Sweet Southern Nights (Home In Magnolia Bend Book 3) (12 page)

“I don’t know. Need to check my calendar.”

“We can always do a Sunday afternoon,” Clint said.

“I don’t want to commit yet,” she said, worried that this jaunt might mean more than friendship. Something in the glint of Clint’s eyes and in the way he responded to her remarks had her feeling a bit itchy.

She liked Clint. He had charisma, charm and a killer smile. He also had a commanding way about him, a sort of reliability that projected a sense of safety. Odd for a man who was considered disabled, but still very much present. Thing was she wasn’t attracted to Clint...except as a friend.

“Why not?” he asked. Something in his voice sounded hurt, but she didn’t want to encourage him,
did she
? God, she hated guilt.

“Well, things have been so unpredictable lately. I have Charlie’s birthday this weekend and we’re planning to visit his mother soon. Of course, I love a good festival, and Charlie would probably enjoy going, too.” Okay, so she couldn’t just shoot him down. Besides, an outing wasn’t a date. Friends did things together all the time, so she shouldn’t misread his intention as something it wasn’t. Plus, having a break from the reality of her life right now might be nice. And it would give her another day away from Jake and the infernal desire that had attached itself to her.

“What do you do at a festival?” Charlie asked, looking down at his plate. “Can I have some more of that cake, Eva? It rocked.”

Saying something rocked was Charlie’s new thing.

“No. You’ll ruin your dinner,” she said, before slapping a hand over her mouth. “Oh, God, did I just say that?”

Clint laughed.

For a few seconds they sat in silence, eating cake. Just as Clint rolled to the coffeemaker to pour a cup, his father, Murphy, walked in.

“Mmm, I smell coffee,” Murphy said, his rheumy eyes lighting on the coffeepot. Clint’s father was a stooped, spare man with few words and a passion for collecting baseball cards. He rarely appeared when Eva stopped by, but Clint professed he ate every crumb of her desserts.

“Who’s that?” Charlie asked, pointing his finger at Murphy.

“Don’t point. It’s rude,” Eva said, folding her brother’s finger down.

Clint’s father narrowed his eyes at Charlie. “Who are you?”

“I’m Charlie.”

Murphy raised his eyebrows and did something unexpected—he smiled. Well, at least Eva thought it was a smile. Could have been gas pain.

“Well, then, Charlie, I’m Murphy Cochran. I’m Clint’s father, and this is my house.”

Clint’s face tightened at that declaration. Eva knew it was a sticking point for her friend. Ever since the Cochrans moved from the Victorian house with its narrow halls and steep stairs to the handicap-friendly one-story lake house, Clint had been trying to find a way to break out. At first he’d stayed because his mother had wanted to take care of him. Now he stayed because, though he and his father didn’t get along, he worried about his father living alone. It was a catch-22.

“Oh,” Charlie said, shimmying down from the stool. “Can I go outside?”

“Sure,” Eva said, pouring coffee into a mug and passing it to Murphy before pouring herself one. “Don’t go near the water.”

Charlie slammed out the door.

“Did you hear me?” she called.

The kid gave her a thumbs-up and then clapped his hands so Biscuit, the yellow Lab who lolled in the sun, came running after him.

“Cute kid,” Murphy said, looking out at the boy running across the lawn. “Who does he belong to?”

“For the time being, me.” Eva slid onto the stool Charlie had abandoned. “He’s my half brother, and his mother is in rehab.”

Murphy lifted his bushy brows. “That’s tough.”

She wasn’t sure if he meant on her, Charlie or Claren. Maybe all three.

“You’re doing good, Eva,” Clint said, rolling beside her, brushing her arm with his hand. It was a soft caress that on the surface seemed friendly, but when she looked into Clint’s eyes, she wanted to mutter “uh-oh.”

“Thanks. I’m doing my best.”

Murphy turned the conversation to the upcoming hunting season and then to baseball playoffs. Before the accident Clint had been a pitcher for the University of Arkansas. There had been talk of his being drafted and playing in the minor leagues. Murphy Cochran had never gotten over the fact that his son had a career erased that night years ago. Bitter, he still stewed over what might have been, taking his anger out on Clint. Clint said Murphy hadn’t said five words to Jake since that night.

