"NO, GRAHAM, DON'T TOUCHanything!" I made a desperate grab for the seven-year oldterrorizing the kids around him. "Or anybody."
"I'm a monster!" Heroared, darting around the desks and evading me once again.
Truer words, Ithought, but I didn't have time to laugh. This child was determinedto spread his finger paint over everything and everyone in theroom.
"Whoa there, tiger." Atall woman in jeans and boots caught Graham and swung him up,holding him by his middle. "Time to wash up."
"Thanks." I hurried overwith wet paper towels and wiped off as much of the paint as I couldmanage with the boy batting and kicking. I glanced up at hiscaptor. "I appreciate the help. Are you a mom? I don't think we'vemet yet."
"Nah, not a mom. Just anaunt." She let Graham down, holding his hand in a death grip. "Tothis little cherub, actually."
"Oh." I grinned; it wasclear that this chick had her nephew's number. He wasn't going toget away with anything. "Everything okay with his mother?"
"Yeah. She's my sister,and her husband surprised her with a trip to Hilton Head for a longweekend. Anniversary deal. They left this little prize with my mom,and for some reason I'll never understand, she gave him a donut forbreakfast. Sugared him up before she sent him to you. So ... sorryabout that."
"No problem." I dried myhands. "I did notice he was a little more, ah, active today."
The woman grimaced."You're being too nice. He's a brat sometimes. He's the onlygrandchild, and so he's more than a little spoiled." She sighed. "Ican't say anything, I do it, too."
"What are aunts for, ifnot to spoil? My nephew is just a little over a year old, and Icould just eat him up whenever I see him." I stuck out my hand."I'm Meghan Hawthorne, by the way. The art teacher."
"Maureen Flynn.Veterinarian and auntie to horrible monster children." She shook myhand as I laughed.
"Graham's really notthat bad, not normally. He's actually got some talent, when I canget him to sit down and concentrate."
"Doesn't surprise me abit. My dad's an artist, of sorts. He's a mason, and he designsthese beautiful fireplaces or walls for people. He's got the eye,Ma says." Maureen examined me a little more closely. "You're notfrom Burton, are you?"
I laughed. "No, why? AmI missing a special symbol marking me as part of the town?"
"Nah, I just realized Ididn't know anyone related to you. So what brought you to ourbustling city?"
"It's a long story." Imoved to my desk and began to sort through the day's projects. "Butbasically, I'm part of a program that places art students incommunities that need them. I'm only here for the summer."
"Ah." She nodded. "Doyou live nearby?"
"I go to school inSavannah, but right now, I'm staying out at Sam and Ali Reynolds'farm."
"Ohhh." A shadow passedher face so quickly, I wasn't sure I hadn't imagined it.
"Do you know them?" Ihad a hunch maybe she knew one of them a little better than theother.
"I ... did. Not so muchanymore." This time the discomfort lingered.
I sighed. "Sam? Did youdate him?"
Her brow knit together."What? Sam? Oh-no. No, I had never had the pleasure." She winked atme. "But by the way your face is turning that lovely shade of red,I'm guessing you have."
"I'm not-I mean-"
Maureen laughed. "Nocomment is a perfectly acceptable answer. No, I knew-know, thatis-Alison. But it was years ago." She paused, as thoughremembering. "We sort of drifted apart. But at one time, I thoughtshe was going to end up part of my family."
I was confused for thespace of a moment, and then everything clicked. Evans. Ofcourse. This woman must be the sister of Ali's lost love, Bridget'sreal father. Examining her more closely, I thought I saw a tiny bitof resemblance.
And if this wereBridget's aunt, and Graham was the child of her sister ... thatmeant Bridget had a first cousin, right here in town. In her class.I blinked, wondering if Ali knew about this. Of course she had to.This was Burton. Nothing was hidden.
Maureen was speakingagain. "Nice to meet you, but I need to get the paint monster backto my mom before he does real damage. Graham! Get a move on, we'regoing to Granny's house."
