“What are you doing here?” Jill asked.
“Just making sure you’re still alive. I’ve seen evidence of you at the apartment, but not much else.”
“I’ve been staying with Ty.” Jill loaded her tray with a salad and an especially appetizing plate of potato skins. “I’m sorry, I should have called.”
“I’m not your mother, but when your mother does call, I need to know what to say.”
“Oh, God.” Jill stopped midstride with a horrified look on her face. “Did she call?”
“No, but if she did…”
“I’ll be home tonight. Ty’s going to help Tommy with something and his parents arrive tomorrow.”
“Good,” Olivia said. “You can fill me in on all the hot sex you’ve been having.”
Jill’s face burned and she snuck a glance at Stevie, whistling away over a griddle of burgers, his knowing smile a sure indication he’d heard Olivia’s quip. “Would you keep your voice down, please?”
“Do you really think anyone in the three town radius doesn’t know you’re having sex with Ty?”
“They do now.” Jill set the tray down. “Olivia, please. I know you’re pissed, but please don’t embarrass me.”
“I’m not pissed. I’m lonely. I wish I was having hot sex instead of watching trashy TV alone.”
“I’ll be home tonight. We can watch trashy TV together.”
“And talk about your hot sex?”
Jill sighed. “Maybe.”
Olivia clapped. “Yeah. I’ve got a float in five. See you later.”
Olivia smiled as she walked to the raft shop. Mission accomplished. Tommy almost ran into her when she entered the crowded registration area. “Where are you so hot to go?” she asked.
“I’ve got a meeting in Westmoreland and supplies to pick up along the way.”
“Before your guys’ night out?” she asked.
“What?”
“Jill said you were doing something with Tyler tonight.”
“He’s helping me repair some of the rafts.” He nodded his head toward the crowd waiting to check in. “In case you haven’t noticed, the season’s in full swing and I need every boat we’ve got on the water.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“Sounds like business.” He tried to squeeze past her and she stopped him with a grip on his arm. “Olivia, I’m going to be late.”
“Do me a favor, would you?”
“I don’t have time to pick up a bunch of stuff for you right now. Make a list and leave it on my desk and I’ll try to grab whatever you need next time I’m in town.”
“I’m in town all the time when I’m at school, remember?” She huffed out an impatient breath. Would her brother ever stop treating her like a kid? “I want you to ask Ty about Jill.”
“Ask him what?”
“About his plans. About where he sees this going.”
“I’m not asking him that.” He pushed past her and strode purposefully toward his truck.
“Tommy, wait,” Olivia begged and stutter-stepped to catch up. “She’s my best friend and he’s leaving at the end of the summer. If she’s in for a major heartbreak, I need to know.”
“Then you ask him.”
“You think he’ll answer me?”
“Olivia, his relationship with Jill is none of my business. It’s also none of yours.”
“Protecting my best friend is very much my business.”
“Then it’s up to you butt your nose in. I’m steering clear of any personal questions. Besides, what if he tells me he’s having fun for the summer and that’s it? Are you going to tell Jill? Do you really think she’s going to appreciate you butting into her relationship like that?”
“Yes, she would.”
He opened the driver’s side door and shook his head. “Just when I think you’re growing up.”
He got in and drove away without a backward glance. Screw him, Olivia thought. He had no idea how a female mind worked. Which was exactly the reason why he was alone.
***
Jill was looking forward to spending the night at the apartment. The back and forth, living out of a duffle bag and her car was exhausting. That, and the endless hours she spent wrapped around Tyler. She couldn’t believe how wanton she’d become. He’d awakened something inside of her, a reckless sexual awareness that consumed her most of the day.
She tried to run off the tension not seeing him created and realized she’d shaved almost a minute off her time. Running every morning at Ty’s in the high altitude had helped, she mused as she stretched in the parking lot and ascended the stairs to her apartment. She’d been feeling better and better about her life, working at The Tap, enjoying her runs more than she had in a very long time, coming home to him every night and sharing her life with a man for the first time ever. There was something so liberating about having someone to care for other than herself. She worried she cared too much.
