Chapter 16
When he reached his freight-car home a delicious savor greeted him.
—Gertrude Chandler Warner, The Boxcar Children
Dancy met Erin in the driveway later that evening and helped unload the packages from the rear of Erin’s Subaru Forester.
Dancy had called her earlier, explained what she needed, and also invited her to dinner, although she’d qualified the invitation
by explaining that she only had a microwave and they’d be eating takeout.
“I’ll return whatever doesn’t fit,” Erin said, as she closed the tailgate. “I took a chance on a couple of things.”
“I know it was a big ask, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”
Erin gazed pointedly at Dancy’s size 10 feet in Clint’s size 13 shower thongs, the only footwear Dancy had since losing her Packers slides to the bottom of the lake. “Obviously an errand of mercy. I also had a great time spending your money.”
Dancy held up a lacy thong poking through the top of a peach-colored bag. “Really?”
“I couldn’t see Dancy Flynn in granny panties.”
Dancy rolled her eyes. “Come on. I’ll show you the caboose.”
Dancy had texted Clint to ignore the unfamiliar car in his driveway. He wouldn’t be happy that she’d invited a stranger into
the Holy Land.
Erin loved the caboose. “Like The Boxcar Children,” she said as she gazed around. “That’s where you got the name Jessie Alden. I knew it sounded familiar.”
“You know the book?”
“I used to be a second-grade teacher, and that book is still a hit with seven-year-olds. Although they can’t understand why
Benny doesn’t use the food money for Reese’s.”
“Great literature does inspire deep thinking.”
They laughed and talked about books as Dancy unpacked the clothes Erin had picked out for her: shorts, tank tops, some athleisure,
a couple of casual outfits, and a sundress with whirls of leaf green and white that looked more like something Erin would
wear than Dancy, but Dancy was so glad to have clothes that she didn’t care. She held up more thongs. “You’re obsessed.”
“I’m not apologizing. You are who you are.”
Dancy laughed, then imagined Clint’s face if he ever saw her in one of these. She slipped into a pair of honey-brown leather
sandals. Like the sneakers Erin had bought, these were a good fit. The rest of the clothes she’d put away in the morning.
For tonight, she’d stick with the baggy gym shorts and cropped Stars T-shirt.
“I picked up dinner in town,” she told Erin. “I forgot to ask if you’re allergic to anything.”
“Shane.”
“You did great with him, you know.”
“I admit I’m proud of myself.”
While Erin filled two of the caboose’s glasses from a thermos of the virgin watermelon mojitos that were her contribution
to dinner, Dancy tallied the receipts and Venmoed her the money she’d spent on clothes. They carried their glasses out to
the rear platform, along with the wedge of Manchego cheese, Castelvetrano olives, and rosemary sea salt cashews that Dancy
had bought. As they sipped and talked, Dancy asked Erin about her job while Watch patrolled the area to keep them safe from
murderous chipmunks. The conversation was both easy and interesting.
Eventually, they went inside to eat. Dancy wished she had a picnic table outside under the tree branches, with maybe a comfortable
lounger nearby. As they enjoyed a salad of baby spinach, berries, and roasted pecans, she thought of her lovely courtyard
patio at home with terra-cotta tiles, a stone fountain, and a wisteria-covered pergola.
She still wasn’t ready to leave.
While she was reheating the lemongrass chicken and roasted vegetables she’d purchased, a knock interrupted them. “No boys
allowed!” Dancy called out.
Clint came in anyway, all six-foot-three and 210 gorgeous pounds of broad shoulders, lean hips, and powerful calves.
Watching his frown relax when he saw Erin, Dancy suspected he’d been concerned about the unfamiliar car.
She pointed toward him. “You’re not welcome unless you’ve watched at least five Hallmark movies and know the difference between leggings and tights. ”
Ignoring her, he nodded at Erin. “Erin, isn’t it?”
“She’s my new bestie,” Dancy said. “And she’s not a big sports fan, so you don’t have to worry about her stalking you. She
barely knows who you are.”
Erin flushed. “That’s not true. I know who you are. It’s . . . it’s nice to see you under . . . better circumstances.” Flushing,
she twisted her paper napkin in her hands.
Dancy cut in. “No need to be embarrassed, Erin. Clint fumbled the snap last season against the Seahawks, along with other
unforgivable crimes. What a dumbass. So like you and me, he’s pretty much impervious to other people’s humiliation.”