The other parents werestraggling in to retrieve their children, and by four o'clock, myclassroom was empty. I finished cleaning up and lit out for thefarm. I had a date, and I needed time to prepare.
No one was home yet whenI got back to the farm. Ali had put pork chops in the slow cookerfor dinner, and they smelled delicious. I high-tailed it to myroom, where I stripped off my teacher clothes and jumped into thebathtub.
Tonight wouldn't be ourfirst time having sex, but in my mind, that night in the truck onthe side of the road only partly counted. We'd almost been animalsthat night, mad for each other, and while the intensity was stillthere in spades, tonight we'd have time to enjoy each other. So Iwanted to be perfect. I used my favorite citrus body wash andshaved every part of my body that qualified for that attention.
I had just climbed outof the tub and wrapped myself in a towel when I heard Ali andBridget get home. Ali stuck her head through the doorway. "Hey.Whatcha doing?"
"I ..." Licking my lips,I tried for a smile. "I have a date. So ... I was gettingready."
Ali's eyes wandered downmy body, and she grinned. "My brother's taking you on a date?"
"Yeah. I don't knowwhere or what. He just told me to meet him at the truck ateight."
Her eyebrows went up."Oooooh. Well, then I guess I'll just say I won't be waitingup."
My face burned, and Alilaughed. "In case you're wondering, no, I'm not going to make thisany easier on you. It's too much fun, seeing the two of youtortured with having to behave yourselves."
"Thanks." I tucked theedge of the towel in to the top, securing it against my chest. "Ihave no idea what to wear, since I don't know what we'redoing."
Ali came in and floppedonto the bed. "Around here, you can't go wrong with jeans. Ifyou're leaving at eight, he's not taking you into the city for afancy dinner. There's a movie house in Summerville, but jeans wouldwork for that, too."
"Good thinking." Ipulled out my favorite pair of soft and faded denim and flippedhangers in the closet, looking for a shirt. "Hey, can I ask yousomething?" I glanced over my shoulder.
"I'm not helping youpick out sexy underwear for tonight. Sorry, I know it's agirlfriend thing, but when it's for my brother to see-there's waytoo much eww."
"No, silly." I shook myhead. "I don't need help with that." I thought of the expression onhis face whenever he lifted my shirt and saw a new bra, and Ismiled. "I know what he likes."
"Way TMI." Alishuddered.
"Speaking of which ... I met Maureen Evans today. She came by to pick up Graham."
Hurt and sadness flickered over Ali's face. "Oh."
"I didn't make the connection at first, but then when I told her where I was livingthis summer, she got the same look on her face that you have now.She said you used to be friends."
Ali grabbed one of mypillows and turned onto her stomach. "Yeah, we were. Until herbrother left town, and me, and their whole family. I think theyblamed me, which was ironic, considering I was the one trying totalk him into staying."
"I'm sorry. I didn'tmean to bring up a painful subject." I drew a black lace bra and amatching scrap of material that passed for panties out of my drawerand stepped into the bathroom to change, talking to her through thedoor.
"It's not your fault. Iwas really close to all of the Evans until graduation, and then ...I wasn't. They were like my surrogate family. Maureen was okay withme until I married Craig."
"And none of themsuspected ... ?" I pointed out toward the living room, where Icould hear the TV show Bridget was watching.
"I don't think so. Noone ever said anything to me."
"So Graham is hercousin." I kept my voice quiet.
Ali laughed, but thesound didn't have much humor. "Yep. Her one and only." She shot mea meaningful look. "For now."
I raised my hands. "Oh,no, my friend. No strings attached, remember? Summer-only deal. Nobabies. You're on your own."
"I'm not that sorryBridge doesn't know he's related to her. That kid's a piece ofwork."
"Yeah, even Maureen saidthat. She said he's spoiled because he's the only grandchild."
