by L. B. Dunbar
A beautiful large body of water just outside the town proper, Bolton Lake is the safest place on a warm night to set off fireworks. There’s a public beach packed with viewers and tons of private parties held at homes surrounding the lake. Our spot is no different other than there is no home here. My mother inherited a strip of land that my parents never built on but also never had the heart to sell despite the fact that lakefront property is a commodity. I explain all this as we pull through the thickly covered archway into the clearing and park with the bed to the lake.
“Tailgater,” Lucy yells, scrambling from the truck, and I shake my head, curious how my girl knows such a term.
“Uncle Billy told me that’s the name of a party at a football game.”
Thank you, brother Billy for corrupting the youth of America so young. I head to the back of the truck and tip down the gate while Janessa flings a couple of blankets over the metal lining.
“Dad, can we swim?” Lucy asks, bouncing on her toes. I’d forgotten all about suggesting suits, and I look up at Janessa.
“Vega has hers on. Lucy told her to wear it.”
“That lake is mucky at first,” I warn Lucy who doesn’t like the feel of the squishy bottom on her toes, but I’m not prepared to enter the water myself. Not unless it involves skinny dipping and only Janessa and me, alone.
Lucy waves a hand at me as though it’s no big deal when I know it is, and both girls give off squeals of disgust as they hit the water’s edge.
“She’s been such a good friend to Vega. She needs that,” Janessa says as we watch the girls make their way to the deeper water.
“It’s difficult for Lucy sometimes as the daughter of the mayor. She takes on the pressure of being my right-hand girl when she’s still a child and not my partner. You’ve probably heard my ex-wife is in politics, and sometimes I worry I’m no different than Lucy’s mother: the single parent in politics brand.” I snort, hating the comparison but riddled with guilt that some days I might cross the same line as my ex.
“Charlie, how much you love your child is written all over your face. No one would doubt your intentions.”
I look over at her from our seat on the edge of the tailgate. Her long tan legs stretch forward, ankles crossed and knees bending as she swings them back and forth. Her hands curl over the edge of the metal.
“What happened to Vega’s father?”
“Charlie,” she whispers.
“Why won’t you talk to me?”
“I just…I don’t want to ruin tonight,” she says, letting out a breath of exasperation.
“I don’t want to ruin anything either. I just want to get to know you. I want to understand.”
“There’s nothing to understand,” she says, looking over her shoulder at me, those green eyes suddenly sad instead of sparkling. My shoulders fall. She’s right. I don’t want to ruin tonight. I want to enjoy ourselves.
“Maybe one day, you’ll let me in,” I whisper, and she leans to the side, bumping my shoulder with hers.
“One day. Maybe.” Her teasing tone does nothing to reassure me, but after a few awkward moments of silence, I ask another question.
“Tell me your favorite Fourth of July memory,” I state. If she won’t tell me about her current history, maybe she’ll at least tell me a bit about her ancient past. We laugh together as we share stories and recall things no longer done. We chuckle over things like rotary phones, long curly cords, and having to share phone time with siblings. We laugh about outdated clothing and how cool we both thought we looked, and we even share a memory of fated dates. Bad kisses. Missed opportunities. Thankful escapes.
“God, I hope I never disappoint you like that,” I say after she tells me about one awful evening back in high school.
“I don’t think you’d ever disappoint, sir,” she says, turning her eyes to me. The corner of my lip curls upward.
“I strive to always satisfy,” I state, and she bursts out laughing.
“That was really cheesy, Charlie.” While it might have been, I’ll take her reaction—the deep sound of her laughter—over and over again, giving her a million cheesy lines just to hear the richness of her. While the girls swam, we moved closer and closer to one another on the tailgate, our thighs pressing together. My hand behind her backside as I lean back. But when another vehicle pulls through the heavy brush, followed by a second one, our private time is over, and Janessa scoots away from me.
Instantly, I want to tell her to come back to my side. I have nothing to hide. I want to be with her, but something holds her back. I don’t have time to question it as Billy and Roxanne exit his truck, and Giant and Letty hop out of a Giant Brewing Company one. Moments like this make me miss James, even if we didn’t always get along. Even my sister, Mati, is missing this year as she travels across country with her new man.