After another cup of coffee, Eva said her goodbyes.

Clint put his hand on her elbow as she turned to step out onto the porch. “Hey, think about the festival. It would be fun to get out of Magnolia Bend for the day.”

“I will,” she said, placing her hand over his and giving it a squeeze before pulling away.

“Is something wrong?” Clint asked.

“No. Why?”

“Nothing,” he said, following her outside.

Charlie ran over, the dog behind him. Both his jeans and the dog’s paws were wet.

“Did you go in the water?” Eva asked.

The look on Charlie’s face said it all.

“Charlie, I told you to stay away from the lake. You are never to go near water without an adult. Why did you disobey me?”

“Well, Biscuit wanted to fetch the stick, and I didn’t know I could throw it that far.”

“That explains why Biscuit is wet, not why you’re wet.”

“Well, she couldn’t find the stick. But I knew right where it was. So I helped her.”

All the bad things that could have happened flew through her mind—alligators, water moccasins, unstable lake bottoms. Charlie could have been seriously hurt. Why did she assume he’d mind her? “That’s not a good enough reason to go against my instructions, my rules. There will be repercussions.”

“What’s repercussions?”

“You won’t be able to watch TV for the next two days,” Eva said, taking his arm and tugging him toward her car.

“What? No. I didn’t mean to, Eva. I was trying to help Biscuit,” Charlie cried, trying to pull away from her.

“Doesn’t matter. You put yourself in danger by disobeying me. You’re punished.”

“No, you can’t do that. You’re not my mom,” he said, yanking his arm from her grasp.

“I’m your guardian, and I’m in charge. You don’t mind, you don’t get privileges.” Eva grabbed his arm again and tugged him toward the car. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Clint’s eyes widen.

Yeah, buddy, you want to date this? I don’t think so. ’Cause we’re a package deal.

“Ow,” Charlie screeched. “You’re hurting me.”

“I’m not hurting you. Get into the car. It’s time to go.” Eva felt irrational anger rear up inside her. How dare he act like a...brat. She’d spent the past two weeks sacrificing any sort of peace in her life for him.

“You are hurting me and you’re mean. I didn’t do nothing and you’re being a big mean person.” Charlie pulled open the back door of her car and climbed inside.

Eva turned to Clint. “I’m sorry you had to witness that. I’m learning kids aren’t the most rational of creatures.”

Clint lifted his eyebrows. “Yeah, I see. Good luck with that.”

“So you want to rescind that invite?” she teased, trying to beat down the irritation she felt at Charlie with some humor.

“No way. I love kids.”

Eva arched an eyebrow.

Clint grinned. “Okay, I don’t. But I would love to spend time with you.”

Again, a warning flag. “Okay, it’s your funeral.”

“Not yet,” he said, giving her a smile and wave as she slid into the driver’s seat.

She caught sight of Charlie in the rearview mirror. He stuck out his tongue, crossed his arms and jerked his head in that age-old gesture that meant “you’re dead to me.”

Great.

“Thanks for the cake,” Clint called.

Eva waved and started the car, rolling down the cypress-strewn drive laced in Spanish moss.

“You do understand that all kids get in trouble for doing what you did.” She glanced back at her brother. “Charlie?”

“I’m not talking to you.”

“Well, you just did,” she said. Inside she still felt shaky. The thought of Charlie floating facedown in the lake haunted her. At that moment she knew this wasn’t just about providing care. No, something more was going on inside her. She knew she loved Charlie. He was her brother, and loving him came with the territory. Like having wavy hair and a prominent Italian nose. But suddenly it was so...visceral. She felt an...almost rabid fear of losing him. A bizarre thing she’d never experienced before had sunk its teeth into her.

It wasn’t as if she had lived a totally selfish existence, but she’d never really had to put anyone before herself. With Charlie she had to think that way, and more important, she felt that way.

“Can I have some more of that cake tonight?”

Eva would have to actually bake a cake for that to happen. “Only if you help me bake it.”

“Well, I ain’t watching TV, am I?” he said, his words dry as sand.

