Chapter Seventeen – Want To #2
“I’m not sure of the exact number anymore.” I frowned, not liking that answer. “About a hundred cattle, thirty horses, twenty sheep, a handful of goats, and two dozen chickens.”
“But how many deer? And birds? Do you have bears?”
“I don’t own any of the wildlife. They own themselves. But it’s my duty to take care of the land they inhabit so they can continue to live here without being hunted or forced to move.”
“Fallon is opening a refuge here too,” Parker told him, and my heart twisted remembering all the times we’d talked about it. “That means she’s going to save animals who don’t have a place to go at the end of their life or when they’re sick.”
The image of the cow with the words carved into her side slid through me again.
It wouldn’t be right to bring more animals here if they’d be hurt.
I had to figure out what was going on, not just for myself and my guests, but for the future of the ranch and the dreams I still wanted to make a reality.
Caught in my thoughts, I wasn’t prepared for the water that doused my face. I sputtered, ripping off my sunglasses and glaring at Parker as he laughed.
“You did not just do that,” I demanded.
“You were getting all hot and bothered over there.”
“As if!” I unhooked my foot from his tube, dipped my feet in the river, and kicked hard enough to send water over both him and Theo.
They laughed, free and deep and joyous, and it took the darkness I’d fallen back into and ripped it away.
“Kick, buddy, kick,” Parker said. The little boy’s feet barely touched the river, but Parker’s enormous ones sent a tidal wave in my direction.
I was drenched from head to toe, but I was smiling in return.
In the old days, I would have done my best to tip Parker’s tube, but I didn’t want to scare Theo.
Instead, I simply splashed with my hands and feet as we approached the downslope to the lake.
“Hold on tight,” I said to Theo as we went over the tiny crest.
It really did feel a bit like flying as we careened over.
The tube turned dizzily, and I closed my eyes, riding it out.
Theo’s laughter rang out once more, joining Parker’s deep boom, and my insides filled with happiness.
When was the last time I’d felt like this?
Loose and content and truly present in the moment?
I wanted to hang on to it, wanted to keep it and wrap it around me so I didn’t have to think about the nastiness waiting for me once we landed ashore.
As we plunged into the lake from the river, the sound of a boat drew my eyes.
A teen was up behind it on water skis, flying by just outside the swim zone roped off by buoys.
The languid peace of the lazy river was left behind as more noise crashed into me.
Laughter. Music. The rev of Jet Skis and other boats.
People crowded the pebbled beach by the dock, sunning on lounge chairs or relaxing under umbrellas. The snack bar had barbecue smoke pouring from its chimney, filling the air with an aroma that made my stomach growl for the first time in days.
Nearing the dock, I flipped out of the tube, grabbed the handle, and swam for the ladder.
Parker eased out of his tube, leaving Theo inside it while pulling the boy in.
We’d replaced the old splintered dock from my childhood with a composite one years ago, and my tube slid along it as I tossed it up.
I turned back to Parker, steadying his tube while he helped Theo onto the ladder.
As I followed the little boy up, my skin tingled with Parker’s gaze lingering on me.
A lifetime of awareness was magnified by a very new and very strange discomfort with my body.
I unsnapped my vest and reached into the towel box we rolled onto the dock each day for our guests.
I wrapped one around my chest and took two more out for Parker and Theo.
The little boy was eyeing the snack bar with something like longing as Parker took the towels from me.
Instead of helping dry Theo off, he turned those sunglass-covered eyes on me, taking me in from the top of my wet braid, down to my chipped, bubblegum-pink nail polish, and then back up.
His gaze lingered on the towel I’d wrapped around my torso.
Parker’s smile turned into a frown, and he stepped closer to me, voice dropping as he asked, “Since when are you embarrassed of your body, Ducky?”
“What? ”
“Covering yourself up in a tank top and now wrapping yourself in a towel. Where’s the Fallon who strutted along a packed beach, not giving a shit who saw her in a tiny bikini?” He was worried. I heard it beating in every syllable.
I wasn’t embarrassed. Was I? I had nothing to be ashamed of. So what if I’d put on a couple of pounds? Who the hell knew how I’d gained it with the pace I’d been working at since I’d come home, but I had.
“Look, Kermit, don’t start with me.”
Parker reached out, grabbed the edge of the towel, and yanked it so I spun like a top toward the edge of the dock. I barely registered I was going over the side before I latched on to his wrist and took him with me.
We landed in the water with enough force that it dragged us under the surface. My glasses went flying, and I barely caught them before they sank to the bottom. I kicked out, foot colliding with Parker’s leg before rushing for the surface. I came up sputtering.