Ty seemed excited for her to meet his family, but the thought of it had her stomach in knots. He mattered. Jill wasn’t the type, would never be the type, to give herself to someone casually. As light as she’d tried to keep it, as much as she tried to remember he’d be gone at the end of the summer, she knew her feelings were deep and taking root.
Meeting his family would forge another connection. She didn’t want to meet the people he would leave her to live with. She didn’t want to imagine him at home in his life without her.
Olivia had come home while Jill was running and she’d left a trail of her things from the door to the kitchen. “I got pizza and beer,” Olivia shouted. “Go take a quick shower and we’ll get started with a TLC marathon.”
“What’s on?” Jill asked. Her stomach grumbled at the smell of the pizza.
“Who cares? Weddings, beauty contests, cupcakes, psychics. It’s all good.”
“Good point. I’ll be right out.”
With her hair still wet, Jill dressed in comfortable sweats and piled her plate with pizza. She settled on the couch next to Olivia, who’d already scarfed two pieces and was sipping a fresh beer. “So what’s on tonight’s menu?”
“It’s a fiesta of weddings.” She smirked at Jill. “Perhaps you’d like to take notes?”
Jill balled up her napkin and threw it at Olivia. “Very funny.”
“Well, you’re a hell of a lot closer to walking down the aisle than I am.”
Jill suddenly realized why Olivia was being so snarky. “You really are jealous, aren’t you?”
“What?”
“Not about Ty, but that I’m having regular and, let me just say, spectacular sex.”
“Bitch. Of course I’m jealous.” She set her beer down and crossed her arms over her chest. “Is it really spectacular?”
“He’s a fly fisherman. He’s patient and very, very good with his hands.”
“Just his hands?” Olivia prodded.
“With every appendage.”
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t. You’re just in a dry spell.” She took a bite. “What happened to Del?”
“He’s an idiot. Gorgeous makes up for a lot of things, but it can’t hide stupid. Besides, he wasn’t worth pissing off Tommy.”
“Was he pissed?”
“He would have been if I’d let it get any farther.” She shrugged and turned back to the television. “I need to graduate and get out of this hick town. The summers used to be exciting with all the new guides. Now they’re all so immature.”
“Either that or we’re maturing.”
“That’s a depressing thought.” She sighed. “I guess whatever motivates me to study is a good thing, right?”
“Right. When you graduate, you can get a job anywhere. I always thought you’d apply at a school in Westmoreland. Are you thinking of leaving the valley?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t, but lately it seems so small. I see the same people everywhere I go. I’m bored with the same people.”
“I like seeing the same people,�
� Jill said. “It bothered me in college when I’d go places and didn’t recognize a soul.”
“You don’t think the valley will hold less of an appeal when Tyler’s gone?”
Jill took a sip of her beer and tried to ease the sting to her heart. “Probably.”
“Is this getting serious, Jill? Are you falling for him?”
Jill examined the toppings on her pizza, afraid if she looked at Olivia, her friend would see the truth no matter what she said. “I care about him. I’m enjoying spending time with him. And the sex is, as mentioned, stupendous.”
“And?”
“And I don’t know. I’ve never felt about anyone the way I feel about him. I’ve never really had the opportunity.”
“So how do you feel?”
She looked Olivia in the eye. She wouldn’t lie to her friend. She could be honest and trust Olivia to understand her feelings. “I think about him all the time and not just in that obsessive way like when you’ve got a crush. We’re different. He’s so unflappable and easy going and I’m totally anal about everything. We shouldn’t get along so well, but we do. We share the same values. We like the same music.” She slapped a hand to her stomach. “Oh, God, Olivia. I’m falling in love with him. I’m totally screwed.”
“Why?”
