Page 48 of It's You
“Very funny.” He was looking at the woods behind her. “I don’t think it’s following us. I think we’re okay.”
“Following us? You threw it into a tree. It’s probably dead.”
“Better it than you.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll never let anything hurt you, Darcy. It’s a?—”
“Sacred pledge. I know. You’re stronger than I would have guessed.”
His brows furrowed briefly as he dropped her eyes, putting the bottle away and securing the pack on his back.
Darcy was distracted by a drop of water on her arm. One drop…two. Three drops. Soon, her arm was covered with drops, and she could hear the pitter-patter of rainfall throughout the woods around them.
“Well, that’sgreat.” He sighed, putting out his hand to her.
“How far are we from your house?” she asked, squinting through the increasingly fat raindrops that were coming down harder and faster.
“Another ten or fifteen minutes? If we’re fast?” he guessed.
“There’s pretty good tree cover,” she said, trying to look on the bright side. His mood was clouding over as fast as the sky.
“We’re going to get soaked,” he said, looking up at the sky with a sour expression. He shook his head, and she was sprayed by more raindrops. “Come on.”
They walked in silence the rest of the way back to the lodge, and Jack was right. They were completely soaked by the time they reached his house. Darcy could hear the river rushing by the lodge as they got closer, and it was one of her favorite sounds. But she was suddenly very tired, and nothing sounded as nice as curling up in some dry clothes.
Huh. Dry clothes.Well, that would be nice.If she had some.
Jack unlocked the front door, holding it open so she could precede him inside. In the foyer, she took off her drenched wool sweater, hanging it on a wooden peg and watching the drops of water fall to the floor in rivulets. She shrugged out of her flannel shirt, which was similarly soaked, and hung it up beside her sweater. She bent down to untie her shoes and took off her squishy socks, wringing them out over the flagstones and laying them flat across her boots.
She looked up at Jack, hugging herself and shivering.
“You’re cold,” he said, standing to face her in soaked jeans and a damp gray T-shirt.
“I d-didn’t think th-that,” she teased through chattering teeth.
“I know you didn’t. You’re shivering.” He grinned at her. “I don’t want you to get sick. How about a warm shower?”
She nodded her head gratefully, her tongue darting out to lick a raindrop off her lip as she looked up at him.
Want some company?
Her cheeks flushed crimson as she heard his voice in her head, and she looked away quickly.
“Darce?”
When she glanced at him, he smiled. “I was just kidding.”
“Oh.” She chuckled nervously, and he took her hand, leading her up the stairs. She felt just the littlest bit disappointed. “Stop teasing me.”
“You can use the guest bathroom. There are towels in the cabinet. If you’ll throw your clothes out into the hall, I’ll put them in the dryer. You can borrow my bathrobe…if that’s okay?”
“Thanks, Jack.”
“No problem.”
He showed her to the bathroom door, pushing it open for her, and she headed inside, flicking on the light. Without thinking, she poked her head back out and called to his retreating form.
