One Reckless Summer Read online

  “Holy shit,” he murmured when he spotted Saturn with its rings. He’d learned about the solar system a long time ago in grade school, of course, but…there was something about seeing it, another planet, with freaking rings around it, with his own eyes. It was just hard to believe he could be looking at something so far away—it was like sci-fi come to life.

  “Now let’s look deeper into space,” Jenny said, stepping up to the telescope and starting to make adjustments to it, changing out the lens.

  “You can look deeper into space?” he asked, astounded.

  Her answer came matter-of-fact. “Oh yeah. Much deeper.”

  A moment later, after she used a dim, red-lensed flashlight to consult what looked to Mick like some kind of star map, she peered through the telescope, made more adjustments, then let out a heady-sounding sigh. “Got it,” she said. Then backed away from the instrument and said, “Take a look. The Dumbbell Nebula.”

  Mick put his eye back to the lens and what he saw almost made his heart skip a beat. A huge, heavenly glow surrounded a darker shape that reminded him of an hourglass. “What the hell is that?”

  “It’s a planetary nebula. Which is basically a big blob of gases produced when a certain kind of star explodes.”

  “Wow,” he murmured. “That’s pretty damn cool.”

  “But the more common type of nebula is a big, gassy region where stars are actually formed.”

  He pulled back from the telescope. “Formed how?”

  As she explained, she took back control of the telescope and played around with it a little more, until offering it back to him again. “Here—this is the Swan Nebula, a star-maker, but there aren’t many stars visible. And you might have to use your imagination a little to see the swan.”

  He looked, and was amazed. “I see…more of a check mark,” he admitted, but felt a little freaked out to think he was looking at the stuff that would turn into new stars.

  “Ah. The short end of the check mark is the swan’s head, and the long side is the body. Can you see it now?”

  “Oh. Yeah. Kinda. So, how far away from us is this thing?”

  “About five thousand light-years.”

  He pulled back, looked at her. He sort of remembered what a light-year was from school, too. But…“You’re saying it’s so far away it takes five thousand years just for the light from it to travel here?”

  “Yep. What we’re looking at right now is actually how the nebula looked five thousand years ago. It’ll take another five thousand for us to see how it looks tonight.”

  “Shit,” he murmured. “That’s…tough to wrap your brain around.”

  She smiled. “I know. It’s a crazy world out there.”

  He laughed. “It can be a crazy world down here, too,” he pointed out, but couldn’t deny the world felt less crazy when he was with her.

  And the thought made him stop, a little more taken with the girl before him than even the stuff stars were made of. He reached out and grabbed on to her hand, squeezing. “Thank you for showing me this, pussycat. You’re right—it makes the bad things seem smaller.”

  She lowered her chin, cast a pretty smile. “Well, I kind of…loved showing you. I love that you get it and don’t think I’m just a geeky girl with a telescope anymore.”

  “You, pussycat? Geeky? Never. You’re too beautiful.” Lifting his hand to her cheek, he gave her a soft, gentle kiss that was much more about just wanting to be close to her than about getting in her pants. And then one kiss beneath the stars turned into another, and another, their mouths lingering together, exploring—until he pulled back, stopped.

  What the hell was he doing? He’d told Wayne it was just sex. He’d told himself that, too, a hundred times, that anything else he felt was just about need, comfort, about distracting him from the bad shit. But how did he make sense of this—of the weird, simple joy he’d just taken from looking at the damn stars with her?

  “I should…take you home now,” he told her, wondering if his sudden discomfort showed.

  “I hope I haven’t kept you away from your brother too long.” Good, she just thought it was about Wayne.

  He automatically shook his head. “It wasn’t you—it was me.” Damn it—shut up already. But in his head, he kept talking: It was me just wanting to be with you. And he knew he definitely should be quiet now, but there was one more thing he really needed to say, because it suddenly hit him that he wasn’t sure he had. “Thank you, too, honey, for not telling your dad about Wayne.”

  “I wouldn’t do that to you, Mick,” she whispered, and his heart warmed.

  There were moments when he still got fearful, wondering if she could still tell her dad about him and Wayne, but after tonight, he felt totally safe with Jenny knowing his secret.

