From the backseat, Frankie waved frantically. Milo on her lap, yipping as he tried to paw his way out the window to get to me.
“We’s goin’ on a picnic, Rynna! You wants to come?” Frankie shouted.
Rex had offered to keep an eye on Milo for me when I was getting ready to leave this morning, claiming Frankie would love to see him when he picked her up this morning from her grandma’s.
Wasn’t that a sign? It had to be. I soared on it.
“It was all Frankie’s idea,” Rex said, voice gruff. The sound raked my skin and brought up chills. “She wants to spend the day at the lake, and we thought maybe you and Milo might want to join us.”
“We gots all the food, Rynna, but we ain’t gots no Pepper Pies. Is that okay?”
Oh my heart. That little girl was undoing me. Just as quickly as her dad. Affection thrummed, fluttery and thick and somehow light.
“That’s just fine, Sweet Pea,” I told her.
“Hey there, Rex,” Nikki sang, grinning as she rocked back in her chair. Leave it to Nikki to put him in the hot seat. “Tell Ollie hi for me.”
An exasperated, “Nikki,” was the only response she got.
His gaze shifted to Lillith for the flash of a second, his chin lifting in a subdued hello, discomfort ridging the lines of his expression.
But still, there was something significant about him sitting there, all rough and burly in his huge truck.
Something sweet in his offer.
Because this?
This was an offering.
“I would love to go.” I glanced back at Lillith and Nikki. “You don’t mind me cutting this a little short, do you?”
Nikki waved me off. “Get out of here. The lake sounds way more fun. Besides, Lily Pad over there is getting antsy to get back to Brody. It’s totally fine. You know, just leave me here all by myself. I don’t mind. Not at all.”
Lillith laughed. “So dramatic.”
Nikki’s eyes widened. “And how else would I get any attention around here? Seems everyone has all their attention trained somewhere else.” Her widened eyes slid back to me, all a meaningful tease.
I dropped the peck of a kiss to her cheek. “Thank you. Next time we get together, I’ll make you dinner. How’s that sound? I need all the practice I can get if I’m going to make the restaurant a success.”
Her eyes rolled back in her head. “Girl, don’t tease me. Tomorrow? I’ll be at your house at seven.”
I chuckled. “It’s a date.” I shifted my gaze to Lillith. “Are you in?”
“Wouldn’t miss it. Have fun.”
I hopped into the front seat of Rex’s truck.
He threaded our fingers together, clutched them tight on the seat between us.
It felt like a claim.
A statement.
I peeked back at Frankie and down to our hands, before I looked up at his gorgeous face, mouthing the words, “Is this fine?”
He squeezed my hand tighter. Like I was his and he was mine.
“This is more than fine, Rynna.”
Joy.
I’d never known the full truth of it.
Not until then.
We’d swung by my house, and I’d pulled on a swimsuit, sliding on a pair of shorts and a tank over it, and changed into more appropriate shoes.
Twenty-minutes later, Rex’s truck jostled on the dirt road that was nothing more than a worn path carved by the vehicles that traveled the winding road. It curved as it climbed deeper into the forest that lined the lake, which was tucked at the base of the mountain on the outskirts of town.
I’d thought I was prepared. That it didn’t matter anymore. That I could keep them at bay. But memories kept breaking loose the deeper we trekked into the forest. The closer we got, the harder the betrayal churned my stomach.
The louder the phantom laughter became. Even eleven years later, I could hear Janel’s words floating through the forest.
“You’re such a fool. Did you really think he wanted you?”
I swallowed back the tingle of tears that burned my throat and threatened my eyes. It was a long time ago, and I wasn’t that same girl who’d run barefoot through these trees. Sobbing. Hurting in a way she’d never known existed until she’d been taught the harsh realities of this world in the cruelest of ways.
None of that mattered.
Not now.
Not with Rex running his thumb over the back of my hand, Frankie belting out the silliest song I’d ever heard from the backseat, and my little puppy secure on my lap.
“Sorry this is so far off the beaten path. Frankie and I kind of like the place to ourselves when we come to the lake, don’t we, Frankie Leigh?”
“Yup! We gots our own secret spot that no one knows about. Juss for us.”
Rex tossed me a small wink.
My heart, already filled too full, gave an extra wayward beat.
God, he was gorgeous with the sun shining through his opened window. Rays of light speared through the leaves of the trees, sending bright flashes of light against his face as we wound through the thicket. The longer pieces of his dark blond hair were lit up like a blaze of white fire, the hard curve of his jaw and scruff defined by the glowing outline, those earthy eyes a perfect match to the trees.