Page 76 of Love At The Shore
Why wasn’t he saying that to her? Didn’t he know what she needed to hear right then?
“You’re right. I don’t. Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?” Her voice trembled with an unsettling combination of anger, confusion and relief. Likewise, her hand shook as she pointed toward the cluster of palm trees at the top of the dune. “I want you to go stand up there next to your bike with your sister and wait for me. We’re going to talk about this on the walk home.”
They couldn’t ride back to the house with Lucas. It would be too awkward, plus she’d need the walk to clear her head and talk to Nick without an audience.
Nick took a few steps until he was positioned halfway between Jenna and Lucas. Stuck in the middle. “Why can’t we go back with Lucas?”
Jenna fully expected Lucas to echo Nick’s suggestion and offer to drive them back home, but instead he shook his head. “Sorry, bud. I’ve got a few things I need to take care of.”
His voice was flat, his arms were crossed, and Jenna started feeling inexplicably panicked again.
Nick frowned. “Like what?”
Lucas’s gaze shifted to Jenna’s as he answered Nick’s question. “I’m actually leaving tomorrow.”
What?
Jenna’s heart thudded.
She and the kids still had two more days at Tybee. Where was he going? Lucas hadn’t said a word about leaving. Then again, she hadn’t given him a chance to say much of anything the night before. Or this morning. She’d been doing most of the talking for the past twenty-four hours.
And the more she said, the bigger the mess she made.
Lucas took a deep breath. “I’m going to go scout some locations for camps.”
Jenna wrapped her arms around herself. She felt instantly distraught upon hearing this surprise news, and then furious. Not with Lucas—with herself.
“Go on,” she said to Nick, motioning toward his bicycle. “I’ll meet you up there in a minute.”
This time Nick listened and jogged toward the palm trees without argument, leaving a trail of footprints behind him in the sand. Jenna’s gaze lingered on them for a moment, and then she turned to face Lucas.
“Look, this is my fault.” She didn’t want to blame him or argue. She just wanted to go back to the person she’d been at the beginning of the summer. “I should’ve trusted my gut.”
Lucas’s expression crumpled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
It meant she’d been right all along. Lucas was totally Mr. Slack. He’dbeenMr. Slack this entire time and she’d been too busy falling for him to notice.
How could she have been so foolish?
Yes, he was charming. And yes, much to her astonishment, he’d even been kind of great with her kids. But that didn’t make him a good influence. He knew nothing about being a good role model. Nick had never even thought about sneaking out, much less swimming to the lighthouse and back before she’d welcomed Lucas into their lives.
“Nothing. It doesn’t matter anymore.” She shook her head and realized her teeth had started chattering.
“It clearly does. I mean, look at you.” He stepped closer and ran his hands up and down her arms in a gentle, soothing motion. It felt so good, so comforting that she almost wept.
No.
She took a backward step. Letting him get close was how she’d ended up in this situation.
“I’mfine.” She lifted her chin. “Remember?”
Lucas grew still. Quiet. So quiet she could hear a crab skitter past them on the sand and then nothing but the gentle push and pull of the tide. It rose and fell in tender harmony with the moon—a natural dance as old as time.
Jenna had never felt such kinship with the sea before. She knew now what it was like to be swayed by a lovely, irresistible force of nature. Lucas was sand and salt, sea and sky. The beach was in his veins. He belonged here.
But she didn’t. The summer was ending, and the time had come to stand her ground. After all, Lucas himself had said it best.
“You were right.” She looked straight into his rich brown eyes one last time before she walked away. “Furry kids are the only kind you should handle.”
