Chapter 49
FORTY-NINE
Kendall
“When he came over, he was looking a little too relaxed, and he was smiling and laughing. He was wearing khaki shorts, a polo shirt, and loafers. Very casual.”
Theresa gasps, and her hand flies to her chest. “Unbelievable.”
“Not only that, but he even cracked a joke and laughed.” Surprise is written all over my face, my eyes wide, and my hands fly around as I animatedly tell the story.
“Next thing you’re going to tell me is he sat on the couch with his legs splayed and his hands behind his head.”
We both laugh, and it’s contagious—Logan and Dane join in.
“He did come out on the boat with us, and instead of telling Dane what to do, he was asking me questions about the salon and spa.”
Theresa glances over to the guys and says, “Kendall’s right; something’s up with him. I’m with her.” She points to me. “He has a woman in his life.”
The guys chuckle half-heartedly. Dane says, “I never imagined my dad being involved with a woman again. If he’s found some sort of happiness, then I’ll give him props. Until then, I guess we’ll wait and see what happens with this whole situation.”
Logan agrees with a nod as he sips his whisky.
The food comes out, and we eat and chat about how we need to do this again. It was a night of laughs, drinks, good food, and now we are heading back to the lake house for a sunset boat ride. The lake died down a bit with more pontoon boats out on the water, cruising around at a snail's pace.
We all head into the house and make a few drinks for the ride. Even though we ate, I made dessert that we can eat on the boat.
“It’s not apple season yet, but I made an apple crisp. You can warm it up, add a scoop of ice cream, however you want to eat it.” I dish out four servings with spoons, set out the ice cream, and we all grab a bowl.
“Let’s get moving, or we will miss the start of the sunset.” Dane moves to the slider and opens it for everyone to follow.
Settling into our seats on the boat, we cruise around the lake, which keeps the sunset right in our line of sight.
We’re probably thirty minutes to an hour before it’s fully below the horizon.
The light fades to orange at the top, with a bright ball in the middle and colors below that are slightly darker, featuring more orange and red tones.
Everyone is in awe of the scenery. It really doesn’t get any better than this when it comes to lake life. The sun is bright enough to shine orange through the air and on the water. You still need your sunglasses on, but soon we can remove them and enjoy it in full color to the naked eye.
The low rumbling of the motor is all you can hear in the silence. Once we are at the other end of the lake, Dane anchors the boat so it doesn’t move too much while we are out here.
“Love, this is the life we want.” Logan wraps both arms around Theresa and kisses her cheek.
“Get a room, you two,” Dane mumbles, since Logan busted us the last time he was all over me.
“You’re just jealous because you don’t have your sweetheart in your arms.” Logan with the quick comeback.
Dane finishes making sure the anchor is set and comes back over to me, pulling me close and staring into my eyes, fire blazing in his depths.
And then he slinks down so he’s lying across the seat in the back of the boat and dives onto my mouth.
Making a show of it—loud, sloppy, passionate, and all-consuming.
“Ew, you always have to one-up me,” Logan yells over and throws a blanket at Dane, but misses.
Dane wraps up the kiss with a couple of slow swipes of his tongue over mine, and he slowly moves up, bringing me with him. We settle into our spots, and I tuck myself into him. He grabs the blanket and covers me up.
The stars are shining bright tonight, and it’s close to a full moon, too.
Dane flips a few switches, and I think he turns on the boat lights and steers us back to the dock.
It’s a quiet ride. I’m wrapped up in the blanket.
Once the sun disappeared, the chill in the air felt twenty degrees cooler.
Logan and Theresa are cuddled up with their blanket too.
Dane drives the boat close to the dock to tie it up.
We all step out and walk to the driveway.
Logan and Dane give each other a brother hug. Dane says, “Thanks, we need to do this again.”
I overhear Logan’s response as I hug Theresa. “Yes, absolutely.”
“Yes, please,” Theresa says as we release each other.
Dane rests his arms lazily on my shoulders, and we wave goodbye as they leave. Once they’re out of sight, he tugs me into my body and wraps his other arm around me, holding me and keeping me warm, even though I still have the blanket around myself.
“Want to lie on the hammock for a little longer, looking at the stars?” Dane asks as he kisses my neck.
I squeeze him tighter around the waist. “Yes, you can keep me warm.”
“I can try really hard on the hammock,” he chuckles.
“That would be fun to try.”
“Getting my hopes up, are you?” He moves me, so his arm is still around me as we walk to the hammock on the porch of the hut.
Dane plants himself down first, and then I come with him.
We go swinging, and he covers me up with the blanket.
With one hand behind his head and the other around me, we watch the stars.
My body feels heavy, and he must have sensed it, because he whispers, “You sleeping?”
I whisper back, “No, I’m very relaxed and watching all the stars in the sky.”
“Okay, sweetheart. Please let me know when you'd like to go in. I don’t want you freezing to death.” His whole body moves as he chuckles.
Kissing my forehead, he glances back at the stars, probably looking for constellations. We both see it at the same time, we practically jump out of the hammock and almost tip ourselves over.
I yell, wide awake now, “Did you see the shooting start too?”
“Yes, yes, I did. That was unbelievable. It shot across the sky. I’ve never seen one before.”
“It’s a sign.” I lean over, kiss him like it's my last.
On my lips, he whispers, “It’s definitely a sign. I love you.” He kisses me back like I’m the only thing he’s ever loved.