The Lure of White Oak Lake (13 page)

“But we’d be cheating, no honor or victory.”

“Morgan, you fail to see the funny. Think about what their faces would look like if they came out of the maze and we were halfway into a funnel cake.” Jaclyn sniffed. “Oh, and coffee, I smell that too.”

“You’re just jonesing for a funnel. Be strong and move faster.”

Jaclyn laughed. “You’ve got a serious competitive streak.”

“Yes, I realized that when my brother said he could shoot milk through his nose farther than I could. I proved him wrong, even though I was sixteen.”

Jaclyn turned right at the next intersection of trails. “The exit is on the right side of the concession stand, so if we keep going that direction, we should eventually get there.”

“I bet they expected you to do that when they carved out the maze.”

Jaclyn came to another abrupt halt, and Morgan skidded on her heels to keep from slamming into her. “You gotta stop doing that.”

“Sorry, it’s been ages since I’ve done this, but I bet you’re right, we should’ve gone left.”

“So let’s backtrack a little.” Morgan took the lead this time. “There’s not a lot of people out here right now, so we can move pretty fast.” She reached behind her. “Give me your hand, it’s slippery.” Morgan’s intent was to make Jaclyn move as fast as she intended to. The unexpected jolt of pleasure from the connection slowed her stride. She was struck by how silly it seemed that she should feel that moment romantic when her feet sloshed in mud in the middle of a cornfield. But the dark sky was clear, and stars so bright shed their light above. Morgan’s concerns drifted away beneath the moonlight. Everything that brought her there seemed such a distant memory.

Jaclyn had grown as silent as she was. “Why are you so quiet?” Morgan asked.

“I’m enjoying the walk,” Jaclyn said behind her, “and sometimes, there’s just no need for conversation.”

Morgan smiled, few people understood that. Unconsciously, she held Jaclyn’s hand a little tighter. Jaclyn’s grip became firmer. It filled Morgan with longing to be closer. As they walked, she wondered what it would feel like to kiss Jaclyn. Would it be returned? Then reality settled in heavily. They were friends, and despite the amorous feeling that swept over her at that moment, real life awaited outside of the maze. Jaclyn’s hand slipped from her grasp as it weakened.

“Which way?” Morgan asked when they came to a junction.

Jaclyn’s tone held disappointment. “Right would be my choice.”

Morgan felt her feet fly out from beneath her, then corn plants buffeting her fall.

“Austin!” Jaclyn barked out.

“Sorry, Morgan, I didn’t mean to tackle you.” Austin’s face was just above hers. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, especially after the spinal realignment.”

“Austin, really?” Jaclyn said irritably.

“I just meant to jump out in front of y’all, but I tripped on a row.” In his attempt to help Morgan up, he inadvertently grabbed a breast instead of her arm.

“And now you’re feeling me up?”

“Oh, my God, I’m so sorry,” he said with a laugh. “For a second, I thought I had your nose. Ow!”

“Is that your ear?”

“Y’all are tearing up the maze wall,” Jaclyn warned.

“That’s my face not a handrail, old lady. Ow!” Austin started laughing hysterically. “Was that corn? Did you hit me with corn?”

Morgan’s voice came from somewhere out of the darkness. “I don’t know what it was, but hang on a sec, I found another one.”

Austin rolled out onto the trail and landed on all fours. Morgan hit him with an ear of corn, and Jaclyn gave his backside a shove with her foot, sending him face first into the ground. “One thing you need to remember, son, old ladies are mean and we know how to fight. Where’s Dylan?”

“We ran into Candace and her friends, and he wanted to stay with them. I think he likes Candace, and she doesn’t like me.”

Morgan stood and shoved Austin over again. “So the race is off?”

“I didn’t say that.” Austin scrambled to his feet. “But since I have to wash two cars, I think it’s only fair that I get an extra apple if I win.”

“No deal, son. If you win, we’ll let you clean our shoes.”

“Wow, muddy shoes over an apple, I’d be a fool not to take that offer,” Austin said drolly. “Okay, how about a barbecue plate and a funnel cake, no apple?”

“I’ve got dibs on the potato salad. I know you won’t eat it anyway. Ow,” Jaclyn squeaked when Morgan hit her with the corn. “All right, I’ll share with you.”

“Well, I’m good with the new terms then,” Morgan said.

“Deal.” Austin turned and took off running.

Jaclyn reached out and touched Morgan’s shoulder. “Are you hurt?”