  * * *

  Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

  Buddha

  * * *

  Eleven

  Despite herself, Jenny walked into the Fourth of July picnic at Betty and Ed’s carrying her lemon bars with a smile. She’d chosen a red-and-white polka-dot sundress and flat red sandals for the occasion, and had opted for a ponytail knowing that the day—and night—would be long and hot. The heat wave hadn’t broken since she’d gotten home and wasn’t expected to anytime soon. And maybe she should still be worried over lots of things—but she wasn’t.

  She spent the next hour chatting with people, including Tessa and Amy—and Amy was quick to point out Logan Whitaker across the meadow, who Jenny couldn’t deny had indeed grown up well. “He’s a fireman,” Amy pointed out—but Jenny didn’t take her bait.

  “This is so great,” Sue Ann said, stepping up to join the other three girls. “All of us back together again. The only thing missing is Rachel.”

  And all of them sighed. Rachel had always been the outgoing one, the determined one—the one who’d gotten them in trouble a time or two. Well, except for Jenny, who had always refused to go along with whatever scheme was taking place. “So she doesn’t even come home to Destiny to see her family?” Jenny asked, having wondered about that after their last conversation.

  “Her family moved away, too,” Amy said wistfully. “Only her grandma Edna and a few aunts and uncles are still here.”

  “I wish you’d reconsider going with us to Chicago in the fall. You, too, Sue Ann. Think of the fun we could have.”

  Jenny cleared her throat. “As I keep reminding everyone, I have no idea where I’ll even be in September, although with any luck, I’ll be busy teaching.”

  “Don’t look now,” Sue Ann said, “but Mike Romo at nine o’clock.”

  Since the girls stood in a circle, the other three weren’t sure which way to look. “Which way is nine at the moment exactly?” Amy asked.

  Sue Ann pursed her lips and looked irritated. “To my left.”

  Jenny indulged in a glimpse and, wow, when she spotted the dark-haired guy in a police uniform that matched her father’s, she understood what all the fuss was about. “Holy crap.”

  Amy raised her eyebrows before even sneaking her peek. “Aha! So you are interested. One look at Mike Romo can make a girl more ready to get back in the dating pool than she thought.”

  “He’s so snarly, though,” Tessa said with a sneer. “He was so mean to my Aunt Alice when he pulled her over that she ended up in tears.”

  “In his defense,” Amy said, “your Aunt Alice drives like a nut.”

  Sue Ann cast Jenny a sideways glance and said, “Actually, sometimes Jenny goes for the scary type.”

  Both Tessa and Amy immediately zeroed in on this. “Do tell,” Tessa said.

  “That’s so not like you,” Amy added. “But I knew it—I just knew it. There is a mystery man in your life.”

  Dear God in heaven—what was Sue Ann thinking? A familiar warmth climbed Jenny’s cheeks as she denied the whole thing—again. “Don’t be silly, you guys. Sue Ann is just trying to be a troublemaker. Aren’t you?” She glared at Sue Ann.
/>   Her best friend looked almost as surprised by what she’d said as Jenny was—then nodded. “That’s me, always making trouble. What can I say? It’s a sickness.”

  Then Jenny changed the subject. “But speaking of the Romos, what relation is Mike to that Lucky Romo guy?” She was suddenly remembering that Lucky Romo had once hung out with Mick.

  “Brother,” Amy said. “But Lucky took off a long time ago—I don’t think even Mike knows what became of him.”

  “Hmm,” Jenny replied, beginning to realize that besides being a compulsive matchmaker, Amy truly had her finger on the pulse of the entire Destiny population, past and present.

  “Time to eat, ladies,” Ed, their host, poked his balding head into the small crowd to say, and Jenny was kind of relieved. She enjoyed seeing her old friends, but she was more than ready to tune out Amy’s dating suggestions. Oh, and kill Sue Ann.

  “I should murder you,” she said under her breath as they broke away to go get in the food line.

  Sue Ann looked appropriately guilty. “I agree. I don’t know what came over me—it just popped out. Those girls are a bad influence on me. They make me feel like we’re back at one of Rachel’s pajama parties.”