Clint turned on her in exasperation. “It’s flattering how much you follow my career.”
“I also follow Tim Correlli and Jason Henderson from high school. Tim owns an extermination business now, and Jason left the
priesthood to marry Lana McBride. Remember her? She got locked in the library one night and had to climb out onto the school
roof. And she wasn’t even Catholic. Google them if you don’t believe me.”
He turned back to Erin. “You might want to cut your losses right now before she gets her hooks any deeper into you.”
Erin smiled. “I like her.”
“Me, too,” he said glumly.
Dancy tapped her heart. “You guys . . . I’m touched.”
Erin gave him that besotted look women had been tossing in his direction since he was ten years old. “Dancy has plenty of
food. You’re welcome to join us for dinner.”
“No way!” Dancy exclaimed. “Not after that Seahawks game.”
“I’d love to,” Clint said to Erin.
“You can’t,” Dancy retorted. “You hate being around people, remember?”
“Only most people. But I like Erin, and I’m hungry.”
“Unfortunately, we don’t have enough chairs for you to eat with us.”
“We have plenty of chairs on my patio.”
Which was how Dancy ended up following Clint, Erin, Watch, and the dinner she’d bought across the driveway, around the house,
and to the patio.
Clint pushed aside his empty plate. Dancy was all long legs and cheeky attitude. Those legs . . . Clint considered himself
a breast man—and Dancy’s were spectacular—but her legs . . . They traveled from her slim ankles, over her calves, and straight
up to paradise.
Considering the emotional baggage that went along with her hotness, he was disgusted with himself. First thing tomorrow he
was driving back to Chicago and calling a couple of women who’d be glad to see him. A week or so there, and he’d be rid of
this itch.
He mentally thumbed through his contacts and settled on Amelia Wright. Gorgeous. Around five-foot-six. Worked in client services
at one of the top ad agencies. Nice laugh. But only twenty-two.
Okay, not Amelia.
How about Hailey Ames? An amazing body. Smart. Also a big Cubs fan. They could catch a game together. She was older, right?
Or maybe not. Hadn’t she said something about a twenty-fourth birthday?
None of these women interested him, and his horn-dog gaze returned to Dancy. As a teen, he’d had his hands all over that body.
What a waste considering everything he could do with it now.
Dancy was asking him some kind of question about investment strategy, of all things. “Sorry. I missed that,” he said.
“Don’t worry about it. No one should have both brawn and brains. Be grateful for what God gave you.”
It was hard to hold back a grin.
“You two are very strange,” Erin said thoughtfully. “It explains a lot.”
Neither he nor Dancy asked what she meant.
Erin was one of those genuinely good people, and he was glad she’d untangled herself from the asshole. Despite what he’d seen
the day Dancy had rescued her, Erin was solid. He intended to write her school a nice check to build up those classroom libraries
she’d been talking about.
While the women enjoyed the lemon gelato he had in his freezer, he took Watch on a walk along the lake, following Dancy’s
advice to leash him first. When he returned to the patio, Erin had gone. Unleashed, Watch ran to Dancy, who was handwashing
the dishes in the sink. “You can leave those,” he said. “I’ll get them later.”
“There are only a few.”
Clint picked up a dish towel and dried the three plates she’d stacked on the counter while Watch abandoned Dancy to lap water
from the bowl Clint had put out. “Do you think Erin will go back to that loser?” he asked.
“I really don’t.”
“That’s good.” He dried the glasses and put them next to the plates. She finished the last bowl and let the water drain, staring into the sink with more concentration than seemed warranted.
He set down the dish towel. “Do you have something you want to say?”
“About what?” She didn’t look at him.
“About whatever’s on your mind.”
She shrugged. “I’ll miss Erin when I leave. And the caboose.”
He couldn’t help himself. “And me?”
She finally met his eyes. “Of course I’ll miss you.”
An unfamiliar awkwardness fell between them. Watch settled in the grass at the edge of the patio watching them. Dancy began
unnecessarily wiping the counter. The breeze played with the shiny lock of blond hair that had fallen across her cheek. Turning
away, he headed across the patio to the sunken hot tub and pressed the button that activated it. “I’m going in the water.
One hundred and two degrees.” He unfastened his shorts. “You might want to look away.”
Her hands stilled. “Or I might not.”
“Dancy . . .”
“Kidding.” She made a show of turning her back to him.
He slipped out of his shorts and briefs and sank naked into the bubbling water. “You’re welcome to join me . . . as long as
you stay on the other side.”