“No, the plants really did break my fall. My ass is wet, though.”

“You’re very good-natured.”

“He’s a lot of fun, and I really do believe he tripped.”

Jaclyn laughed. “I’m sure he did, but you’d think someone with feet that big would manage to stay upright more often. I was the same way at his age, tripping constantly and dropping nearly everything I put my hands on.”

“I’m having a hard time believing that. You seem pretty graceful.”

“Well, you haven’t been around that long. I’m sure I’ll do something to challenge that opinion.” Morgan and Jaclyn were moving at a pretty brisk pace, the sounds of the parking area were growing louder. Jaclyn caught Morgan’s arm again. “Listen, that’s Annie arguing with her kids about sodas, they’re at the concession stand.” She moved in front of Morgan and started walking faster.

Something that sounded like a horse was coming up behind them fast when they made another turn. “Run, Jaclyn!”

Jaclyn took off in a sprint with Morgan on her heels. They rounded one corner, and the lights of the stand came into view. Jaclyn poured it on, and Morgan pumped her legs hard to keep up with the stride. Jaclyn demonstrated her lack of grace and tripped, Morgan slammed into her before she could regain control, and they rolled out of the maze.

“Aw, man,” Austin said breathlessly as he came out behind them.

“We’re all right,” Jaclyn said with a laugh to the onlookers. “We just beat a fourteen-year-old through the maze.”

She and Morgan laughed at the applause.

Their picture was snapped by one of the maze photographers as Morgan said, “Way to go, Grace.”

Y
’all are like so embarrassing. Mom, you have straw sticking out of your hair and shirt, and, Morgan, you’re just muddy.”

“My hands are clean.” Morgan snagged a piece of funnel cake. “And your mom’s car is gonna be clean tomorrow, too.”

“Your Jeep is what’s going to need to be cleaned. He’s right,” Jaclyn said, looking at Morgan, “we’re a mess.”

Morgan grinned as she picked a piece of straw from Jaclyn’s hair. “The mess is worth the fun. I’ve had a blast, and we have a picture to prove it.” The five-by-seven on the table showed Morgan and Jaclyn laughing as they lay tangled together and Austin behind them grimacing in defeat.

“You have mud on your cheek,” Jaclyn said as she wiped Morgan’s face with her finger.

“Y’all look like two monkeys grooming each other.” Austin grinned for a moment, then his eyes narrowed as he looked past Morgan and his mother. Dylan and Candace emerged from the maze holding hands. “Aw, man, Dylan and cranky Candace are together now, and I can’t stand her.”

Jaclyn looked over her shoulder, then back at Austin. “You and Candace were friends, what happened?”

Austin shrugged and made a face. “She got all weird. She told me she’s gonna get her braces off next week, and I told her she might be cute then, especially if she didn’t get big like her mom. She got all mad and started yelling at me, and all I did was pay her a compliment.”

Morgan’s eyes flew open wide. “You insulted her and her mom all in one sentence.” Austin looked like he didn’t get it. “Okay, what if I told you that you’d be cute if you didn’t look like your mother?”

Austin looked offended. “My momma is pretty, everybody says so.”

“She is very pretty, but listen to what I’m saying.”

Jaclyn felt her face warm at the compliment and stayed quiet as Morgan tried to get Austin to see the point. “The words if and might should never be in a sentence when you’re complimenting someone. Had you said, ‘Candace, you’re cute, but you’re going to be cuter when you get the braces off,’ that would’ve probably gone over better.”

Austin made a face. “I don’t think Candace is cute, but she might look a little better when her braces come off. I should’ve told her that, right?”

Morgan looked to Jaclyn for help.

“Son, do you remember what I told you the other day about thinking before you speak?”

Austin sighed. “Girls are hard.”

Jaclyn smiled. “Just keep it simple, like, ‘you look nice today’ or ‘your hair is really pretty.’ And if that’s not the truth, then don’t say it.”

“You looked very pretty today, before you rolled in the hay behind the concession stand,” Austin said. “How was that?”