  “I know what you mean. But if you can’t control yourself, then no more guy-talk when we’re around them. Remember, it’s not just my secrets at stake here.”

  Sue Ann nodded obediently and lowered her voice further than she already had. “You’re right. I keep forgetting you’re aiding and abetting.”

  After which Jenny swallowed heavily. At moments, she forgot that, too. But she never forgot Mick’s freedom was on the line.

  And she felt a lot more relaxed when she finally settled in with Sue Ann’s family at a picnic table, where she feasted on a fresh-off-the-grill burger, Mrs. Kinman’s potato salad, Linda Sue’s baked beans, and a couple of Lettie Gale’s famous deviled eggs while listening to Sophie regale her with tales of Vacation Bible School. It was nice to focus on something besides her own dramas for a few minutes.

  Not that it lasted long. When Jeff left the table with Sophie to watch her chase butterflies in the wide-open meadow behind Betty and Ed’s house, Sue Ann said, “So, back to you and your scary type. What’s new in the Jenny saga these days?”

  After their lunch the other day, Sue Ann already knew the whole story about her taking down her mom’s picture, yet she wasn’t aware of the ongoing new guilt it had induced with her dad when he’d seen the room. “But he seems okay now,” Jenny concluded after filling her in on the latest. “For the most part.”

  “Good. Only…that’s not the part of the saga I was asking about. I asked about the scary guy in your life—remember?”

  Jenny sighed. Oh yeah. But suddenly, this part was …a little harder to talk about. Even with Sue Ann. So she fumbled through her thoughts aloud. “Okay, fine. The fact is…I’m feeling…pretty crazy about Mick.”

  In response, Sue Ann sucked in her breath and looked alarmed—just as Jenny had feared. “Wait a minute. I thought this was just sex.”

  “It is,” Jenny assured her. “Mostly. Although, I mean, we’ve started…talking more lately. And he even rowed me across to his side of the lake so we could look at the stars together.”

  Sue Ann gritted her teeth as if to say, Yikes. “Jen—hello? That is not just sex, my friend.”

  Jenny shrugged. “Sure it is. Or, well, it’s just something that goes with the sex and makes me more comfortable with the sex. Because it’s just…nicer to know the guy you’re getting wild with, you know?”

  Just then, Mary Ann Davis from the Daisy Dress Shop wandered past, close to the table, with her husband and two children in tow, so Jenny and Sue Ann quieted until they were out of earshot. Then Sue Ann leaned close. “So no more dad guilt about”—she lowered her voice—“the wanted man across the lake?”

  Jenny shook her head. “Not really. Maybe if I thought about it all the time, but I don’t. I’m getting very…in control of myself lately. Ever since I realized Terrence was totally wrong about me, ever since I experienced the proof, I just feel more like I’m…”

  “Woman-hear-me-roar?” Sue Ann suggested.

  And Jenny giggled softly in reply. “Something like that.”

  “Hello, ladies.”

  Since they had their heads together, they both flinched, looking up—to see an older, still amazingly handsome version of Adam Becker, Jenny’s one-time boyfriend, the guy everyone kept trying to fix her up with. “Adam?” she said, blinking.

  “It’s great to see you, Jenny,” he answered, sounding much more masculine than she remembered. She was suddenly beginning to understand what everyone saw in him.

  And, whoa, this was weird. Because once upon a time, she used to make out with him—rather intensely. And wow, he looked good. “You, too.”

  “I heard you were back in town, and I was hoping your dad would call me to mow the grass at your place, but he hasn’t,” he said on a slightly sheepish-yet-endearing laugh.

  “Well, its hardly grown with the lack of rain.”

  “My loss. But I’m glad to finally bump into you.”

  Just then Sue Ann spoke up. “I’m gonna go…help Betty. I heard she’s making homemade ice cream.” But the look on Sue Ann’s face very clearly said, I still think Adam Becker is a much better rebound guy for you than Mick Brody.

  And as Adam sat down and they talked, Jenny couldn’t deny that it made sense. Adam was still good-looking, well liked, prosperous, enterprising, and had somewhere along the way become pretty darn sexy. He told her he’d gotten divorced, then pointed out the little twin boys who’d joined Sophie in the butterfly chase. “Jacob and Joey,” he said. “I get ’em three days a week and miss ’em like crazy when they’re gone.”