“He’s going home at the end of the summer. I’m falling in love with a man I have absolutely no chance at having a future with. What is wrong with me?”
“Nothing, and I don’t think you don’t have a future.”
“A long distance relationship? Across the country? When I can barely afford to pay my rent and car note? We’ll never see each other.” Jill got up to pace. “And do you really think he’ll stay faithful surrounded by a bunch of beautiful college girls? I need to end this. I need to end this before I get any deeper involved.”
“That’s nuts, Jill. You don’t know that he wants it to end. What if he asks you to go back with him?”
“To North Carolina? Leave my family and everything I’ve ever known?”
“You wouldn’t be leaving everything, you’d be going toward something special. A future with the man you love.”
Jill put her hands over her ears. “Stop, Olivia. Stop putting ideas in my head. He’s never made any reference to me going with him when he leaves.”
“What does he say?”
“He doesn’t really talk about it. We don’t really talk about it. When it comes up, he kind of brushes it off.” She sighed and sat down. “I need to get my head in the right place. This is a summer fling. Nothing more, nothing less. I can’t make it more because I’m stupid enough to have feelings for him.”
“You don’t think he has feelings for you?”
“I think he cares about me. I know he wants me. Right now, that has to be enough. It is enough.”
“Okay.” Olivia rubbed Jill’s foot and lifted her beer in the air. “To stupendous sex.”
Jill lifted her beer and took a tiny sip. Any more and she might not have been able to keep it down. “Can we watch something else?” she asked.
“Sure. These brides get on my nerves, anyway.”
They settled on a reality adventure show and bundled up under blankets. Jill’s eyelids grew heavy half way through and she never made it to the end. She fell asleep on the couch and woke up to the sensation of falling. She gasped and opened her eyes to find herself cradled in Tyler’s arms. “Shhhh. I’ve got you.”
“I thought you were helping Tommy.”
“I was. I didn’t want to sleep alone.”
“How’d you get in?”
“Door was unlocked. You two need to be more careful.”
She snuggled into his chest. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me, too. I missed you.”
Jill held on tight. This was enough. It had to be enough. “I missed you, too.”
Chapter 29
The Mountain Laurel Lodge sat on a sprawling hundred-acre estate at the foot of the San Juan Mountains. With rolling hills that bordered Bureau of Land Management land, it boasted hundreds of acres of horseback riding trails and access to fishing on the nearby Rio Grande.
Ty couldn’t wait to see his family. He left every summer with nothing more than phone calls to bridge the gap, but something was different this summer. Falling in love had intensified his feelings about just about everything.
He needed to see his mom, smell her familiar scent. He needed to see his brothers and sisters roaming the hills and discovering the beauty of the west. He needed to see his dad, knowing that he’d left the shop during the busy season to visit and spend time with his family. Most of all, he needed to see Jill with his family and seal the last remaining piece of the puzzle. He needed to know they’d get along before he tried to move her beyond their casual dating and pushed for something more.
Ty sat inside the lobby, eating cookies and tying flies until his family arrived, talking to the owner’s ten-year-old daughter, who explained in detail the encounter she’d had with a skunk the day before. She’d just gotten to the part where she’d tiptoed away when his stepdad walked through the front door and beamed at Ty. “It’s good to see your ugly mug.”
“Bryce.” Ty stood up and greeted his stepdad with a hearty hug. “You finally made it.”
“You try traveling with this crew and see if you get anywhere on time. I swear they all had to pee ten minutes apart.”
His mother followed with the girls on her heels. “Tyler.” She rushed into his arms and he picked her off her feet. There wasn’t anyone steadier, more reliable than his mother. “Mom.” She looked relaxed and happy, her blond hair loose from its usual ponytail. She wore shorts and a lightweight fleece jacket. “I’ve missed you.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” she said as she pulled back and stared up at his face. “I’m glad these summer trips are just about over.”
