Nick looked at her in bemusement, and she shrugged one shoulder, her face filled with exasperation.
“What do you want?” she demanded.
“Nothing,” her brother grumbled.
“You’re calling for nothing?”
“Just wanted to make sure you’re OK.”
“I’m always OK.”
“Yeah.” Adam’s tone said he didn’t buy that at all.
“Is there anything else you want to bug me with? If not, I’d like to go back to—”
“Nothing else. Glad you’re OK. Talk soon.”
Larssen hung up.
“Tear my clothes off, huh?”
“Shock talk. It always gets him to back off. He’s so uptight, I’m surprised he hasn’t imploded by now. I don’t know how my sister-in-law puts up with him.”
“He just wants to support you.”
“More like suffocate me,” she muttered.
“Your family is still close, isn’t it?”
“Too close. They can’t seem to stop butting into my business.”
He would give anything to have that. For the millionth time, he wondered what his life would be like now if his brother and mother hadn’t been ripped away.
“Where did you go?”
Jannie’s quiet voice yanked him back to the present.
Nick forced a smile. “Somewhere I shouldn’t be.”
She eyed him thoughtfully. “Loss sucks, doesn’t it?”
“It does.” No surprise that she’d guessed. He eyed the second empty wine bottle, glinting emerald in the light of the dying fire, and wished for something stronger.
“How are you dealing?” he asked, posing the question that had been on his mind the entire evening.
She raised her chin. “I’m OK.”
“Are you really?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Her voice, however, was hoarse. She looked away, and he caught a glimpse of tears brimming before she blinked them back.
Something wrenched in his chest, and he patted his shoulder. “It’s here if you need it.”
He hadn’t expected her to scoot closer, nor did he anticipate her laying her head on his chest. Before he knew it, she was leaning into him, the scent of her floral shampoo filling his nostrils, the warmth of her body causing his own to heat up once more.
It felt good. Really good.
For a while, neither of them spoke; the only sound was the constant croaking of frogs in the lake.