After handshakes, back pats, and hugs, I’m reintroducing Janessa to the group, and then Lucy and Vega appear, shivering and soaked from the lake.
“Where’s Sadie?” Lucy asks of her cousin, and Billy groans.
“On a date, honey,” Roxanne offers, and Billy exhales.
“Just you wait,” my brother warns me as Janessa wraps Lucy and Vega in towels.
“Vega can’t date until she’s thirty-five,” Janessa teases, hugging her child to her.
“I tried that one,” Billy grumbles.
“Up it to thirty-seven and it might stick,” I joke. Roxanne shakes her head, stroking a hand up Billy’s back, and he cups the back of her neck, pulling her forward for a kiss. I want to kiss Janessa like that, open and out in public. I want to mark her before all of them. Giant’s next, showing off his affection for his soon-to-be wife by wrapping his arms around her from the back and placing his hand on the baby in her arms. They make a nice family, and I sense how much I’ve missed out on. I never had that with Angela—a real family bond, a sensing of belonging—and I want it. I want a wife for me and a mother for my child.
My eyes drift to Janessa, watching her fuss over both girls, helping them dry off and then swearing she’ll protect the front seat while they change and make sure no one looks at them in the cab while they struggle into warmer clothing.
“You’ve got it bad, little brother,” Billy teases, handing me a beer. Roxanne walks over to Janessa, adding herself to the shield of protecting two ten-year-olds changing in a truck.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say as Giant approaches the tailgate where I sit.
“Yeah, he didn’t know what he was talking about either,” Giant guffaws, picking on Billy and his denial of Roxanne before they finally got together.
“Look who’s talking, Mr. Grumpy Big Giant and his years of celibacy,” Billy groans at our eldest sibling.
“You were spreading yourself enough for the three of us,” Giant reminds him, and I cringe. My brother was a bit of a player before Roxanne settled him.
“Yeah, well, there comes a time…” Billy begins.
“You mean, there comes a woman,” Giant corrects.
“And you just want the one,” Billy says, looking up at his speaking about Janessa.
“And it feels damn good, don’t it?” Giant softly states, a smile in his low voice.
“The best,” Billy whispers, and I hate them both.
“I hate you two. You sound like fucking chicks.”
“You need to fuck a chick,” Billy says, leaning forward and lifting a brow. “Then again, I know you already did that.”
My fingers curl into fists around the edge of the tailgate, and I want to crack my brother over the head with my beer bottle. “Keep your voice down,” I shush him.
“No shame in wanting her,” Giant says, catching my eye.
“Well, she’d have to want me, and she doesn’t,” I whisper, looking briefly over my shoulder and catching Janessa looking in my direction.
“Oh, she wants it,” Billy drones. “She wants it bad.”
“You just shut it, William Forrest,” I warn,
sounding like Mama when she gets mad and reminding them of myself when I was younger.
“I have faith in you, kid,” Giant states as if I’m still a child. “You’ll come up with a plan. You always do.” He winks at me as though he understands all my secrets, but I don’t know what he’s talking about. Roxanne and Janessa return to the back of the truck while the girls walk to Giant’s to fuss over Finn, Letty’s baby, and the night settles into casual teasing and soft laughter until the fireworks begin.
When Janessa settles next to me on the tailgate again, we’re no longer touching in any manner, but I feel her presence. The heat of her. The spark of her skin when we connect. I almost taste her on my tongue, and I realize my brothers aren’t wrong.
I have it bad, and I need a plan.
12
Meeting Room Meetups
[Janessa]
During the night of the fireworks, Roxanne invited me to join her and a few girls the next night at Blue Ridge Microbrewery & Pub. When I arrive, the place is packed.
