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Chapter Twenty-Seven
Jackson
As Lena whispered those words, my heart sank two inches in my chest and ached for the woman before me. I didn’t think I’d ever heard or seen such a beautiful statement in regards to my favorite spot on earth. Of course, I’d never brought anyone here before, other than Brodie. He and I discovered this fishing hole together when we were kids. The special part about this stretch of the lake was the stillness of the water. The only rippling was the small wake the boat made, and when I turned off the engine, the tranquil water looked like glass.
A soft but warm early spring breeze caught a few strands of Lena’s beautiful new blonde tendrils. They pressed against her cheek into her lips, and she brushed them away as she turned to glance back at me with a wide grin. The moment the magic of the beauty surrounded her, she was like a sponge, absorbing every molecule of magnificent energy the sunset provided. It was a gorgeous one too. I was grateful that I was able to show it to her.
“Yes, it is beautiful,” I finally managed to say, after being so swept up in her reaction. I cut the engine and reached for the bottle of wine. Pouring a little into each cup, I made my way to the spot on the bench next to her and handed her one. “The beauty of this place is what keeps me coming back. I don’t care about fishing so much, though on a hot summer day, with a few beers, I’ve been known to disappear here for several hours. The best time of the day is right now.” She sipped the wine and kept her eyes on the sunset while I couldn’t tear my own eyes away from her profile. “I’ll have to bring you here on the fourth of July. The fireworks they light off each year are spectacular and reflect off the water as they illuminate the sky.”
She glanced at me and caught me staring, but all I could do was smile. She averted her eyes, though, and mumbled, “I don’t know if I’ll still be here in the summer.”
The statement took me completely off guard. “What? Why not?”
She gave a slightly uncertain shake of her head but didn’t answer. I had to remind myself that this woman, as beautiful as she was—and as much as I wanted her—didn’t belong to me.
“I can’t stay here, Jackson. You’ve been terrific, a wonderful friend, more than I could have ever hoped for, but if I remain in one place for too long, I’m afraid he’ll find me. In fact, I’m certain of it.”
“You don’t know that. We’ll have a restraining order issued against him. I won’t let him harm you ever again, I promise.”
“You can’t make that promise. How could you? Troy isn’t the type of person to pay attention to a restraining order. I know he’s searching for me right now.”
“From what you told me, you’ve done an excellent job of covering your tracks. So why would he even think of you being here?”
“I don’t know. But if there is a way, he will find it.”
* * *
I stoodat the counter later that night sipping the last of the wine and thinking of what Lena said about that creep she’d married. She was probably right about him looking for her but that only made me more determined to help and protect her.
“Jackson, people are starting to ask about you. The band wants to know when you’re going to join us again, and customers keep asking for you.” Brodie held the kitchen screen door wide open, letting Rufus in. The dog came barreling through the opening so fast he skidded across the hardwood floor, stopping short of the stainless steel refrigerator, but not soon enough that his wet nose didn’t make smudge marks across the middle of it.
“Tell them I’ll be there soon. Jeez, can’t a guy take a little vacay?” I hadn’t been going into the pub as much as I usually did. I didn’t want to leave Lena alone. But after the first week, she insisted I go in, said that she would be fine at the house by herself. I agreed, but I only managed to stay for an hour. Once I walked into the bar, I started worrying so much I couldn’t concentrate and took off for home shortly afterward. Since then, I hadn’t tried going in again.
“Vacation? Look, I don’t need you to help at the bar, and you can take all day, every day, doing whatever it is you want, but the band is suffering because you’re putting some stranger ahead of your obligations to them. We are good, but we need our lead guitarist and singer. If you don’t show up soon, I heard the other guys talking about finding someone to take your place.”
“They can’t do that. It’s my band, my place.”
“Our band, and well, they recognized the fact that we’re losing customers too.”
“Don’t you have any compassion?”
“Yeah, I have compassion, but Jack, you’ve become obsessed with this woman. I don’t get you. You’ve put your entire life on hold for a complete stranger, and on top of that, instead of having her stay up in the cottage like she was supposed to, she’s moved in here with us. Why is that, Jack? Why do you have such a hard-on for this girl, why are you so hell-bent on rescuing every fucked-up, damaged soul in this universe, and why did my house suddenly become a refuge for them?”
“Stop being an ass, Brodie.”
“I will, as soon as you stop being a sap.” Just as the words left Brodie’s mouth, I looked up to see Lena standing in the doorway to the kitchen. By the somber look on her face, I knew she’d heard every word of the fucked-up conversation that Brodie and I had.
“Lena, wait!” I called out as she hurried away toward the guest room. “Way to go, jerkwad,” I muttered to Brodie as I pushed my way past him. I caught the guest room door before she had the chance to shut and lock it. “Listen, Lena, don’t pay any attention to Brodie. He’s … he’s just looking out for the bar. He didn’t mean anything by what he said.”
“Brodie’s right. I shouldn’t be staying down here. I should have stayed upstairs, like the original arrangement. It’s probably best if I leave in the morning.”
“Leave? You mean go back upstairs to the cottage?”
“No, I mean leave altogether. I should get moving anyway. The sooner, the better.”
“No. Please don’t. Look, I know you want to pay your way. I completely understand that. I want you to feel comfortable. Maybe you can put in a few hours at the bar?”
“Doing what, Jack? I don’t have any experience.”
