Feeling a little awkward, Jack pulled at a loose thread on the blanket. ‘She’s amazing in her own right, and I don’t think that has much to do with me.’ Worried he’d given too much away with the intensity he could hear in his own voice, he forced himself to lie back on his elbows, trying to at least look relaxed. ‘Is this where you give me the big brother speech and threaten to punch me if I break her heart?’
Sam slid his sunglasses down his nose and stared over the top of them at him. ‘Do I need to?’
‘Absolutely not.’ Jack would cut his own heart out first, before intentionally hurting Eliza. ‘We’re playing it carefully around Noah for the time being, but not because I’m stringing her along or anything.’
Sam grinned. ‘Didn’t think so. I will offer you one bit of advice though…don’t lie to yourself about your feelings. I tried to do that when I started seeing Beth, told myself it was just a bit of fun.’ He laughed. ‘I don’t know who I was trying to kid because I was head over heels for her from the first time I kissed her.’ Expression growing serious, Sam leaned over to clap Jack on the shoulder. ‘There’s so much crap in this life—hell, you don’t need me to tell you that—we have to grab onto every bit of happiness we can.’
Jack gulped around a lump in his throat. He’d never talked to another guy about stuff like this other than Jason, and the loss of him slammed into Jack leaving him winded. Keeping his eyes fixed on the activity on the shoreline, he raised a hand when Noah turned to look up the beach.
The little boy ran through the sand towards him, Bastian at his heels, and threw himself into Jack’s lap with a grin. ‘You’re soaked,’ Jack managed to fight the words out.
Noah looked up at him, all ruddy cheeks and smiles. ‘Bastian knocked me over!’
‘Did he?’ Jack wagged a stern finger at the Labrador. ‘Bad dog.’ Bastian lolled out his tongue in his doggy smile then shook himself vigorously, spraying them with the salty water soaked into his coat.
Jack ducked his head, but too late to miss the worst of the spray and he grimaced at the liberal coating of wet-dog smell that clung to his T-shirt along with the briny tang of sea water. ‘Ugh, Bastian, you stink!’ he told the unrepentant dog. ‘You’re getting a bath the minute we get home.’ Turning to Noah, Jack gave him a sniff and wrinkled his nose. ‘You too, smelly boy.’
Noah cackled with delight as he leaned into Jack. ‘You three, smelly man!’
Sam tried and failed to smother a laugh. Jack met his eyes and soon the two of them were sniggering worse than Noah and Michael had been the night before. Noah knelt up between Jack’s legs and threw his arms around Jack’s neck. ‘I’m having the best day!’
Jack’s heart flip-flopped in his chest as he curled his arms around his nephew and hugged him close. ‘Me too, buddy. Me too.’
Chapter Fifteen
Having just about crawled out of the hot shower on her hands and knees, Eliza made it as far as her bed and flopped onto her back still wrapped in a towel. Scooting around until she lay sideways across the bed, she raised her aching legs to prop them up against the wall. The pub had been mayhem after the beach football tournament with families deciding to extend their afternoon’s fun into a couple of drinks and a bite to eat. Sam and Owen had shared a quick pint before going their separate ways—her brother to see Beth, and Owen to his room with a bottle of beer and a sandwich he’d persuaded Eliza to make with one of his charming smiles.
There’d been no sign of Jack and she’d tried very hard not to be bothered by that. Logic said he and his mum needed to get the boys home for dinner, and it would’ve broken their agreement to wait before she met Noah, but still…when she’d looked around at the smiling families and listened to half a dozen stories about the fun everyone had had on the beach, there’d been a definite feeling of missing out.
‘Don’t sulk Elizabeth Anne Barnes, it’s unbecoming,’ she said aloud in her best imitation of her mother, then rolled her eyes at herself. She pressed her sore toes against the cool plaster wall and contemplated the chipped polish on their nails. She really ought to redo them, but the thought of moving, never mind bending over to paint them, made her want to groan.
Her phone buzzed, and she flung out one arm to fumble for it. When she saw Jack’s name on the display her bad mood vanished. ‘Hello.’
‘Hey, it’s not too late to call is it?’
His warm, deep voice curled around her like a hug. ‘Not at all. I’ve just finished my shift and had a shower. If I can scrounge up enough energy I might even make it underneath my quilt.’
‘I wish I was there to tuck you in.’
The thought of him doing just that, or even better slipping in beside her, sent a delicious shiver through her. ‘Me too.’
‘Unfortunately, I’m hiding in my room from two sugar-filled monsters and the world’s most disobedient dog.’ She laughed at the despair in his voice.
‘Are they giving you a hard time? If it’s any consolation I don’t think you’re the only parent suffering. There were a lot of tears and tantrums when people who’d brought their kids into the pub after the football tried to take them home later.’
He was quiet for a moment, then said, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t bring the boys in, but it’d been a long afternoon. I told Noah about you, though.’
