AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The first shot barely nicked the target.
“Let’s try again.” Jack moved in closer, standing directly behind her, she could feel his breath on the back of her neck. Tingles skittered down her spine. Maybe this joking thing hadn’t been her best idea. His arms nearly wrapped around her as his hands helped her pull back the arrow and then let it fly. The arrow landed closer to center but not close enough.
He stepped out of her space and the loss punched her smack in the gut. She had to shake off the sensation. Straightening her spine, she put on a smile and looked up at him. “You up for a wager?”
He cocked his head. “What kind of wager?”
“Whoever scores the fewest points buys lunch.”
His brows rose high on his forehead and he sucked in a hissing breath. “I don’t know. That feels too much like taking advantage of you.”
Having learned a thing or two growing up in a competitive family, she shook her head. “What’s the matter? Chicken?”
A mischievous twinkle lit his eyes. “You’re on.”
She stepped out of the way. “Age before beauty.”
“Ha ha,” he quipped. Standing in place, he went through his quiver of arrows. All came close, but not a single one hit the bullseye straight on.
Retreating for her to take her turn, he smiled almost guiltily at her. “You’d have to hit the red circle just about every time to beat my score.”
Trying really hard not to give away that he was about to be walloped, she avoided looking at him and set up her first shot. First arrow landed just inside the red dot. She didn’t dare look over her shoulder at him. Second arrow landed a smidgeon closer to the inside. Jack let out a small “hmm” but she ignored him. Third arrow hit the red dot dead center.
From behind her she heard Jack mutter, “I think I’ve been had.”
As with the three arrows before, the last two pierced dead center of the bullseye.
Grinning from ear to ear, she turned around to see Jack smiling and shaking his head. “I have most definitely been hustled.”
“Me? Would I do that?” She knew she was grinning like the cat who’d swallowed the canary, but it had been so much fun to show him she was most definitely not a defenseless little kid anymore. She was most definitely very grown up. What she hadn’t quite figured out was, why had that suddenly become so very important to her?
From what Jack remembered, his favorite part of the annual Renaissance Festival as a teenager had been the jousting and collecting souvenirs. He was pretty sure the caricature of him in a jester’s hat was still hanging in his old room at his parents’ house. What he couldn’t remember from all those years ago, was having such a good time. As much as he’d love to say it was the freshness of exploring the ancient scene with adult eyes, he knew darn well the joy had been in seeing everything through Siobhan’s eyes. The woman was bright, carefree, had a killer sense of humor, and yeah, she could be a little cheeky at times. No doubt something genetic she shared with her brother Kyle. But mostly, she kept Jack on his toes. Her verbal sparring was as tight as her archery skills.
He honestly couldn’t remember simply enjoying a day so much with anyone. Who knew his best friend’s little sister would grow up to be such an amazing person? When she was really little and visited from Ireland during summers or holiday breaks, he remembered her as a bit annoying. Always wanting to tag along, always talking, even tattling on them a time or two when they did things they weren’t supposed to. Eventually she blossomed into a sweet teen. The only interest she’d had in hanging out with her brothers was on the sailboat. He remembered her holding her own helping the crew with the sails. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had a vague memory of her beating the pants off her brothers in a game of poker. As a matter of fact, he remembered owing her about a hundred bucks from that night, and he wasn’t sure if he’d ever paid her or not. For the most part, she didn’t really hang around much as she usually had a girlfriend or some other kid with her. Jack had paid so little attention to the kid, that somehow he’d completely missed that she’d grown up.
They’d eaten their way across the fairgrounds, enjoyed the jousting, the marionettes, the pickles, and even the story time. For several hours, he’d practically forgotten he lived in the twenty-first century. Laden with an odd array of souvenirs, including a sword and shield, Jack put all their newly acquired trinkets into the back of his SUV.
In the car, Siobhan kicked her head back and plopped her feet on the dashboard. “I think I could sleep for a week.”
“Ditto.” He started the car, carefully backing out. “I haven’t taken that many steps since I gave up marathons.”
“I know what you mean. My feet are sooo tired.”
His phone sounded and hitting the button on his steering wheel, he picked up the call. “Hey, John.”
“What time you coming, man?”
Coming? He looked at the clock on the dashboard wishing the dumb thing had a calendar.
“Brats are on the grill, the water’s just the right temperature, and Greg has a bonfire big enough to see from the moon.”
Crap. John’s birthday party was tonight. “Sorry, something came up. I’m running a bit behind.”
“No problem. But if you can, pick up a couple of bags of ice. The ice maker in the house is on the fritz.”
“Got it. Ice.” The two men said their quick goodbyes and Jack hoped he could get away with just soaking his tired feet in the hot tub. Maybe no one would notice if he just took a nap.
“Did I mess up your plans?” Siobhan twisted in his direction, her expression heavy with concern.
