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Simone taps at the picture with her marker, leaving black dots on the surface.
“Flies!”
She throws him an exasperated look that leaves Zara, Avery, and Emily giggling.
“Fleas!”
She taps it again, this time with the non-marker end of the pen.
Lucas mutters a few words under his breath and jumps to his feet. “Grandmother!”
“Yes!” Simone grins at him like they’ve won a million dollars. She gives him a long, lingering kiss that has the rest of us groaning.
Garrett and Zara are next. “North Pole!” Garrett says after several attempts.
Zara high-fives him.
Jessica and I are after them. She reads her card, nods for Emily to start the timer, and begins drawing.
I call out a bunch of words. “Circle. Pie. Wheel. Ball.”
Jessica beams and draws a cloud, which I yell out, stating the obvious. She then draws snowflakes coming from it.
“Snow.”
Her smile wide, she points at the ball.
“Snowball!” I’m off the couch and on my feet.
“Yes!” And for the first time since I spotted her at the lake, Jessica looks relaxed and happy. There’s nothing self-conscious or wary or ill at ease about her. Andshit, she’s beautiful.
The game continues for several more rounds. The longer Jessica and I play as partners, the faster we are at guessing each other’s words.
She draws a diagonal line.
“Mountain,” I call out.
“Yes!” She bounces up and down like a cheerleader. Maybe she was one at some point.
“Seems like you’re really good at this game,” I say as she returns to her spot next to me on the couch.
She grins. “Maybe we just make a good team.”
The game finishes with Jessica and me winning by a point.
Still looking relaxed, she pushes herself to her feet. “Excuse me.” She steps past me. “I’m just going outside for a few minutes. T-to watch the sunset.”
“You okay if I join you? Butterscotch might need to go for a bathroom break.”
Her lips flutter up at the corners. “I wouldn’t want to be the one who keeps him from his bathroom duty.” She doesn’t look at me, her gaze on the floor in front of her.
She heads for the front door. Butterscotch, Jasper, and I join her. I don’t know if everyone else has decided to give us privacy, but we’re the only ones who go outside.
The view of the sunset isn’t as spectacular here as it is at the lake, but it’s still pretty fantastic. I rest my folded arms against the porch railing, enjoying the relative quiet.
“I’ll never get tired of seeing sunsets for as long as I live.” Jessica’s voice is the near-whisper it was earlier in my truck. Like she’s not talking to me. She’s talking out loud to herself.
The soft light from the lowering sun paints a beautiful glow on her relaxed face. Screw watching the sunset. I’d be content just watching this side of her.