  Jenny told Adam she’d gotten divorced, too, but kept it light, realizing that talking about it didn’t bother her as much as it had just a couple of weeks ago. She explained about the teaching job she’d left and that she was here for the summer deciding what was next.

  “I heard the Destiny School Board offered you a job,” Adam said with one arched eyebrow. “We’d sure be happy to have you back here permanently, Jenny.”

  She tilted her head in surprise. “I forgot how quick news travels around here.”

  He shrugged. “The Destiny grapevine’s alive and well. And I just put in some landscaping for Stan Goodman’s wife,” he concluded with a wink.

  “Well, I haven’t ruled it out, but I haven’t given it a lot of thought, either,” she explained. I’ve been too busy keeping secrets and having covert sex.

  “Listen,” he said, “I know your divorce is still fresh, but…let me take you out to dinner one night this week. There’s a new Italian place over in Crestview.”

  Jenny’s heart swelled. She loved Adam. In an old-times, first-passion kind of way. And if Mick hadn’t been in the picture, who knew…maybe she’d have been more tempted. She could easily envision the big smile it would put on Sue Ann’s face, and her dad’s, too. She and Adam would make the perfect couple. He even came with the children she and Terrence had never produced.

  But she really couldn’t imagine going on a date with Adam—even for old times’ sake—when she was feeling so…caught up in Mick. The other night with him had been amazingly freeing, and showing him the night skies had made her feel more…connected to him.

  A little sadly, she reached out and took Adam’s hand. “Thank you for asking me—but I don’t think I’m ready to date yet.” Because that sounded a lot better than, Sorry, but I’m already having reckless casual sex with Mick Brody—you know, that guy who once robbed a liquor store in Crestview?

  Adam smiled in understanding and said, “No worries, Jenny. Maybe some other time—if you decide to stick around.”

  “Maybe,” she told him. But even as smart as that sounded, especially since she knew Mick wouldn’t be in her life for very long, it was hard to think of any other man right now.

  After Adam left to check on his
boys, Jenny made her way over to Miss Ellie, who sat in a lawn chair beneath a shade tree. Something about being around Miss Ellie always provided her with a sense of calm—even if she had to scream to be heard. “Hello, Miss Ellie!” she said loudly.

  Miss Ellie looked up with a wrinkled smile. “Well, Jenny—hello, dear.”

  “What a pretty dress you’re wearing!” Jenny yelled. It was decorated with butterflies in various pastel colors.

  “It’s nice and thin,” she said. “Good for the hot weather, you know.”

  Just then, a pretty yellow butterfly fluttered up beneath the tree, flickered and flew around Miss Ellie for a moment, then alit on her lap. “Well, look at that,” Miss Ellie said. “He thinks they’re real.”

  Her almost childlike smile warmed Jenny’s heart, and she suddenly understood what Miss Ellie’s presence gave her: a reminder of the joys of a simpler life. The simpler life all around her in Destiny. When she wasn’t busy having ravenous sex with the liquor store robber, of course. A thought which made her laugh out loud.

  Miss Ellie looked up. “You seem in good spirits today, dear. I still can’t believe that silly Terrence deserted you for a hippie, but I’m glad to see you smile.”

  “Don’t worry, Miss Ellie, he’s the last thing on my mind. Now, would you like me to go get you some ice cream?”

  Miss Ellie put her hand to her ear—Jenny had forgotten to yell that time.

  “Ice cream, Miss Ellie! Ice cream!”

  Miss Ellie suddenly looked worried, her gray eyebrows knitting. “Oh, you shouldn’t waste your time screaming over a man, dear.” Then she looked cheerful again as she reached out to take Jenny’s hand in hers. “But you know what would make you feel better? Some of Betty’s homemade ice cream. Why don’t you get us some?”

  Jenny approached her father from behind at the picnic as he stood talking with Mike Romo—she planned to ask if he wanted to cook out at the cottage tomorrow evening. Maybe it would put any remaining tension about the pictures behind them.