"I know. And don't thinkthat doesn't make it tougher ... the thought that my kid's onlygrandparents live ten minutes away, and they don't know it."
"Do Craig's parents keepin touch with her?" I thought of my huge extended family back inFlorida. The idea of not having any grandparents wasinconceivable.
"Not really. Cards ather birthday and Christmas, but I think Craig probably told themthe truth after he left. They were great while we were married, butafter he moved away, they did, too."
We both turned our headsat the sound of the kitchen door. "Hey, where are my women?"
Ali and I both laughed,and she climbed up from the bed. "I think that means us. I bettergo finish up dinner so you two can enjoy your ... date." She winkedat me.
I stood for a minutewithout moving. Hearing Sam's words and knowing he was including mein them-his women-gave me a strange feeling that was a mix oflonging and panic. I liked the idea, more than I should. The paniccame because I dreaded what might happen if Sam began to wantmore-and I couldn't give it to him.
I pushed the thoughtaway. Tonight was about romance and fun and just being present inthe moment-no worries about the future or the past. And I wasdetermined to make it perfect.
I finished dressing, puton a little makeup and brushed my hair, leaving it down and curlyaround my face. When I stepped out of the room to go help Ali inthe kitchen, I ran full-force into Sam, who was still shirtless andslightly damp.
"Hey." He caught me bythe arms. "Where's the fire?"
"I think it's in thekitchen, cooking your dinner." I grinned up into brown eyes thatwere devouring me. Taking a step back, I held out my arms. "So? DoI look okay for tonight? Or do I need to be fancier?"
Hunger that had nothingto do with pork chops burned from his face. "You don't need to beanything else. God, you look good." He glanced around me at thehuge oak grandfather clock that dominated the living room. "Howmany minutes until eight?"
I laughed. "What's goingto happen at the magical hour of eight? I'm still in the dark aboutwhat we're doing tonight."
A slow smile spread overhis lips, and heat flooded my face. "Okay, so I'm notcompletely in the dark. I have some ideas."
He stepped closer to me,until I was backed against the wall that was shadowed between mybedroom door and the turn to the kitchen. "In the dark is the keyphrase. But I don't want you to worry. Maybe I should give you alittle preview."
My heart stuttered alittle at his nearness. His chest, bared at my eye-level, sent ascorching rush of desire between my legs, and I couldn't helprunning my hands over his skin.
Sam tucked me into hisbody so that I could feel every inch of him. With one finger, hetilted my chin upwards and kissed my mouth. He started slow andsweet, but when I wrapped my arms around his lower back, he growledlow and pushed his tongue between my lips.
When we came up for air,I dropped my forehead to his chest. "I need to go help Ali withdinner."
"Yeah. I need to get ashower." Neither of us moved.
I lowered my hands tohis ass and pressed him closer to me. "IWWA ..."
"We're changing that,right now. Today it's not IWWA, it's WWAA."
I frowned, and he leanedto whisper in my ear. "When we are alone."
I sighed. "I can'twait."
He slapped me lightly onthe butt and stepped back. "Then let's get through dinner so wedon't have to."
I was pretty sure Ali'spork chops were excellent that night, tender and tasty, but theycould have been sawdust for all I knew. I ate mechanically, tryingto keep up with the conversation and act normal. I didn't think Aliwas fooled, but Bridge didn't seem to notice anything amiss.
I helped with the dinnerdishes, and by then it was nearly seven. Sam was sitting at thekitchen table, playing cards with Bridget.
"That's enough Go Fish,"he announced after four hands of the game. "Choose somethingelse."
"Oh, I know! How aboutOld Maids?" She scrambled down and ran to the cupboard where allher games and books were.
"I don't know how toplay that." Sam frowned at the deck of unfamiliar cards.
"It's basically Go Fish,but with different cards." Ali dried her hands. "They're all wordplays. See, there's Ben Dover. And Tully Vision. There's only oneOld Maid card, and whoever ends up with it loses."
