15
Rhea woke the next morning with a splitting headache—and she never got headaches. Her neck felt stiff, and she’d slept fitfully. In all honesty, every time she got around Carter Layman for any length of time, she tossed and turned at night. Wretched man.
She made an effort to be pleasant while she helped Nana Dean tighten and straighten the quilt in progress on the quilting frame. Rummaging in the old pie safe, she took out an assortment of Nana’s booklets and packaged quilt patterns that she sold after her demonstrations.
“What’s this quilt pattern?” she asked, smoothing her hands over the partially completed quilt on the frame. She knew she’d acted grumpy and moody most of the morning—and Nana deserved better.
“It’s called Bleeding Heart.” Her grandmother ran her hand over one of the patterned squares. “A fit name to go with your mood today, I’d say.”
Rhea scowled at her grandmother. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just that it’s no secret, at least to me, that your heart’s pining after Carter Layman and you’re denying your heart ease.”
“My heart is not bleeding over Carter Layman.” Rhea crossed her arms in irritation. “I’ve already been through bleeding over him quite enough in the past. I have no intention of going there again.”
“Hmmmph.” Nana offered a soft little laugh. “Despite your words, your heart hasn’t gotten the message your head is telling it.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Now don’t start reading things into my spending a little time with Carter. We’re just friends.”
Nana sat down in a caned chair beside the quilting frame, starting to look for her thimble, needle, and thread in her sewing basket. Pushing her favorite metal thimble onto her middle finger, she looked up at Rhea thoughtfully. “I haven’t said anything before this, Rhea Kaden Dean, because I figured even a person as stubborn as you would figure it out—given enough time. You still hold a place in your heart for that boy, no matter what you say.”
