Guardian (The Guardian Trilogy) (25 page)

Shel
looks at me with sympathy in her eyes.  “I don’t.  But I could see Dane making
you feel better.  I wouldn’t think less of you if you had a connection with
him.”

“We’re
friends,” I concede.

“That’s
good.  And if it ever develops into something more, hey, you could do a lot worse.” 
She gives me a look.

“What
do you mean by that?” I shake my drink to dislodge the frozen pieces.  It’s
almost gone.

She
looks at me like I’m stupid.  “Oh, so you haven’t noticed he’s gorgeous?  And
loaded on top of being a nice guy?”

“Loaded?”

“The
boy’s got money, Em.  You didn’t know?”

“I knew
he had a nice car….” I frown.  If Dane is well-off, then why is he working at
the course?  Oh yeah.  Me
.

“Matt
said the company Dane had an internship with his last year of college kept him
on.  I guess he’s this amazing artist.”

“He’s
an artist?” I ask, completely baffled.

Shel
laughs.  “Maybe you two should get to know each other better off
the
course.  You can start today.”

I tip
my glass up to swallow the last of my drink.  Yep, I know I’m going to need
another one of these.  I glance around the pool deck.  “Where’s your cabana
boy?”

About four
daiquiris and three hours later, I pull myself out of the pool after being
pulled in – again – by Matt and Dane.  For some reason they find forcing me
into the water extremely hilarious.  To be fair, I did laugh really hard when
Shel went in first; Matt had snuck up on her and pushed her in by surprise.  When
she surfaced looking like Cousin It, and heard my hysterics, she decided it was
my turn to go in.  From there it just turned into a vicious game of who-can-we-throw-into-the-pool-next.

I haul
my dripping self to my chair to enjoy the last of the day’s sunshine.  Dane
walks over to me and shakes his hair over my stomach.

“Hey!”
I protest.

“You’re
already wet,” he says and sits down in the lounge Shel previously occupied.  He
stretches out on the chair with a groan.  “I’m beat.”

“Hard
day at work dear?” I ask and giggle.  Four daiquiris may be too much for me.  Wait. 
Make that five if you count the first one.

Dane grins. 
“Why yes, honey, thanks for asking.”  He’s had a few too many as well.

He
closes his eyes and places his hands behind his head, lifting his chin toward
the sun.  My eyes travel the length of his body of their own accord, I swear. 
Everything about Dane is well-defined and hard to ignore.  His arms, his chest,
his abs, the way his black swim shorts hang off his hips…

Bad
Emma!  I need to redirect my thoughts.

“So, why’d
you do it?” I ask to clear my mind.

He
opens his eyes and asks, “To what are you referring, Smoochie Poo?” while
trying to keep a straight face.

I crack
up.  When my laughter subsides, I clarify.  “Volunteer to work for me.”

“Who
told you that?” he asks.  I catch his eyes dart to Matt and then back to me
again.

“You’ve
got to stop doing stuff for me,” I protest and try to look serious.  “I already
owe you enough as it is.”

Dane
looks at me like he’s dealing with a child.  “Please,” he says sarcastically. 
Something catches his eye and he turns to the pool.  I follow his gaze to find
Matt and Shel making out in the water.

“C’mon!”
he yells at them and picks up a pool noodle that’s lying by his chair.  He
tries to throw it at them, but it’s too light and doesn’t even make it half the
distance.  “Nobody wants to see that!”

“Then close
your eyes!” is Matt’s smart response.  “Whose house is this anyway?”

Dane
turns to me.  “He’s got a point,” he says and makes a face.

I raise
my hand to the side of my face like a blinder.  “This blocks it out,” I smile.

He
follows my lead.  Now we’re turned toward each other with our hands blocking
the sides of our faces.  “We look stupid,” he laughs.

I can’t
help it.  “You always look stupid,” I say, suppressing another giggle.

“That’s
it!” he says and lunges forward.  He grabs my arm as I try to fend him off.

“No!” I
squeal as I kick.

Dane
leans his shoulder toward my stomach, pulls my arm forward and easily picks me
up off the lounge chair, tossing me over his shoulder. 

Yep,
I’m in the pool again.

I
resurface, sputtering.  “Thanks a lot!”  I swim over to the side where Dane is
laughing.  He offers his hand to pull me up.