"Mama, what's an oldmaid?" Bridget began dealing the deck.
"It's what they used tocall women who never got married, sweetie."
Bridge glanced up at me."Meghan, are you an old maid?"
I held back at giggle atthe horrified look on her mother's face. "Bridget! No, Meghan isnot an old maid. And it's not a very nice thing to say."
I decided this was anopportunity to educate her. "Bridge, when this game was made up,women felt like they had to be married to amount to anything. Butnow women can do whatever they want. They can get married or not,they can have any career ... so that's why we don't say old maidanymore."
She nodded, but I wasn'tsure she understood. "I want to get married when I grow up. I'mgoing to marry Parker Smith, and we're going to live on his farmbecause it has horses and pigs, and we're going to have lots ofbabies."
Ali rolled her eyes, butI hurried to answer Bridget. "That's great, honey, if that's whatyou want to do. But there's a ton of other things out in the world,and you might decide you want to do them, too."
"Don't you want to getmarried, Meghan?" The little girl picked up her cards and scannedthem.
The room was silent, andI felt as though everyone was waiting for my answer. "Um, probably.Some day. When the right person comes along, and when I'm ready.But right now I'm too young."
She cast me a skepticallook. "You're not too young. Mama was younger than you when she gotmarried." She laid down a pair of cards and gazed pointedly at Sam."You're not too young, Uncle Sam. Are you going to getmarried ever?"
Silence fell again, andI saw Sam's throat work as he swallowed. "Maybe someday, peanut,but for now, you and your mom are plenty of women for me."
"And Meghan," Bridgeadded.
Sam glanced up at me,his eyes unreadable. "Yep. And Meghan, for sure."
That same mixed feelingsettled in my stomach, and I took a deep breath, wiping mysuddenly-damp palms on my jeans. Just for now, I remindedmyself.
Sam made it through twohands of Old Maid before he stood up, announcing that he had to getsome things ready outside. Before Bridget could ask what he wasdoing, Ali interrupted and reminded her that it was time for a bathand reading.
"Have fun tonight," shewhispered as her daughter dragged her toward the steps. "But don'ttell me about it. I'd like to stay blissfully ignorant if you don'tmind."
I wiped off the tableand stood uncertain in the middle of the kitchen. It was nearlyeight, but I wasn't sure whether or not Sam wanted me outside. Iheard him around the truck, and my curiosity was running high.
Before I could peek outthe window, the screen door opened, and he stuck his head inside."Okay, I'm ready. C'mon on."
"Do I need to bringanything?" I rubbed my arms, wondering if I needed asweatshirt.
"Nope, just yourself."He held out a hand, and I took it.
The pick-up truck wasjust outside the door, and two fishing poles leaned against thebed. Sam squeezed my hand and looked down at me with questioningeyes.
"Okay, so if I'm way offbase here and you don't want to do this, I've got a plan B. Buttell me the truth: are you all right with some night fishing?"
"Are you kidding me?" Ireached for the pole nearest me and ran my hand over it. "I'm abeach girl. I love to fish."
The relief on his facewas adorable. "Good. I thought it would be fun. I've got a specialplace picked out, and I think you'll like it." He pulled me aroundto the other side of the truck, tossing the fishing stuff into theback over a tarp as we rounded the tailgate.
Sam started up theengine and within a few minutes, we were bumping along a rough dirtroad, heading into the woods. He'd taken my hand again when hestarted driving, and now he pressed it to his thigh.
"In case I forget to sayit later, you look gorgeous tonight. I couldn't stop looking at youwhen we were eating dinner."
I tightened my fingersaround his. "I've been rushing through this whole day, just to getto tonight. I don't even remember eating dinner."
He turned sharply, andwe were deeper into the trees. The canopy of branches hid the starsand moon, and the night was full-on black. I closed my eyes andleaned my head back against the seat.