Eva smiled. “Guess not.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

J
AKE
WATCHED
HIS
brother cast his crank bait perfectly, hitting the water along the lily pads with a light splash. So he threw in right beside Matt...mostly because he knew it bugged the shit out of his anal older brother. And that was Jake’s job—to be the cockroach tossed into the middle of a sleepover. He kept things stirred up and exciting in their family. One way or another.

“Stop.”

Matt was a man of few words. That was why Jake fished with him.

“What?”

His brother just gave him the look.

Matt was the oldest of the Beauchamp children. Solid, reserved and always right. That was Matt’s role. He was the rock, totally sensible—and boring, if truth be told.

After a few more casts and Jake missing when a fish struck his bait, they cranked up and headed back toward the boat launch. The sun glowed, turning the scanty clouds a bright persimmon against the lightening horizon. Nothing was prettier than a Louisiana lake at sunset. It was as if God got his swag on, showboating with his paint palette. Made a man almost speechless at times.

“Want to try over there before we load up?” Matt asked, pointing to a small slew where they’d had luck earlier in the summer. He slowed the boat.

“Sure.”

Matt motored over, and they cast a few times.

“Thanks for letting the boys come to Charlie’s birthday sleepover. I guess the kid’s really looking forward to it. And it means a lot to Eva.”

Matt grunted.

“She’s really got her hands full with him. He’s a cute kid, though.”

“It’s a good thing, what she’s doing for him. Lots of relatives wouldn’t have stepped up in such a situation, especially if they’re single and work odd hours like Eva does.”

Jake nodded. “She’s good with him. Guess most women are good with kids.”

“Most.”

“Is Mary Jane okay with the kids missing time with her?”

Matt shrugged.

His brother had been married for twelve years to the woman he’d met at a Kappa Sigma fraternity party. Matt hadn’t been in a frat but after having injured his knee and ending his college career, he’d been feeling down. So his best friend had cajoled him out the door and across town to the party where he literally ran into the blonde coed. Mary Jane had actually laughed at the dent he’d put in her Cabrio, and Matt had fallen head over heels for a woman who could laugh at something he considered somewhat serious.

But last year something had changed in their marriage. Mary Jane had left for a job in New Orleans and so far the weekly marriage counseling sessions didn’t seem to be working. Or at least not on the surface. Mary Jane still lived in New Orleans. And his brother still moved to the camp when she came to Magnolia Bend to visit the boys each weekend.

“What do you think about Eva?” Jake asked. He blinked that he’d even asked that question of his brother. So stupid.

“What do you mean? Like as a mother?”

“Uh, sure.”

Matt reeled his line in then turned to Jake. “Or do you mean as a woman?”

“No. Not like that,” Jake said, but he knew his words were hollow.

His brother narrowed gray eyes. “Wait a sec, are you into Eva?”

“Hell, no.” Jake threw in beside a hollowed cypress tree.

“Good, because she’s totally wrong for you.”

Jake nearly dropped his way too expensive rod. “Why would you say that?”

“Because Eva’s the kind of girl you don’t mess with. She’s solid and good. She’s not a bimbo.”

“And I only date bimbos?”

“Not what I meant. You’ve dated some decent girls, but they knew the score going in. You weren’t interested in financing a mortgage with them or helping them breathe through labor. You were interested in bagging them.”

“You make me sound like a caveman.”

Matt laughed. “Nah, I don’t mean that’s bad. You’re just not like me.”

“You mean living at the camp on weekends?”

Matt hesitated before saying, “Ouch.”

Jake immediately felt like horseshit.
No
. Like the fly larvae on horseshit. “Sorry. Uncalled for.”

“I get it. You’re defensive because you’re attracted to her. But I know you, Jake. You’re bored. I’d suggest you find someone else to scratch that itch. Eva’s too good of a girl for you to break.” Matt casted onto the other side of the stump and jiggled the bait a bit. “And make no mistake, you’d break her, Jake.”

At that moment a huge bass struck. Matt set the hook, and the big lunker flew up out of the water, thrashing in the waning light of day.

“Get the net,” Matt yelled, reeling and working the line.

Jake nearly tripped over the tackle box lying in his path, but he grabbed the net just as the big fish tried to go under the boat. Jake scooped the net in the water and grunted when he lifted. The bass was a monster.