Inspiration
hits.  I pretend to reach for his hand as I grab the side of the pool.  Instead
of taking it though, I push myself out of the water to wrap both my arms around
his leg and then let my body weight pull me back down.

“What
the!”

He’s
caught off balance from leaning forward to help me and he goes into the pool over
my head like I’d planned. I get taken under a little too, and when I wipe the
water from my eyes, I try to contain my laughter.  I know I’ll be in trouble
when he pops back up.

I
manage to pull myself out of the water just as Dane’s hand grazes my heel.  I
squeak and jump when I feel his touch.  I don’t want him to catch me.  I run
past the lounge chairs and right off the side of the deck.  I don’t know where
I’m headed, but I don’t want to be caught.

I round
the side of the pool and crouch down by the far corner.  It’s above-ground, so
it sits slightly higher than my head.  Matt and Shel are laughing, and I hear
Dane’s feet as he runs off the deck to find me.

“You
can’t out run me!” he yells.

I don’t
know which way he’s going to come around the pool, so I keep turning my head
from side to side.  When he appears at the corner directly in front of me, I
let out an “Oh shit!” and take off toward the back of the house, rounding the
side and heading to the front.  I turn the corner and press myself against the
siding.  I need to catch my breath.  I expect him to come right after me, so I
peek around the corner of the house.  I don’t see him.  I take some more time
to breathe.  The thought crosses my mind that I’m really out of shape.  Or just
buzzed.

I
decide to slowly make my way across the front of the house, to the next
corner.   It never occurred to me that he would backtrack and creep around that
way to lie in wait.  When I turn and see him casually leaning against the side
of the house, I jump and let out a loud scream.  I start laughing and back away
with my arms out in front me.

“I’m sorry!” 
I laugh.  “Don’t throw me in again!”

Dane
smiles at me mockingly.  “Now why would I do that?”

I keep
backing up.  I look around the front yard.  “Leave me alone!  The neighbors can
see us!”

He
keeps advancing.

I’m not
paying attention and the back of my foot hits the rubber edging on Mrs.
Randall’s flower bed.  I stumble and the next thing I know I’m falling backward
into a bunch of daylilies and mulch.  I turn to try and catch myself.  “Ahhhh!” 
I land on my side with a thud.

Dane is
hysterical with laughter.  Literally holding his sides.  I start to crack up
along with him.

“That,”
he walks up to me, “is better than anything I would have done to you.”  He
offers me his hand.  “Are you all right?”

I nod
and wipe some tears from eyes.  I grab his hand and he pulls me to stand.  Globs
of mulch are stuck to my skin on my side, my stomach, my shoulder, down my leg;
there’s even some in my hair.  I start to brush myself off.  Dane helps a
little.

“Are we
even?” I ask, still laugh-crying.

“I
think so.  That.  Was.  Great.”

“Well,
my middle name is Grace,” I tease.

He
pauses for a minute.  “Really?”

“No!” I
shake my head smiling.

Dane
bends down and picks up a yellow daylily I broke off a plant.  He tsk-tsks like
I’m going to be in trouble then gently tucks it behind my ear.

I reach
up and adjust it so it won’t fall.  “Can we go back and lay in the sun now?”

He
nods, still laughing, and we head to the pool.

As dusk
falls, Matt moves Shel, Dane, and I farther out into the yard for fireworks.  We
arrange our yard chairs in a line, like we’re at a theater.  Shel throws
herself into the chair next to me after hanging our swimsuits up to dry.  She
has a bottle of water in her hand.

“Daiquired
out?” I ask, nodding toward her water bottle.

“For
now,” she smiles.  “This will hopefully prevent a horrid hangover in the
morning.”  She takes a swig.  “You should probably have some too,” she
suggests.  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drink so much.”

I laugh,
agreeing with her.  “Five drinks was probably a very bad idea,” I say
knowingly, although I still feel okay right now.

“Hey Grace?”
Dane asks me from the end of our theater seating.  “Can you pass me a Coke
please?”

Ever
since my flower bed fall he’s been referring to me as Grace.  “Yep.”  The
cooler is by me so I reach in to grab a can.  I pass it to Shel who passes it
to Dane.

“Thanks,
Grace,” he snickers at me.

I roll
my eyes.

“Okay!”
Matt calls out from in front of us.  “These fireworks are going to be
fabulous!  I got them at Wal Mart.”