“Wow, this is a popular place,” I say, taking my seat and trying to ignore my nerves at the crowd of people. I never worry about being recognized. I’d need to be next to Richard to be noticed. It was always a strange dichotomy. On my own, I don’t stand out. I’m one of those people who look familiar, but you can’t place me. With Richard, people remembered my name, let their eyes roam, and made lewd suggestions. And while Richard appreciated the appraisal, as I was the one on his arm, he raged inside with fear that I’d take another man’s offer.
If you ever tire of him, feel free to pay me a visit.
Yeah, that would never happen.
“Most popular place in town,” Alyce Wright states. Alyce, Grace Eton, and Roxanne are all present as I was running a few minutes late. I don’t want to dislike Alyce. It isn’t her fault Elaina Harrington wants to set her up with one of her sons. After a waitress takes my drink order, I quickly learn the history of how the matron of the Harrington family has been dragging poor Alyce to dinner after dinner.
“It isn’t that I don’t like the boys,” she says of the grown men. “It’s just…we don’t have anything in common other than I’m friends with their sister.” Alyce is the new head coach of the girls’ volleyball team at the high school after the previous coach—aka Mati Harrington, the only sister in the clan—took a job coaching at the college level. I’m all for women’s sports, so I liked Alyce even more when I learned this about her at dinner a week or so ago.
“Roxanne already knows their mama never tried to set me up with Billy,” Alyce clarifies for me as I feel awkward on Roxanne’s behalf learning about this relentless Southern mother.
“No, my little sister’s best friend romance for you, huh?” Grace Eton teases. Grace works at the bookstore owned by Roxanne—BookEnds—and both women somehow managed to come out tonight.
“I don’t really believe in romance,” Alyce comments with a dry chuckle, and I notice the edge in the sound. My eyes leap up to her face, which lowers for the beer before her. Her hands slip up and down the mug. “So Jan, how do you like Blue Ridge?”
I hadn’t corrected the women with my name yet, becoming more comfortable with the nickname.
“I like it just fine.” I smile at Alyce, who mimics mine as I’ve taken her hint to change the subject. “I’m thinking of enrolling my daughter in elementary school.”
“With your new job, I didn’t realize you were considering leaving?” Roxanne questions. She knows I work as the Parks and Recreation supervisor.
“Well, I wasn’t certain we’d be staying here at first as I struggled to find a job, but I am liking the new position with the park district. It’s been a bit of a challenge, though.” Who knows how long I’ll keep my new job if I can’t get anything approved by the town council?
Roxanne eyes me, not suspiciously, but more all-knowingly. “Must be fun working under Charlie.”
Before my beer fully reaches my lips, I spit at my drink, spraying liquid in all directions, and my face heats. She has no idea how nice it is to be under Charlie although I’ve been telling myself not to think of such things for the past few days. Then again, Roxanne did catch us coming out of the bathroom together, and there really isn’t any other explanation for us both being in there at the same time.
“That’s right. You work for Mayor McSteamy.” Grace giggles.
“Mayor McSteamy?” I question, and Roxanne shakes her head.
“Don’t encourage her,” Roxanne teases of her employee, but I can’t be left hanging.
“Tell me,” I ask Grace, who reaches for her phone and pulls up an image.
There’s Charlie, in his mostly bare glory, plus dark European-cut swimming trunks with a broad white band. Six-pack on display. Tan skin. Mischievous grin. And a hard-on—thick, raised, and rugged in those tight shorts—leaving nothing to the imagination. “Someone found his ex-wife’s lost phone and published this photo of him. It was eventually traced back to our own small-town mayor.”
“Charlie’s always had a reputation for being so clean and wholesome. Mr. Goody Two-shoes. But this image…” Alyce fans her face.
“Goody Two-shoes Charlie doesn’t look so innocent there,” Roxanne adds.
This small-town mayor is making a big splash in an impressive display of toned abs and tanned skin, among other parts of his anatomy. A civil servant of Blue Ridge, Georgia, he isn’t what we’d expect of a mountain man. Think beards, gruff voice, and vibrant flannel, but underneath this man’s flannel is a fine package, and despite missing a beard, we’d still like to climb his peak and settle on his ridge.
“Oh, my God.” I laugh. “Who wrote this article?”