“You’re so afraid of me.”
“Every man on this planet should be afraid of you.”
She smiled and wandered to the side of the tub where she slipped off one of her new sandals and dipped her toe in the water.
His physical reaction to her was immediate.
In the days since she’d arrived, her complexion had lost its pallor, and the hollows under her cheekbones had softened enough so those extraordinary eyes were no longer eating up her face.
Even if he were sitting in an ice bath right now, he’d still be hot as hell.
“I’m coming in,” she said.
She turned her back and pulled off the top she’d made by cutting up one of his T-shirts. Her sports bra disappeared next,
revealing the slim ivory column of her back. All his wise intentions faded.
With her back still to him, she dropped the two garments on the chaise, then peeled off her shorts leaving her in nothing
but a pair of ugly gray panties with the Green Bay logo over her butt. There shouldn’t have been anything sexy about them,
but she was hotter than the water swirling around him.
She’d foolishly trusted him to look away, but he didn’t, and as she turned he had a full view of her breasts, right along
with the rest of her.
Instead of covering herself—and because she was Dancy Flynn—she regarded him haughtily. “Grow up.”
“Nothing I haven’t seen before.” His voice cracked.
She approached the tub, naked except for those insulting panties. He gave in and turned around, only to have one of the hot
tub jets hit him right in the crotch, making him jump.
“Water too hot?” she asked.
He sensed her stepping into the tub behind him. “Stubbed my toe.”
“You should be more careful.”
He’d given her long enough, and he resettled himself.
The Green Bay panties lay on the tub deck. She reclined across from him, the globes of her breasts round and full above the
bubbles. “This is nice.” She rested the back of her head against the deck and gazed at the stars.
The last word he’d have used to describe how he felt right now was “nice.” Despite her snark, she was the smartest, most fascinating woman he’d ever known. Also the most beautiful. But plain or pretty, he’d still want her.
She settled deeper into the water. “Do you ever think about what would have happened if I hadn’t gone off the rails and we
hadn’t broken up? Like, instead of heading to Hollywood, I’d have started college while you finished your senior year, and
we’d have stayed together.”
“Dancy, no matter what college campus you landed on, every man there would have been after you, and your high school boyfriend
would have become nothing more than a distant memory.”
She didn’t deny it, but neither did the idea seem to please her. “It was better that I went to LA. All that rejection was
good for my character.”
To his way of thinking, she’d had enough rejection from her parents. “One way or another, we’d have broken up,” he said.
“Because you’d eventually have cheated on me. A famous NFL player on the road with all those groupies. How could a man resist?”
Insulted, he moved toward the middle of the hot tub. “Do you seriously believe I’d have cheated on you?”
“Absolutely.” She spoke so defiantly that he suspected she didn’t believe it at all.
“Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “No reason to turn away all those eager women.”
She took a nibble at her bottom lip. “Except you wouldn’t cheat—not if you were in a committed relationship. I’m probably
the one who would have cheated.”
“I don’t think so. I’m guessing you had plenty of chances to cheat on Roth, but you never did.”
She didn’t ask how he knew that but sank further into the water. “I should have.”
He smiled at her disgruntled expression. “We both had too much growing up to do for it to have lasted.”
“You’re probably right. Except . . . I don’t know. Maybe we could have helped each other grow up.”
“That’s asking a lot of a couple of teenagers.”
“We weren’t exactly normal teenagers. Me because of my lack of family, and you because of being you.”
“What do you mean by that?” He prepared himself for another of her insults about him being some kind of saint, but she surprised
him.
“You were born with a gift, and you were smart enough not to squander it.”
Their eyes met. She lowered her arms from the deck and drifted closer to him.
He hadn’t set the timer properly, and the jets stilled, turning the water crystal clear. Their bodies, illuminated by the
submersible pool lights, glowed blue-white. She wasn’t shy about looking down at him.
Her breasts were inches from his chest. From his hands. He didn’t know which of them moved first. She seemed to wrap her arms
around his neck at the same time he slipped his around her waist. His hand moved lower, beneath the curve of her waist to
cup her butt. She pressed against him and found his mouth. They kissed, deep and urgent, tongues playing, delving—
“Get away from him!” An angry voice, sharp as a scimitar, cut through the clear night.
He was so drunk on Dancy that it took a moment before the intrusion registered. Dazed, he turned his head.
And watched his mother charge toward them.