We all
laugh.  Matt lights the first one and skips a few feet away from it.  It’s a
roman candle fountain that shoots multi-color sparks into the sky.  It’s kind
of small and lame.

“Ooooo,”
we all laugh.  “Pretty.”

“It’s
not
that
bad,” Matt says, defending his show.

Matt
proceeds to light roughly seven more fireworks and they’re all the same thing.

“Jesus!”
Shel yells from the chairs.  “Didn’t you read the box when you bought these? 
Are they all the same?” she complains.

“Hush
woman!” Matt yells back to her.  “It’s the best I could do on short notice.”

Matt
lights two more and then tells us, “This is the last one.  The Grand Finale!”

“Thank
God,” Shel whispers to me.

Matt
lights the last firework and it’s more of the same.  Maybe a little larger than
the others and it has some sort of noise element that every so often shrieks
into the sky.  When it burns out, Shel and I clap wildly for the end of the
show.  Dane whistles.

Matt
walks up to us.  “That was awesome!” he says sarcastically, then changes his
tone, rubbing his belly.  “I’m hungry.  You guys want anything?”

“I
could use some food,” Dane says, and I nod in agreement.

Shel
stands up out of her chair.  “Me too.”  She looks at Matt.  “I’ll help you.” 
She reaches for his hand as they walk away from us and back into the house.

Dane
and I are left in our chairs, surrounded by the tiki torches we lit earlier to
fend off mosquitoes.  He looks over at me.  “Feeling all right after your fall,
Grace?”

“Yes,
I’m fine,” I smile and start to laugh thinking about how ridiculous I must have
looked.

He
laughs with me.  “That was classic.”

When
our laughter subsides, we sit in silence staring into the yard.  Suddenly, he
stands and takes two steps toward me.  “Walk with me?” he asks.

I give
him a puzzled look.  “Okay.”

He
takes off toward the back yard, where Matt had been just a few seconds ago.  It
takes me several steps to catch up with him.  I walk beside him for a few feet,
until we’re completely out of the tiki torches light.  He’s
uncharacteristically silent.  I continue to walk beside him, deciding that
he’ll talk when he’s ready.

“Watch
your step,” he says and reaches out to grab my hand as he helps me over some
railroad ties that are lying in the yard.

“What are
those doing there?” I ask as I climb over them.

“I
think they’re left from Dr. Randall’s failed attempt at a garden.”

“How
long have you known Matt’s family?”

“A long
time,” he shares.  “Since I was five.”

Dane
continues to walk further into the backyard.  How far does it go?  I can barely
see in the darkness, but he apparently knows where he’s headed.  Finally we
reach our destination at the tree line, which I assume marks the edge of the
Randall’s property.  He looks up and I follow suit.  Up in one of the larger
trees I can make out the outline of a tree house.

“Matt’s?”
I presume.

He
nods.  “His and mine.  We had another small one over there,” he points and
searches the trees for it.  When he does, my arm moves, and I realize he’s
still holding my hand.  I pull it away, and he gives me a curious look.  “I
guess it’s gone.”

Eyeing
the tree house cautiously, I ask, “Are we going up in this one?”

“Oh
no,” Dane shakes his head smiling.  “We’d probably fall to our deaths.  I just wanted
to see if they were still back here.”

I walk
over to the tree and touch one of the boards nailed to the trunk.  I look up and
see several more leading up to the house.  Dane remains silent.  Reminiscing
about his youth?  I turn and open my mouth to ask him what we’re doing out
here, but when I look at him, he’s staring at me in that way that makes me
uncomfortable.

I step away
from the tree.  “Well, this one’s still here.  Let’s go back before we’re eaten
alive by bugs.”

“Emma,
I have to talk to you.”

My
stomach instantly knots.  This sounds serious.  Either that, or I’m still
buzzed from my reckless drinking.  Maybe I’m not processing things right.  I
try to lighten the mood.  “I thought my name was Grace?” I tease.

He
gives me a small smile and moves toward me.  I retreat and bump up against the
tree, feeling one of the boards at my lower back.

He
steps up to me.  Our bodies are nearly touching.  “I don’t know exactly how to
say this, so I’m just going to say it.”

“What?”
I whisper, because I’m pretty scared I know what’s coming and I know it won’t
be good.

He
reaches out to touch the daylily that’s still tucked behind my ear.  “I know I
promised you I wouldn’t do this…”