Jaclyn winced. “Better, but keep working on it.”

~~~

“See ya tomorrow, Morgan,” Austin called out as he headed toward the door. Jaclyn smiled at Morgan as she climbed out of the Jeep. “I had a great time, and I’m glad you came with us, but I’m so sorry about the mud we got all over everything. Bring it by tomorrow, and Austin and I both will clean it up.”

“It’s a Jeep, what good is it if I can’t get it muddy?”

“The mud is supposed to be on the outside, not all over the seats and carpet.” Jaclyn tugged at her soiled shirt. “I think I made the biggest mess. I can feel mud on the back of my neck.”

“You’re still pretty,” Morgan said as she shifted the Jeep into reverse. “Good night.”

“Good night, I had a great time,” Jaclyn said as she closed the door. Morgan waited for her to walk up on the porch and open the back door before she pulled away. Jaclyn sighed as she watched Morgan drive away. For a moment in the maze, it seemed they were crossing the boundary of friendship into something more intimate. She didn’t want to read too much into Morgan’s compliments, though they affected the defenses she held loosely, too.

~~~

Morgan stretched out in her bed after a shower. Celeste would think she’d lost her mind when she told her she spent a Saturday evening running through a cornfield and even more so when she admitted that she enjoyed it. But then it was the company she spent the evening with that made it so enjoyable. She chuckled when she thought about Austin’s so-called compliment to Candace.

The smile remained on Morgan’s face as she thought about Jaclyn. She was easy to talk to, fun to be around, attractive. Morgan felt a tiny tug in the pit of her stomach as she heard Jaclyn’s laugh in her head. She caught herself as her mind started to ponder what it would be like to just let go and see what developed between them. A part of her truly wanted to throw caution to the wind, but the other more practical side was the one she allowed to speak the loudest. This wasn’t home regardless of how comfortable it had become, and she would have to leave it all behind one day.

W
hy do you keep clearing your throat?” Jaclyn asked Austin the next morning as she cooked breakfast.

“It’s burning and scratchy.”

Jaclyn looked away from the eggs she was cooking and watched as Austin took a sip of juice and winced. He looked pale, and his eyes were watery. She took the skillet from the heat and put a hand to his head. “Oh, buddy, you’re hot. Let me go get the thermometer.”

Austin was sitting at the table with his chin in his hand when Jaclyn returned. “I can’t be sick, Mom, we have to work on Thor.”

She held the thermometer up. “Open.” Austin shook his head like he did when he was small. “Son, we both know I’m not going to shove this up your butt. Keep clamping those lips, though, and I’ll find another place to stick it.”

“If that thing shows I have fever, I’ll be on lockdown. I really want to work on Thor.”

“You have time, open.” Jaclyn stuck the thermometer beneath Austin’s tongue when he reluctantly complied. “Sit here for a minute and I’ll fix your plate.” When she returned to the table and looked at the thermometer, she frowned. “You’re going to have to lay low today.”

“Man.” Austin sounded miserable as he wiped his eyes. “Of all the times to get sick. Maybe I caught something from the mud.”

“Cornitis is very serious. I’ll need to check your armpits for kernels. I hope it isn’t the more virulent popcornitis, but if it is, I’ll be sure to have plenty of melted butter on hand.”

Austin gazed up at her bleary-eyed. “That’s not funny.”

In addition to the loss of humor, Austin also had little appetite, a sign that he felt worse than he was willing to admit. Jaclyn watched as he pushed his plate aside and curled up on the couch beneath a blanket.

“I’m going to check on Chet, and I’ll let Morgan know that you’re taking the day off.”

“Tell her I’ll be good to go tomorrow after school,” Austin said droopily.

“Sure.” But Jaclyn doubted he would be doing anything the next day aside from visiting the doctor.

~~~

Chet had everything under control when she walked in. Skip and the boys were having coffee, and the early morning fishermen rush was over. “Bailey left everything tidy last night. Did good sales, too. She’s coming in at noon. I talked to her a little while ago,” Chet said.

“I really appreciate your help today. Austin’s sick with what I suspect is his usual seasonal sinus infection.”

“You give him a shot of bourbon with honey and lemon juice tonight before he goes to bed, and he’ll be right as rain,” Chet said with a nod.

“He’s a little young for hot toddies.” Jaclyn looked out the window and noticed Morgan already out on her deck. “I’m going to walk down and talk to Morgan. If you need me, holler.”

“Yeah, better check on her,” Skip piped up. “I heard you two were rolling around in the maze last night,
cher
. I’m working on that wedding dress, but you gonna have to wait till crawfish season to wear it. They too little to make a sash with.”

Jaclyn grinned. “You hush, Skip.”

~~~

Morgan was installing brackets on the front of the not-boat when Jaclyn walked onto the deck. “We’re going to be having chicken soup instead of roast today, Austin’s sick.”