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“Yep.” I handed a bottle of beer to her, and when she used the hem of her shirt to pop open the top and take a healthy swig, I almost smiled.
“Mmm.” Her throaty moan wasn’t doing me any favors. “Thank you.” She turned the label around and laughed as she read it. “Beer Thirty—Any time is the right time.”
“It was all they had.”
“Is that a mountain with an arm sticking out of it... holding a beer?”
“Yep.”
Her laughter floated over me, and in the safety of near darkness, I let it soak into me. She looked out into the yard and then over the old front porch of the farmhouse with a small, satisfied smile. “Looks like you’re running a full house over here. I’m sure it’s a comfort to have family around all the time.”
I grunted in response. “You’d be surprised. I have no idea what I’m doing with these kids. This is the first quiet moment I’ve had all day.”
Lark’s eyes crinkled as she smiled at me. “Well then, cheers—to quiet.”
I only shrugged in response, but she happily clanked her bottle to mine as I sat across from her on the porch steps. For a long stretch, neither of us spoke, but instead listened to the sounds of a dark country night.
“Do you feel it?” Lark whispered. When I only looked at her, she continued. “Alone? Sometimes I think I have a knack for that... feeling alone even in a crowded room, right next to someone.” She hid the sad words with a bright smile, but it was her eyes that gave her away.
I shifted and draped my arms on my knees. Sitting with her, I didn’t feel alone. In fact, I liked that even a few feet from Lark, my situation with the boys or juggling work and caring for Penny didn’t seem quite so insurmountable. I felt eerily calm in her presence, and it made my throat itch.
Maybe it was the Beer Thirty.
“With a family like mine, in a town like this? I’m never alone.”
She hummed in response, closed her eyes, and tipped her face toward the starry sky.
I ignored the hunger that gnawed my gut at the glorious sight of her, carefree and completely content.
It struck me that I wasn’t alone, but there were times I did feellonely. I was used to loneliness. Lived with it and came to peace with the fact that solitude was meant for me.
My garbled throat clearing caught her attention, and she peeked open one eye at me.
“Also,” I started, unsure of how to say this to her. “If you’re going to be around, I should let you know that Penny knows we—I, um. That I saw you naked.”
She sputtered and both eyes flew open. “You told her?”
“No. Sort of. Not really.” I sighed in defeat. It was best to just get it all out there. “Listen. I was relaying the story to Lee, and she overheard.”
“So you told your brother?” She didn’t seem mad. More... interested, maybe.
I tried to hide my smile and shrugged. “I left out the good parts. But Penny has no filter, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it came up.”
“Noted.” Lark’s bubbling laugh had heat coiling beneath my ribs.
I liked it.A lot.
“She seems like a good kid.”
“The best,” I agreed, and Lark smiled at me. When she shivered, my eyes flew to the cropped shirt she was wearing. Her nipples still strained against the thin fabric, and I nearly groaned. I took another swallow of beer instead and looked out over the lawn.
I shrugged out of the flannel I’d been wearing and tossed it over her knees.
She didn’t protest, but a small smile played on her lips. Her eyes caught mine as she slipped her arms into my shirt.
I cleared my throat and changed the subject. We spent the next few minutes talking about everything and nothing. Lark was sunny. Carefree and a wanderer. She told me the roundabout way she’d stumbled into becoming a professional mourner, and it was so simple it seemed almost logical.
Almost.