"Are you tired?" Sam'sthumb rubbed the top of my hand.
"No." I turned my headand smiled at him. "Just enjoying the present. The quiet and thedark."
"Well, look ahead now,just for a minute." He took a left, and suddenly we were in aclearing. The sky stretched over us with a million stars, andbefore us, moonlight gleamed on a beautiful expanse of blue water.I caught my breath.
"Oh, Sam, it's sopretty." I leaned forward, checking out the sloping bank that leddown to the river. "Is this where we're fishing?"
He nodded. "Yeah, thisis my favorite spot." He pulled the truck alongside the water, asclose as he could get without getting stuck. "Wait here asecond."
Sam jumped out on hisside and circled around to open my door for me. He laced ourfingers together again as he helped me out and led me to theriver.
"If you sit down here,I'll bring the fishing gear over." He pointed to a flat rock thatsat on the edge of the water.
"I can help you," Ioffered, but he shook his head.
"Nope, just stayput."
He didn't have to tellme twice. There was something about moving water that spoke to mysoul, and I realized how much I'd been missing the ocean thissummer. I leaned down to let my fingers trail in the rushingbubbles. It was icy cold, and I shivered.
Sam joined me with ourfishing poles. He insisted on putting the bait on my hook for me,even after my assurances that I always did my own hook at home.
"I'm not that much of agirl, Sam." I took the offered reel.
"I didn't think youwere, but this is a date, and maybe you don't want to get yourfingers all slimy."
I couldn't think of anargument, so I smiled. "Thank you for that."
We cast out and watchedthe bobbers bounce as they landed. I settled myself between Sam'slegs, relaxing my back against his chest. "This is the best dateever. Thank you."
The fingers of his freehand wrapped around my stomach. "This is just the beginning. Don'tthank me too soon."
"But it's perfect. Mostguys would take me out to a restaurant or some place like that, andI'd have to pretend to like it. But this is exactly what I wanted.What I needed."
"I'm glad to hear that,because I'd have hated to put on a stupid tie and go to a fancyplace to eat." He leaned in to trail his lips down my neck. "Iwould have done it, if it were what you wanted. But I'm glad itisn't."
My line tugged sharply."Hey! I think I got something." I sat forward and pulled up,cranking in slow and steady. I liked that Sam didn't try to takethe pole from me; he just watched me, smiling, as I slowly reeledin a good-sized trout.
"That's a nice one." Hewatched the fish flop on the river bank. "I've got an ice chest inthe truck if you want to keep it."
I shook my head. "Nah.Let's let him go. He's been a good sport."
Sam removed the hook andtossed the trout back in the river. I watched him swim away. "Doyou think he's going back to tell his friends how he was abductedby aliens?"
"Maybe." He laughed."I've never thought about what the fish think when they're thrownback in. Do you ever eat what you catch?"
I shrugged. "Sometimes,but usually not." I ran the tip of my tongue along my top lip."It's the catching that I enjoy, you know? I guess I always thinkthe best part of anything is having fun while it's there, and thenbeing smart enough to walk away when it's over. Or toss itback."
Sam watched me for aminute and then nodded. He picked up my rod. "Want to castagain?"
I looked at him,kneeling next to me, those brown eyes hungry as he glanced up atme. His T-shirt stretched over his shoulders, and I knew I didn'twant to wait another minute.
"No, I don't think Ido." I slid from the rock and knelt in front of him. "I think Iwant to enjoy what I hooked. And guess what, Sam?" I kissed up hisneck until I got to his ear lobe. I bit it gently, sucking it intomy mouth. "WAN."
He pushed back to see myface, and he was grinning again. "WAN. We're alone now."
"Yes, we are." I slippedmy hands into the waistband of his jeans and tugged him as close tome as I could. "So what are you going to do about it?"
Sam lifted me up, hishands cupping my backside. "Come and see."
***