Page 21 of Summer's Edge

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’ve done this before,” I say.

“Oh, tons of times. Normally I’d let the wings sit and marinate overnight, but this is good too.”

“I never knew you were such a cook. It looks delish.”

He looks at me from the side of his eyes, clearly trying to see if I’m teasing him again.

“I mean it,” I tell him. “Can’t wait to dig in. I’m starving.”

He loads the plates with the wings and the salad, and we retreat back to the porch steps to eat. For a while that’s all we do.

“I haven’t had a home-cooked meal in ages,” I say.

My fingers are all sticky from the slightly spicy sauce as are his.

“You really should take better care of yourself, Summer.”

I almost ask him if he’s volunteering for the job, but I’ve teased him enough. He’s given me his answer and I’m enjoying the pleasant easiness between us. Teasing him just puts him on the defensive and isn’t leading anywhere.

“Where’d you learn to cook like this?” I ask instead.

He shrugs. “Here and there. My gramps, mostly. He made killer wings. This sauce is his recipe… or as near to as I can remember it.”

“Must’ve been nice to have grandparents,” I say. “I never knew mine. You already know my dad’s story and how he lost his whole family in the attack. My mom left home when she was still a teenager and never looked back.”

“But you had the whole MC as your extended family. And some of the old-timers make great grandpas.”

“Yeah, they do,” I say, remembering Bear who we just lost a couple of years ago and how he always had some fun trick to show Eden and me whenever he saw us. He was the closest we ever had to a grandpa. “But it’s just not the same, you know. It’s nice knowing where you come from.”

“It sucks when you lose it all because of a stupid mistake too,” he says. “Knowing where you come from doesn’t do you any good then.”

The sudden shift in mood from pleasant to dark is accentuated by a huge, thick cloud rolling over us, blocking out what’s left of the sun.

“You found a new family with the MC too,” I say. “So, it’s not all bad, right? It could be worse.”

He grins and takes a bite of his last chicken wing. “You’re absolutely right. It could always be worse. So I try not to dwell on the past. I’m usually doing much better than this.”

“You’re OK,” I say and lay my empty, sticky plate on the step next to me. “Now come on and show me that stream you found this morning. I have to wash all over again.”

He lays down his plate too. “So, you’re saying that the shower isn’t better after all?”

I shake my head. “Sadly, this is no five-star hotel. So, if I gotta wash with icy cold water, I’d rather do it in the wild, with the birds singing around me and the wind in my hair.”

He doesn’t need any persuading beyond that, and a few moments later we’re walking through the trees again. He’s moving with the surety of someone who knows the way perfectly even though this is his first time in these woods. I love the way the muscles in his back and arms all work together as he moves, and I miss the sun illuminating that perfect picture with shades of gold.

The place where he washed this morning isn’t just a little stream that I’ve been picturing, but a whole pool, fed by a small waterfall flowing over rocks.

“We could swim in here,” I say just as lightning flashes in the sky. A second later it’s followed by thunder that echoes loudly and ominously off the trees all around us.

“Not right now,” he says, eyeing the sky with a worried expression on his face. “We should get back to the cabin. Hurry up and wash.”

I step to the waterfall, cup my hands to catch the water then splash it on my face. He does the same beside me. And for a moment it all seems like scene straight from the Garden of Eden, or at least one of my sister Eden’s Highlander novels—just two young lovers savoring all that untouched nature has to offer.

Only we’re not lovers and we’re about to get struck by one of the lightning flashes that keep illuminating the sky if we don’t hurry. The thunder is making the earth beneath my feet shake.

But not as much as him taking my hand does. “We should run back now.”

He sounds worried, but I’m not. Not with him holding my hand and leading me back to the safety of the cabin.

---