Page 15 of Jackson
6
Summer
The journey back to the house was made in silence. Well, I say silence; there was no opportunity to speak. Jackson had his music on, Eminem’s, The Monsterblasted from the stereo. I watched as he nodded his head in time with the music, and for a moment, I wondered how much the lyrics meant to him. He seemed engrossed in them. His lips moved as he silently sang along in hishead.
As the song came to an end, he turned down thevolume.
“I’m going to cook you dinner tonight. I need to run to the shop after I’ve showered though,” hesaid.
“Can youcook?”
“The best beans on toast you’ll evereat.”
I laughed, the earlier tension seemed to have beenforgotten.
“Why don’t we just stop now? Seems silly to shower then go backout.”
I noticed his jawclench.
“Unless you want to, of course. It’s fine, I can shower while you’re out,” Iadded.
Maybe he needed some time away from me. Whatever it was, it confused me. I let it go, though. Jack was a solitary person; perhaps he just needed a half hour to himself. I smiled at him as he lookedover.
I’d never known Jack to have a long-term partner. I’d seen him with many women over the years, none of which seemed to have lasted any length of time. I worried for him; our male friends slapped him on the back. I guessed I was the only female, other than his sister, that he had any kind of friendship or relationshipwith.
I liked Perri; she was the total opposite to Jack, in looks and in personality. It often took people by surprise to discover they were siblings. Whereas Jack was blond, she was dark. He had blue eyes; she had brown. He was the spit of his father but with a far nicer manner. She was two years older than him. I’d never met his mother, but from what he’d said, she took after her in looks. He was as vague about her as he was his father at times. Talking about anyone other than Perri was a no go where Jackson wasconcerned.
“You want a beer?” he asked as we walked through the front door to thehouse.
“Sure. I can get it if you want toshower.”
He gave me a smile and wink before he headed off to his bedroom, the room next to the one he had given to me. Each bedroom had an en suite and I had to temper down the feelings of knowing he was naked in the shower. I could hear the water run as he hadn’t closed his bedroom door. To distract myself, I took my beer and opened the patio door to the balcony. It was late afternoon and the beach below was still full of people. Laughter drifted up to where I sat. I took a long draw on the bottle and let the alcohol fizz around my system. I wasn’t a drinker, and although the beer was nowhere near as strong as back home, it didn’t take much for my head to feel a little fuzzy. I heard Jackson stride into the kitchen and grab his car keys from thecounter.
“I won’t be long. Is there anything you fancy?” he calledout.
It was on the tip of my tongue to say, “You,” but I didn’t. “Whatever you want to cook, but please, not beans ontoast.”
He laughed as he left the room and climbed the stairs to the front door. I placed the bottle on the floor beside the daybed and closed my eyes. I needed to get a grip. I’d always flirted with him but we’d both known it was just for fun. Something had changed though; I didn’t want it to be ‘just for fun’ anymore. I tried to understand why I was seeing him in a different way than usual. It occurred to me that I hadn’t seen him in six months; he’d left the UK without so much as a goodbye and he’dchanged.
It hadn’t taken me long to forgive him, I was pleased he’d found somewhere to settle, but I had wished that had been in the UK. When he’d rung and asked me to stay with him, I’d been over the moon and booked the first available flight. It had felt good to be hugged by him as I arrived at the airport. It felt good to hear that sigh, which often left his lips when he wrapped his arms around me as a way of saying hello orgoodbye.
I’d always known there was a connection between us but it was one we’d never pursued, for obvious reasons. I sighed; I had a sinking feeling that life was about to getcomplicated.
* * *
Iwokewith a start at the noise of Jackson in the kitchen and the smell of something grilling on thebarbecue.
“Shit, how long have you been back?” Iasked.
“About a half hour. You were out for the count, I thought I’d leave you tosleep.”
I looked at my watch and noticed it had been two hours since he’d left for shopping. I wondered where he had been. I rose from the daybed and walked into the kitchen. Jackson had some steaks on the go and was preparing a salad. I watched him expertly cut vegetables for thesalad.
“You can cook!” Isaid.
“I have to eat, Summer. Of course I can cook,” he replied, giving me one of his killersmiles.
It was as he smiled at me that I noticed a thin trail of dried blood on the side of hisneck.