“Not quite yet,” he reminded her. As glad as he was to see them, pulling up stakes now wasn’t an option. Not until he’d convinced Jill to come with him.
Before he could ask about the rest of the crew, Jesse and Lita entered arm in arm. They rushed to hug him together. “Look how tan you are,” Lita said. “He looks happy, Kerri Ann. Don’t you think he looks happy?”
His mother shrugged. “He looks like Ty.”
“He looks like a happy Ty. So, where is she?” Lita asked.
“She’s working,” Ty explained. “I didn’t think it would be a good idea to spring all of you on her at once.”
“Why not?” his dad asked. “We’re a package deal. She may as well figure that out now.”
“She will, Dad. I promise.”
“Come on, Lita,” Bryce said. “Let’s get checked in and let these two have some time with Tyler.” They walked to the registration desk hand in hand. Anyone who didn’t know any better would have thought they were the married couple. His family, Ty knew, was an unusual bunch.
“You look good,” Jesse said. “River treating you well?”
“Always does. You guys find it okay?”
“Your directions were spot on. We had an hour stretch where everyone had to use the bathroom and there was no bathroom in sight. Happens every time. I swear it was easier to travel when the girls were in diapers and could just pee in their pants.”
“How far is your place from the resort?” his mom asked.
“About twenty minutes. I’m up in the mountains, closer to the river.”
“And Jill? Where is she?”
“She’s about ten minutes from here at the base of the Lower Fork. She lives in an apartment with a girlfriend.”
“Does she know we’re coming?”
“Yes, she knows. I thought we could all have dinner at the restaurant where she works so you could see the town and the raft and fishing shop.”
“Any meal I don’t have to cook is fine with me,” his mom said. “What’s the dress code?”
“There isn’t one, Mom. You could go just as you are to any place in town.”
 
; “Really? So it’s not that different from home? At least not yet,” she added under her breath. Ty wondered if she was talking about the new restaurant Bryce told him they wanted to open.
“Not too different unless you’re talking about the trees and the weather.”
Lita and Bryce returned with keys to two cabins. “We’re next door to one anther so the kids can play,” Lita said. “There’s a fire pit between our cabins and they serve refreshments at happy hour.”
“Perfect,” Kerri Ann said. “I’m ready to unpack and unwind.”
“I’ll let you get settled in and come back and get you for dinner.”
“You’re leaving?” Brody asked. “Now?”
“I’ve got a private lesson in thirty minutes, but I’ll be back. Be ready to go around six.”
“I can’t wait to meet your girlfriend,” Lita said with a beaming smile.
“If you act too excited, you’re going to scare her away. Remember I told you she’s skittish.”
“I know. I’m just getting the excited out of my system now.”
“You do that. I’ll be back.” After hugs and kisses, he was back on the road. He only hoped his family could keep their lips shut. If any of them let it slip that he’d come back for Jill, they could ruin everything.
***
Jill poked around the storeroom of The Tap, nervously checking inventory and taking stock of the list she kept taped to the door. If she hadn’t been so organized and implemented a new system that kept the guesswork out of ordering supplies, she would have had enough to keep her mind occupied until Ty and his family arrived.
As it stood, she had nothing but time to worry. Brad, the night cook, had already shooed her out of the kitchen. She stood at the reception desk, arranging menus right side up when the door opened and a gaggle of folks paraded inside. Folks she’d never seen before.
Ty held the door for the kids, who came in first, pushing and shoving and talking all at once. There was a blonde woman, tall and lean, with Ty’s chin and a nervous smile. His mother, the restaurant owner, Kerri Ann. The man behind her with the dark hair had to be his stepdad, Bryce. Jill recognized his father, Jesse, immediately as they could have been brothers, with their nearly identical eyes and broad shouldered build. The short, yet stunningly beautiful woman who bounced in after on sky high heels had to be his stepmother, the flamboyant Lita.
Mending the Line Page 17