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“Not on the first day.” Lydia smiled. “The family we’re staying with have two college age sons, and I’m employing them to show the kids around so they can get an authentic teenage experience of the area. There’s a lot of sports and ziplines and stuff around there. And hopefully, they’ll be ready to spend some quality time with their parents in Barcelona for the next few days.”
They were strolling slowly, shoes in hand as their feet padded through the breaking waves.
“You’re going to be busy,” he said softly. There was a strange twisting in his chest at the thought of her working around Europe. “I hope you get some down time, too.”
“I’ll have Paris,” she said brightly. “And after I spend some of June in Brazil, I should have a week or two free. I’m not sure where I’ll go though.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her to come back here, to spend time with him, but he chased the thought away. He didn’t want to be another man who thought her job was disposable. She’d heard enough of that from her father.
If she had the choice between time in South America or a week in Angel Sands, it was no contest.
Eddie splashed through the water toward them, and dropped something in the sand. Whatever it was, it stank to high heaven. Jackson leaned down, and realized it was half of a damn jellyfish.
Eddie started to prod at it with his paw.
“No,” Jackson told him. “Leave it. Where’s your ball?”
Eddie gave a little whine and looked at the jellyfish, then hopefully up at Jackson.
“Get your ball,” Jackson repeated firmly. Realizing he was fighting a losing battle, Eddie turned and headed back into the water.
“Will you keep him, if nobody claims him?” Lydia asked, watching Eddie splash through the ocean.
Eddie found the ball bobbing in the shallows. Jackson could swear he saw the dog smile before he scooped it up in his jaws.
“Yeah, I guess I will. I’m getting used to having him around. And he’s not too much of a hassle. He sleeps in the office as well as he sleeps at home.”
“And you have your dad and Lisa to help,” Lydia added.
Jackson nodded. “Brooke mentioned that she knows a good dog sitter, too. If I need one.” If, for example, he ever got the urge to fly to Spain or Brazil between working twelve hours a day, six days a week.
“I’m glad you’re keeping him,” Lydia told him, sliding her hand into his. “I hate to think of him all alone in one of those shelters, looking up hopefully whenever somebody walks in, and letting out a whimper when he realizes it’s not you.”
“I’m glad, too.” Jackson’s voice was thick. He couldn’t stand the thought of a shelter any more than Lydia could. He hadn’t lied, he was getting used to having Eddie around. And if Lydia was leaving – which, let’s face it, she was – having Eddie around would make him feel a little less lonely.
And give him a connection to her, even if she was far away.
A breeze danced in from the ocean, lifting Lydia’s hair as it tangled around her face. He tenderly brushed it away, leaning in until his lips covered hers. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him closer until her soft body molded to his lean contours, deepening the kiss and making them both breathless.
Without taking his eyes from hers, Jackson lifted his hand and called for Eddie. “Walk’s over, boy,” he said, as Eddie ran toward them. “It’s time for bed.”
Lydia awoke to the sound of somebody coughing. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she looked at Jackson, whose eyes were tightly closed, his arm slung over his head.
The noise cut through the silence again. Three wheezing coughs coming from somewhere downstairs. Immediately alert, she sat up, looking around Jackson’s bedroom in the moonlight to try to find something to protect them both.
There had to be an intruder down there. It didn’t sound like a noise Jackson’s dad would make, and she knew for a fact he was the only person other than Jackson to have a key. Her heart rate switched to overdrive as she swung her legs out of the bed and stood.
Jackson mumbled something and turned on his side, cranking open half an eyelid. “Whassup?”
There were four hacking coughs this time. “Did you hear that?” Lydia whispered.
“What?” He frowned.
“Somebody’s broken into the house. I can hear them downstairs.
“It’s probably Eddie.” Jackson’s eye shut again.
“It sounds like a person,” Lydia told him. “Not a dog.”
