Chapter 17
EARLY AUGUST…
RACHEL
“Mom! You cannot be afraid of the ball.” Mason throws his head back in disgust when the football goes flying and I jump out of the way instead of catching it. “It’s not going to hurt you.”
“But I already jammed a finger!” I hold the digit up as proof, but he just shakes his head from a few yards away as Emma collects the ball and tosses it back to him.
“Just try and throw it back to me, at least.”
“Okay.” I line my fingers up on the threads like he showed me, pull my arm back, and launch the ball as hard as I can.
It hits the ground halfway between us, and Emma makes a pitiful “wa-wa-waaa” sound.
“I think you need a break,” Mason snarks as he shuffles to retrieve my paltry pass.
“My form was good, though, right?”
He glares at me. “If I answer honestly, you’ll ground me, and if I lie to make you happy, you’ll also ground me. So, I plead the fifth.”
Crystal bursts out laughing from the picnic table where she’s been watching it all unfold. “He’s got you there, Mom!”
I chuckle, too. “I’m not that bad, jeez.”
“Jinx would say otherwise,” Mason mutters before he tosses the ball for Emma to catch.
I roll my eyes and grab a bottle of water, then join Crystal at the table. “I thought I did pretty good.”
Crystal gives a small snort. “For a mom, sure.”
Ugh.
“Speak of the devil.” My friend glances toward the park entrance, and I follow her gaze as I tip back a drink.
The familiar white truck with a trailer full of lawn equipment pulls in and parks by the tree line. A second later, Jinx hops out and drops the trailer ramps.
“Does that man have any help?” Crystal asks. “I swear, he’s everywhere.”
“Connor DeLuca works with him, and Jack Stroud helps during the summer. And of course, Mason.”
She hums. “Don’t get me wrong—I don’t mind seeing him everywhere.”
I almost choke on my water. “Crystal Denise!”
“What? He’s nice to look at.” She shrugs innocently and then shakes her head in appreciation. “I mean, those arms are like tree trunks. And that cake. Goddamn.”
“Oh my god.” I recap my water before I spill it. “You’re crazy.”
She swivels her head toward me, one eyebrow arched. “Don’t you act like you haven’t noticed. He did give you a ride home from the bar that one night and come back the next day to take you back to your car.”
“So? Just because he’s chivalrous doesn’t mean I want him to bend me over.”
She considers me for a moment, and then one corner of her mouth lifts into a smirk. “I didn’t say anything about bending over, sweet cheeks. That was all you.”
Well, crap.
“It’s okay.” She pats my knee. “Your secret is safe with me. Fantasize about the lawn boy all you want. Hell, do more than fantasize. After these past six months, you deserve it.”
The lawn boy? Dear god.
“Hey, Mom!” Emma hollers. “Can we go and say hi to Jinx?”
“Go.” I wave them on. “But don’t keep him from his work.”
Crystal sighs and glances out toward the lake in the distance. “Anyway, can you believe it’s August already? School starts in thirty days.”
“Yep. And thirty-one days until I’m divorced.”
“And not soon enough. Too bad it’s the first week of school. You deserve to get laid and take a vacation.”
Don’t I know it.
“It’s okay.” I stretch my legs out in front of me and sigh. “It’ll be nice to get back into a routine again.”
“You should come to the Dells with us next week.”
A few days away from Cole Creek sounds amazing, but… “I can’t swing it right now. I’m sorry.”
Crystal tips her head. “I already told you, babes. The rooms are paid for and there’s plenty of room for you and the kids. Tony got a nice bonus from the mine a couple of weeks ago, too, so we got you covered all around.”
I seriously have the very best friends, but the offer is too much. “I can’t let you do that. And it isn’t that I can’t afford the trip. It’s my mental bandwidth that’s stretched too far.”
“Anything I can do to help?”
“I appreciate the offer, but I just need to slow down for a bit.” Get myself ready for the school year we’re both about to start and the one I haven’t told her—or anyone—about yet.
I’m probably crazy, but the week after our drunken escapade at The Creek, I made a spur-of-the-moment decision and applied for an online graduate program. I was accepted, and classes start a week before I return to my kindergarten classroom. I’m excited, but I’m also nervous as heck. It’s been a long time since I’ve been a student, and I want to make sure I can handle it before I tell anyone what I’m up to.
“Well, the offer stands. For the trip or the help.”
“I love you.” I lean over and rest my head on her shoulder.
“I know.” She pats my head, all motherlike. “I’m a pretty awesome best friend.”
Snorting, I shove away from her.
“Aw, look at that.” She lifts her chin toward the kids and Jinx just as he pulls back and launches the ball. Emma and Mason scramble to catch it, and to my surprise, Mason lets his sister take the honors. “He just gets cuter and cuter, doesn’t he?”
“Mason?” I smile. “He’s a good kid.”
She nudges me with an elbow. “I meant Jinx.”
Oh, yes. Him, too.
“So…” she begins in a tone I know all too well. “When do you think you’ll start dating again?”
Yep. Saw that coming.
“How about I get divorced first?”
“Why? Craig sure as hell didn’t.”
I give a light laugh. Funny how that fact doesn’t bother me as much as it used to. “I’m not in a hurry. It’ll happen when it happens.”
“Hmm.” She takes a drink from her water bottle, still watching Jinx and the kids play with the ball. “You’ll need someone who’s good with kids.”
“Obviously.”
“And he better know how to lay it down and go down.”
I snort. “I should have never told you that.”
“Darlin’, a man who doesn’t eat ain’t got no place at your dinner table, either.”
And this is why she’s my best friend.
“I only wish you’d told me what a selfish prick he was sooner. I would’ve gotten you out a long time ago.”
“I really do love you.”
She curls her lip. “Cady deserves his no-pussy-eatin’ ass.”
Hell, yes, she does.
Of course, I’m still sex-deprived, but at least I don’t have to pretend anymore. And after last week’s kitchen counter escapade, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have to fake a single thing with Jinx. He almost made me come from boob play alone.
I shiver at the memory and discreetly glance his way just as he lifts a hand in greeting.
“Hey, Rach!” he calls across the park. “I hear you need some lessons!”
Crystal chortles. “Go on, Rachel. Let the hunky lawn boy show you how to handle his balls.”
I gasp and jab her with an elbow. “You’re going to hell, you know that?” Then to him, I call back, “Some of us are just better on the sidelines!”
He laughs and tosses the ball back to Mason before ruffling Emma’s hair. The kids start to make their way back, and he returns to his work.
He really is an incredibly sweet, incredibly sexy man. But no matter what my body may want, my head and my heart know better. I can’t let myself get caught up in the first man that pays me a little attention just because it’s been so long.
But it’s more than that.
My stomach tightens at the thought, and even my cautious heart agrees.
It’s more than flirtation and attention with Jinx.
It’s him.
It’s his generosity. And his honesty. His compassion, too. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that he’s made me smile and laugh every time I see him.
Yes, he’s younger, but he’s already proven that he’s all man.
And I’d be a foolish woman to deny that, in just a couple of short months, he’s made me feel more like myself than I have in years.