“Jerk. You almost made me lose my favorite sunglasses!” I splashed water at him as if I was annoyed, but my lips twisted upward, contradicting my words.
“You’re way too uptight these days, Ducky. Let’s see what we can do to loosen you up.”
Before I could object, he’d picked me up and launched me into the sky, sending me and my glasses sailing.
It reminded me of my dad doing this exact same thing.
The first time Dad had come back to the ranch, he’d joined Maisey, Sadie, and me at the lake, playing with us in the water as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
That day, I’d realized just how much he’d lost by leaving me here with Mom and Spencer.
How much we’d both lost. I’d never thought those lost memories had mattered to him before then, but he’d been making it up to me ever since.
As I surfaced once again, Theo’s little voice squealed, “Me, me, me!” as he jumped up and down at the end of the dock. “I want to fly too!”
Just as Parker turned toward the ladder, I leaped onto his back and pushed him under. It was only because I’d surprised him that I succeeded. Theo’s little face registered shock before he started laughing as Parker burst through the surface .
He’d lost his glasses too, and now I could see every inch of the sly smile that creased his eyes and promised payback. That smile, that joy, pierced me like an arrow. It was another image of him that I’d keep locked in a secret place reserved exclusively for him.
“You lucked out with that sneak attack, Ducky.”
“I thought you Frogmen were always ready,” I taunted. “Besides, that’s payment for actually making me lose my favorite glasses.”
I looked through the stirred-up water, trying to catch a glimpse of them. The lake was normally clear, especially this close to shore, but there was too much activity today.
He tugged my arm, yanking me to his chest, and our eyes met. Heat. Yearning. Happiness.
“You know what happens to sneaks, don’t you?” His voice was all sultry. A sensual dare.
“They win?” I taunted back.
His mouth came dangerously close to mine—so close I could feel the buzz that snapped between us. Then, his lips changed direction, breath coasting over my ear as he said, “They go in the torture chamber.”
His hand slid under my tank top, and he tickled me, fingers gliding over all the sensitive spots he’d found when we were little.
I tried to jerk back, laughing and pushing at his hands, even as they drifted upward until his knuckles brushed the undersides of my breasts.
The electricity that spun through me was almost as strong as the tickle.
I gasped and gurgled, still attempting to stop him, but he was relentless. Ruthless.
My lungs burned for air.
I knew of only one way to stop him. One thing that always got him to pull back when our play brushed over a dangerous edge.
I attempted another gasp of air before sinking under the water and slipping through his fingers as he tried to recapture me.
I kicked downward until my face was just at the waistband of his trunks.
I ran my palms along his inner thighs, letting my fingertips dance along a sensitive spot I’d found once by accident. I was delighted to see him respond. The bulge that appeared inviting me to do more than tickle.
Parker let out a muttered groan muffled by the water, and two strong hands gripped me under my armpits, hauling me to the surface.
We were chest to chest, hip to hip again, and our mouths were right back to being dangerously close.
Temptation hung in the air, turning those steel eyes dark and murky.
When would he ever give in to this feeling?
Why did he resist the pull when it would be so much easier to cave?
“Don’t start something you can’t finish, Ducky.” The growl that escaped those firm, full lips only lit me up inside.
“Parker, me! I want to play too!” Theo protested.
But Parker remained completely focused on me, searching for something that had my pulse beating frantically.
I moved slowly, sucking my finger into my mouth, and those gray eyes turned even stormier as he watched.
I had all of two seconds before he caught on to my intent.
When I popped my finger out and stuck it into his ear, his expression went from broody lust to stunned surprise.
I laughed, knowing I’d likely regret reinstituting our long-forgotten wet-willy contest, but reveling in having caught him off guard yet again.
I used his shock to escape, kicking away from him. As I reached the dock, I looked back with a raised brow and said, “If I remember, Kermit, it was always you who backed away from the finish line. I had no problem finding my way across it.”
I had the intense pleasure of hearing him growl, but I pulled a card from his book and ignored the sizzling air between us. Instead, I held my arms up for Theo. “Jump, I’ll catch you, and we’ll show Parker what it’s like when two superheroes gang up on him.”
Theo giggled and took the plunge. The hook on his life vest snagged my skin, dragging along my chest, and I barely bit back a yelp. But the pain completely disappeared when the little boy wrapped his arms around my neck and whispered, “I like you.”
And just like that, I fell completely in love with yet another boy who would never be mine.