“A desperate woman,” Roxanne states.
“A horny woman,” Alyce adds.
“A woman who isn’t wrong in her assessment.” We all stare at Grace and then burst into laughter.
“What’s so funny?” asks a rugged male voice, and we look up in unison to see the man in question. Another round of laughter fills our table. If only the writer of the article knew of his voice, they’d note two out of three puts the odds in Charlie’s favor of fulfilling mountain man fantasies. Then again, I personally know how equipped and capable Charlie is.
Damn.
“Hi, Charlie,” Alyce says, her voice still struggling with giggles.
“We were just discussing you,” Roxanne adds as Grace sheepishly returns her phone to her bag. The bright red glow to her face lingers.
“Oh, yeah?” Charlie tips his head, eyes meeting mine.
“That’s quite a package you have there, Mayor McSteamy,” I state, unable to hold back.
Alyce snorts. Roxie smiles. Grace begins to shudder, and the laughter starts all over again. Thankfully, Charlie’s good-natured, and the corner of his lip slowly crooks upward.
“You ladies having a good time?” Billy Harrington asks, sauntering up to our table with a grin like he knows a secret. Billy curls a hand around the back of Roxanne’s neck, and she tips her face up to him. I watched him touch her like this the night of the fireworks. Leaning forward, he kisses her. It’s so sweet.
“They’re having a great time, looking at old pictures of me.” Charlie tips up a brow at his brother.
“Mayor McSteamy?” Billy grins.
“Jan is new here,” Grace states as if that explains everything.
“Just showing her the man beneath the man she works for?” Billy questions glancing over at Grace and then down at Roxanne. “And here I thought all the tee-hee-ing coming from this table was about a good joke.”
“Looks like the joke’s on me,” Charlie says with a grin, but his voice grows a little tighter.
“With all due respect, sir. That picture was no joke,” I state, which brings stunned silence while my eyes hold Charlie’s. Then Alyce snorts. Roxie chuckles, and Grace titters with giggles once more.
Those brown eyes of Charlie’s flame, not in anger but in that way he gets right before he attacks. Before the good mayor k
isses me until I’m dizzy and then fingers me until I give into him. Before Mayor McSteamy gives me his impressive package and more.
Well, maybe not more, but I’d like to know more about him.
We did learn a bit about each other during the fireworks, and my skin itched with the desire to touch him all night, but with Vega and Lucy watching us every second, I didn’t reach for him. Plus, I didn’t trust myself. When we connect, I spark, and the entire night was an experiment in fighting attraction. He didn’t even lean in for a good night kiss after parking in the coach house drive, and I’m thankful he didn’t because I was a live wire ready to burn by the time he left us that night. An innocent peck on the cheek was going to result in him tackled to the drive.
Still, how did something like this image happen to him? As much as he’s keeping a brave face, there’s something pinched in his expression that suggests this wasn’t a pleasant experience. His ex-wife lost her phone. What was it like with his ex-wife? Was he happy? Did he miss her?
“You ladies enjoy your girls’ night out,” Charlie says, lifting his drink in salute. He’s holding a tall boy filled with fresh beer, but he’s still wearing his suit from a day’s worth of work.
He works too hard.
“Want to join us?” I ask before realizing the other woman might not want him present. It’s been a long time since I’ve hung out with just women. Kind women. Genuine women. Not desperate housewives of famous baseball players looking to one-up each another.
Charlie shakes his head to deny my invitation, and Billy claps his brother on the shoulder. “You ladies should have Letty join you. I’ll text Giant.” Billy then addresses Charlie. “Stick around a bit.”
“I should get home to Lucy,” he says, and it’s sweet that he’s thinking of his daughter, but I know for a fact she’s going to the movies with Vega and my mother. It’s the main reason I said yes to being here myself. Only, I can’t mention this to Charlie because I don’t want these women knowing my mother is his housekeeper and nanny. It’s bad enough I work for him. The thought makes me feel all kinds of wrong, which I often feel after I’ve been with Charlie. I mean, being with him feels so right, but afterward, the guilt and questions riddle me.