“Woo,” Matt crowed, reaching in and detaching the treble hooks from the wide mouth of the fish. “This one’s over five pounds. Damn, he’s a monster.” Jake hooked his thumb in the mouth of the fish and lifted it. The big boy obligingly flipped his tail back and forth, still fighting against his captor.

Jake took a picture of his older brother smiling...something that rarely happened these days.

“Send it to me,” Matt said before lowering the fish to the side of the boat.

“You really think I could hurt Eva?” Jake asked.

Matt looked up. “Yeah. She’s had a thing for you as long as I’ve known her.”

Jake felt as if his brother had punched him in the gut. “No, she hasn’t.”

Lowering the fish into the water, Matt swished it for a few seconds, flushing water through its gills. “It may not have been obvious to you, but I’ve known it for a while now. She looks at you like you’re the lead singer in a boy band. It’s that bad.”

Eva had a thing for him? He couldn’t quite wrap his mind around that. He just couldn’t see it. They’ve been friends forever. Hell, he’d even farted in front of her a few times. Probably scratched his ass and admitted dumb things like how he liked to watch
Pride and Prejudice
. Damn it, he’d done things a dude didn’t do in front of a woman who was into him.

“I can’t believe it. I mean, she never gave me any signs. I never knew.”

“You didn’t want to,” Matt said, giving the fish a final swirl. “But trust me, you want to let her go.”

Matt released the fish, and with a swish of its tail it disappeared beneath the muddy depths.

For a few seconds he and Matt stood there and looked at the water. At the trail of shimmering light the sun left as it sank into the depths. At the rippling surface that hid things that didn’t need to be brought into the light of day.

Matt cleared his throat. “Yeah, sometimes you just have to let things go.”

Something hot sizzled in the back of Jake’s throat at the emptiness of his brother’s words. He wasn’t talking about Jake as much as he was talking about what he’d been struggling with over the past year.

His brother looked up at him with sad eyes and said, “Ready?”

“Sure,” Jake said, his thoughts as jumbled as the line of the reel he’d backlashed and set aside. He’d not had a clue about Eva’s interest in him...and he wasn’t so sure he could trust his brother’s assessment. After all, if Matt could read women, he wouldn’t be sleeping alone while his wife was fifty miles down the road, working for some swinging dick with an art degree and a sizable bank account. But truth sat fat and ugly in those words Matt had uttered.

You’d break her.

Eva was emphatically not a woman a man messed with and then set aside.

So was Jake ready for that step in his life?

Commitment?

He’d never wanted to marry and stay in Magnolia Bend like some of his high school buds.

So why are you still here, knucklehead?

He knew the answer to that one—he was a scared pussy, too afraid of leaving the past behind. Because guilt had treble hooks just like his crank bait, and they’d latched on to his soul, preventing him from taking what he wanted.

Sure, his psyche demanded he be true to himself and stop covering his desires with a veneer of good-time Charlie, but that gosh damn guilt tripped him every time. How could he grab hold of life, love and adventure when he’d denied his best friend any chance for the same thing? And he couldn’t bring in the fact that their friend Angela had died.

So Jake did the same thing every day. He got up and he was Jake Beauchamp, hardworking firefighter, hard-playing Romeo. That was who he was. Didn’t have to think or feel. Didn’t have to remember the things he’d once wanted or the person he’d once wanted to be.

He climbed from the boat when they reached the camp launch and helped his brother unload. Took a while because Matt was adamant about everything having its place.

As they were leaving, Matt said, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I guess.”

“Hmm.” His brother locked the boathouse and walked toward his truck.

“What did that mean?” Jake asked, following suit.

“Nothing.”

“Jesus, Matt. Don’t do that. You have something to say, say it.”

“You are you, so in this case with Eva, don’t be you.”

Jake wanted to tell his brother to go screw himself, but he didn’t. Because Matt was right. He couldn’t take advantage of Eva’s feelings and act on the weird emotions twisting inside him. He couldn’t risk that. “I won’t.”

* * *

E
VA
TAPPED
DOWN
the tent stake and stood, arching her back. “There. Done.”

