He couldn’t make out the words, but he could hear the conversation on the other side of the wall. Cricket would be uncomfortable in a bikini, so he hoped there was something a little more modest over there for his sister. But at the same time, he sure wouldn’t mind if Jennie Sue came out wearing a two-piece—the skimpier the better.
He inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, avoided the long mirror on the back of the door, and went outside. Jennie Sue and Cricket appeared in the moonlight almost as quickly, wearing identical black one-piece bathing suits. His pulse raced—his heart threw in an extra beat. No bikini in the world could make Jennie Sue look a bit sexier than that simple suit did.
“Oh, my goodness!” Jennie Sue stopped in her tracks when she saw him.
There it was. The repulsion that he’d been expecting, but he didn’t think she’d be so blatant about it. He cringed inside, but he squared his shoulders like a good Army Ranger and got ready for what was coming.
She rushed to his side and touched the biggest scar on his side and then ran her hand down his rib cage to each and every one of them. “Oh, Rick, ‘thank you for your service’ doesn’t begin to cover this. Or this one on your leg, either.” His whole body vibrated when she bent forward and touched his leg. “You should wear these proudly, not cover them up. They say that you are a hero.”
“That’s what I’ve told him ever since he came home.” Cricket dived off the side of the pool into the water. “Let’s swim now and not think about scars or sad things.”
Rick scooped Jennie Sue up in his arms and whispered, “Thank you,” just before he fell backward into the deep end of the pool with her in his arms.
When they surfaced, she pushed her hair out of her eyes and splashed water in his face. “That was mean. I didn’t even have time to get my hair up in a ponytail.”
“I’d apologize, but I’m not sorry. You’re beautiful with your hair in your eyes.”
He swam to the other end, where he propped his elbows on the side and waited for her. Cricket did laps in beautiful form while Jennie Sue made her way to him, swimming underwater the whole way and stopping to kiss the scar on his leg before she surfaced.
“I wasn’t shootin’ you a line of shit about your scars,” she said.
“I wasn’t shootin’ you a line when I said you were beautiful with messy hair and smeary eye makeup, either,” he told her.
“That’s hard to believe,” she whispered.
“Welcome to the real world, darlin’, where we speak the truth and don’t put much stock in what other people think.” He brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. “At least, some of us are of that mind. There are those that still thrive on small-town rumors.”
“You got that right.” Even though her heart was still numb from the shock and the pain, everything made sense.
Chapter Nineteen
Rick took a long, hot shower and crawled into bed that night, but he couldn’t sleep. He laced his hands behind his head and, like other folks in town, wondered exactly what Jennie Sue would do about the oil company and all the property. She’d shown that she was strong by taking her own way and making her own decisions, but this had to be overwhelming.
Tomorrow she’d be back in her apartment and he’d be in his house. In his world, things would be back to normal—hers would never be the same. He shut his eyes and replayed every moment he’d had with her.
When a soft knock landed on his door, he sat straight up and was slinging his legs over the side of the bed when Jennie Sue eased it open and peeked inside. “Rick, are you awake?”
“I’m right here,” he whispered. “What can I do?”
“Hold me?” she said.
He stood up and met her halfway across the room with open arms. She walked into them and laid her head on his bare chest. He cupped the back of her head with one hand and slipped the other around her waist. “The nights are always tougher than the days.”
“I did it pretty much alone when I lost the baby, but this is different,” she whispered. “That time I buried myself in schoolwork. Now, there’s so many decisions . . .” Her voice trailed off.
He took a step back, tucked both her hands in his, and led her to the bed. She sat down on the edge and then eased back on the pillow where his head had been. The thought of getting into bed with her was more than a little intimidating.
“Maybe we should go down to the living room,” he suggested.
She scooted over and rolled to her left side. “This is fine. I just want to go back to that safe place that I remember so I can sleep.”
He settled in behind her and gathered her tightly to his chest.
“Like this?” he asked.
It’s natural to be aroused with a woman snuggled up against me, he thought. But this isn’t the time or the place. She’s too vulnerable.
“Just like this.” She wiggled in closer to him.
Good Lord, let her go to sleep and not realize the effect she’s having on me, he prayed for the first time in ages.
Evidently, God heard him, because a soft purrlike snore said that she was out. It took a long time for him to reach the same state.
Jennie Sue reached across the bed to touch Rick when she awoke the next morning, but all she got was a handful of air. She sat up with a start and saw him sitting over beside the window with a book in his hands. He was reading by the light coming in through the window on that rainy morning.
“Good mornin’,” she yawned.
He laid the book aside. “Did you sleep well?”
“I did, and thank you again. I thought I was okay after we got out of the pool, but when I got into bed, I remembered the hankie that Daddy gave me just before he left. I lost it, and it brought on more tears.”
He moved to sit beside her on the bed. “That’s the way grief works. One minute you think you’ve got it all under control, and then the simplest thing will set you off, and you’re a mess again. A month after he passed away, I found Daddy’s little notebook where he kept all the phone numbers of places he liked to buy his seed, and just looking at his handwriting tore me up. I bawled like a baby.”
“Then I’m not completely insane?”
“No, darlin’, you are not.” His deep drawl soothed her.
She turned so that she could wrap her arms around Rick’s neck. “You are the best thing that ever happened to me.”
He tipped up her chin, and before their lips ever even touched, she felt as if she was drowning in his dark-green eyes. The kiss started out as a sweet brushing of lips, then it deepened into a fiery-hot passion.
Jennie Sue pulled away when she heard the bathroom door at the end of the hallway close. She stood up and tugged at the bottom of her nightshirt. “I’d better go on back to my bedroom.”
“Jennie Sue, it may be the wrong time to ask, but what are we going to do about this thing between us?”
She bent down and kissed him. “I’m going to hope that it’s more than a passing fancy for you.”
Cricket was waiting in the dining room when Jennie Sue arrived with Rick right behind her. She barely glanced up as she kept putting cookies in plastic bags. “I can’t stand the idea of wasting a single bit of this food.”
“Have you had breakfast? I’ll be glad to make us bacon and eggs or whatever y’all want,” Jennie Sue asked.
“I would love pancakes,” Rick said.
“Something neither of us can make unless we use that mix that you just put water in.” Cricket kept right on working.
“Pancakes it is. Bacon, sausage, or both?”
“Bacon,” they said at the same time.
“What can I do to help?” Rick asked.
“Can you fry bacon?” She nudged him with her shoulder.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Then you can do that while I make the pancakes.” She sniffed the air. “Do I smell coffee?”
“I made a pot. Hope that’s okay,” Cricket answered.
“It’s better than okay. It’s great. We’ll have a cup while we are getting breakfast ready. And while we eat, I want you both to be my sounding board. While I was getting dressed this morning and packing a suitcase of things I want to take to my apartment, I came up with some things I need to bounce off you,” she said.
“Ideas about what? You really need to take time to think about everything and not rush, Jennie Sue,” Rick said.