Page 35 of Something Old

“Anyway, Mr. Sunshine—I wasn’t talking about what you see in the yard here, which I think is really coming along, by the way. I mean the weather. It’s glorious!”

Grant looked up at the brilliant, cloudless sky as if he’d never seen it before. Then he glanced back at Madeline, his expression softening and his eyes warming as the latest thing stuck in his craw finally fell away. “Finally, yes, some weather worthy of the name summer.”

“Exactly! And nights are getting chillier. We won’t have much time.”

“For what?”

“All work, no play makes Jack a dull boy!”

Grant was full-on smiling now. “Is that so?”

“That is so.” Madeline nodded somberly. “And just for the record, you’re the boy named Jack in this scenario.”

“Yeah, I figured—so, what exactly are you proposing?”

Madeline grabbed his hand and tugged him toward her van. “I’m kidnapping you and taking you to the lake.”

“To the lake? Really?”

“Yep. Look.”

Grant obediently looked into the backseat of the van, then grinned even more broadly.

“Yes,” Madeline confirmed in a jokingly gloating tone. “That big ol’ basket does hold the best picnic you’ll ever have in your life, and that patchwork quilt is the softest, comfiest thing to sit on the sand on, and—”

“I’m sold. You had me at lake, but I’m sure the food will be passable.”

“Passable.” Madeline snorted in mock outrage and pretended she was going to smack him.

“We should stop by my place so I can grab shorts.”

“No need.” Madeline grabbed a bag from the passenger seat. “You can borrow one of my towels, and . . . ” She reached into the bag and withdrew a pair of knee-length swim shorts.

Grant’s eyes widened as he took in their flamboyant print: a vivid blue background with bright orange crabs everywhere.

“I couldn’t resist.” She laughed. “Crabs for the crab. Get it?”

“Ha-ha, you’re a riot.”

The scenery along the highway on the drive out was so beautiful it was almost unreal—and it captivated Madeline’s attention completely. The far-off mountain ranges were a soft, hazy blue in the heat. A swath of evergreens lined the highway and sloped into a massive, untouched valley on one side. Soon, what could only be the sought-after lake appeared, shimmering sapphire and silver in the distance.

Eventually, Madeline noticed Grant kept shooting her looks.

“What?” she finally asked.

“Nothing, really—just you’re pretty as a song in that dress. It makes me want to pick you up and twirl you around the minute we stop driving.”

“Don’t you dare. I get dizzy,” Madeline said sternly but felt ridiculously flattered. She’d loved the summery red dress with its three-quarter length sleeves and floaty, knee-length skirt too—so much that she’d bought it outright from the person who brought it in, not bothering with consignment, knowing it was going into her own closet. She touched the wide brim of her sunhat a bit self-consciously. “You don’t think the hat is too much?”

“Absolutely not.” A moment later, he added, “And I never saw you as the play-hooky-to-go-the-lake type before. It suits you too.”

Madeline smiled. “Maybe I do a lot of stuff that you don’t know about.”

Somehow her words sounded full of innuendo. Madeline could’ve kicked herself.

“Oh, really? Do tell.” Grant’s smile said he’d heard the same note in her voice.

“But also,” she continued, fighting a fluttery feeling in her stomach, “I’ve been working so much, and the weather, even when it was okay, didn’t exactly scream lake weather.”