Jake was at the barbecue grill, flipping hot dogs while four little boys tackled each other in the small side yard. The oldest, Will Beauchamp, had organized a complicated, made-up game that was part capture the flag, part football and part wrestling match. Eva didn’t understand the rules, but Charlie hadn’t stopped smiling since they began playing it.

“Next time I go camping, I’ll invite you. You broke my record for tent assembly,” Jake said, closing the barbecue lid and grabbing the beer sitting next to him.

Eva crossed the yard, plopped onto the wrought-iron patio chair and took a swig of her water. “Maybe you shouldn’t be drinking beer around kids.”

“Why not? It’s Friday night. I’m an adult. I’m not offering it to them.”

“Yeah, well, you’re the kind of guy these little boys look up to. They might think it would make them cool to try it.”

Jake gave her a look as if she was a cuckoo bird, but he poured out the half-drunk beer and placed the bottle in the recycling can she’d set outside to collect all the empty water bottles.

“Thanks for coming over to help me,” she said.

“That’s what friends are for. Besides, I like having you in my debt. Christmas will be here before you know it, and I’ll have gifts that will need wrapping.”

“Uh, I hate wrapping presents,” she groaned. Somehow she’d owed Jake a favor last year, and he’d showed up on Christmas Eve with several shopping bags and a roll of hideous wrapping paper. She’d even wrapped her own gift from him.

“Too bad. Now you owe me. I loaned you the tent and I’m roasting your wieners.”

“There’s a joke in there somewhere,” she quipped.

Jake grinned.

Ever since Jake had moved away from her on the couch at the firehouse last week, things had been easier. Almost back to normal. Almost.

Thing was though Eva had been really good in the past at hiding how much she wanted Jake, once it came out to play in the daylight, that attraction was apparently hard to put back in place. She couldn’t help but indulge in watching him, her gaze caressing his physique, her hands itching to touch. It was as if her desire had been encapsulated in a full-body cast and now that the casing had been shattered, it refused to be bound again. Or maybe it was more like her desire was a fertile delta, birthing fantasies of intertwined bodies glistening with sweat. Or maybe it had merely built inside her, festering, begging her to...

Do something
.

“Eva!” Feet slapped the patio, jarring her from her musings, and Charlie skidded to a halt in front of her. “Can we blow up water balloons now?”

Water balloons? “We don’t have any water balloons.”

“Jake brought some.” Charlie skipped over to the man who, come to think of it,
had
arrived with a big bag from Target. “Can we do them now, Jake?”

Jake’s nephews and another little boy who was in Charlie’s class crowded around Jake. “Please!”

“Can you get these hot dogs off for me, Eva?”

“I don’t know. Can you wrap your own presents?”

Jake actually hesitated. “I still brought the tent and lit the fire.”

Eva laughed. “Okay, go with them. I’ll take care of the hot dogs.”

“Yay,” the boys shouted in unison when Jake jogged over to the bag he’d brought with him. Like puppies they clamored after him, disappearing around the side of the house in the direction of the water hose.

Eva had never hosted a kid’s birthday party before. Heck, she’d only hosted one other party in her life—a bridal shower for her college roommate. All other gatherings before then had included Jell-O shots and enough room for a deejay. There had been no matching plates and napkins, balloons or cakes with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on them.

Just as she removed the hot dogs from the grill, a stream of water hit her in the back. “Ahhh!”

She spun, and another blast hit her right in the face.

Jake stood, clad in his PFG shorts and T-shirt, wearing a pair of goggles and holding a soaker gun. “Score!”

Eva shook her hands and darted behind a column just as a blast of water came at her from another direction.

Charlie whooped, followed by the other boys all carrying water guns and holding balloons full of water. “Get her!”

Squeaking, Eva ran in the direction of the house. A balloon hit at her feet, making her slip in her flip-flops. She skidded into the house and slammed the French door just as a stream of water hit it. Twisting the lock, she stuck out her tongue, taunting them.

“Awww, man,” Charlie shouted, before turning the gun on Jake.

Jake yelled as the water hit him in the chest, plastering the cotton shirt to his nicely defined muscles. He issued a war cry and then he was off, chasing the boys across the green lawn. Lots of laughter and screaming ensued.