Her breath caught in her throat at his unexpected announcement. ‘Was he okay about it?’
A soft chuckle in her ear. ‘More than happy, he wants me to have a girlfriend, so I can be as happy as Sam. He was also angling for a little brother or sister, but I told him that was a long way off in the future.’ Another laugh. ‘God, the things he comes out with, he knocks me for six. I had no idea what to say.’ He took a deep breath. ‘It’s terrifying, Eliza. I’m so worried I’m going to get everything wrong and mess him up. Jason always made it seem so easy.’
She couldn’t imagine what it must’ve been like having to take on so much responsibility under such difficult circumstances—just the thought of anything happening to Sam was enough to bring tears stinging her eyes. ‘You must miss him terribly.’ Silence stretched between them. The sound of Jack’s breath rasping over the phone was the only clue they hadn’t been cut off. Eliza closed her eyes. He was ten minutes and a million miles away and she wasn’t sure how to reach for him. ‘I’m here, Jack. For as long as you need it.’
‘Please.’ A single choked word and her heart broke for him.
‘Put your phone on speaker then lie down on your side,’ she said. Scrolling quickly through the playlist on her phone, she found the track they’d danced to in the barn and selected it. She turned on her side and set the phone on the pillow beside her. As the soft strings of the intro started, she said, ‘I’m right here, my darling.’ An hour and a dozen songs later, they finally whispered their goodnights to each other.
Two weeks later, Eliza checked her reflection in the bathroom mirror, added a dash of pale pink lipstick and tousled her hair one last time, before giving herself a reassuring nod. Harvest was due to start in the morning, and although she was sure there were a million and one things Jack should’ve been doing instead, she’d dropped everything when he’d called and asked her to switch shifts and spend the evening with him.
They’d both been flat out, and their schedules had conspired against them to make spending time together impossible. When her head wasn’t buried in research for her soap-making, she was behind the bar or bent over her sewing machine. The test garments she’d made for Beth to sell had flown off the shelves and she was struggling to keep up with demand.
School had broken up and between the farm and keeping Noah occupied, Jack barely had five minutes to think. He’d called her every night though, and after chatting about their days they’d played their favourite songs to each other. She began to live for those precious moments at the end of each day, but there was a bittersweet-ness to them.
Gathering her handbag and keys from the kitchen table, she said goodbye to her parents and hurried down the back st
airs where she bumped into Sam. ‘Oh, hey, I was just grabbing an extra box of crisps from the cellar—I don’t know what’s with everyone this evening but we’re going through them like wildfire.’ Sam paused and raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re looking very glam, Sis. Tell Jack he’d better be on his best behaviour.’
Eliza gave him a little twirl to show off the way the knee-length skirt of her dress flared out and laughed. ‘Not a bloody chance.’ They’d not laid eyes on each other since their dance in the barn and the need to touch him, to put her hands on him and know he was real had begun to itch beneath her skin.
Her brother pulled a face like he’d swallowed something nasty. ‘I shouldn’t have said anything because now I need to bleach my brain for just thinking about the two of you…’ He shuddered then flapped his hands at her in a shooing motion. ‘Get out of here.’ Grinning at the discomforted look on his face, she obeyed.
She steered the little hatchback along the track leading to the farmhouse, then around the curve of the gravel driveway to park next to where Jack was waiting. The evening sun burnished his dark hair and made the crisp white short-sleeved shirt he’d paired with black jeans glow against the tanned skin of his arms. A shiver ran through her at the glimpse of sculpted bicep showing below his sleeve, the length of muscular thigh displayed by the close fit of his jeans. So much strength and power honed by years of hard work, and yet he never failed to touch her with anything other than gentleness.
Instead of opening the door, he bent at the waist to rest his elbows on the open window and smiled in at her. ‘Hey, I hope you don’t mind but there’s a small change of plan.’
Her heart sank at the thought he might be cancelling on her again, but she did her best not to show it. ‘There’s nothing wrong, is there?’
‘Not at all, there’s just someone here who really wants to meet you.’ He nodded towards the front door.
With a glance back over her shoulder, Eliza spotted a small dark-haired boy hovering on the doorstep. Surprised, she turned back to Jack. ‘I thought we’d all agreed it was better to wait…’ Jack had told her about his chat with Noah on the beach and she’d been greatly relieved to know he seemed okay with the idea of her and Jack at least.
He shrugged. ‘Yeah, I know, but I told him we were going out tonight and he hasn’t stopped pestering me since. Maybe it’s better this way, rather than making such a big deal of it.’ He gave her a lopsided grin. ‘You know I’m making this all up as I go along.’
Oh, boy. When he smiled at her like that, she was powerless to resist him. A deep thread of tenderness curled through her. He was trying so very hard to do the right thing by Noah. ‘Well, all right, if you’re sure.’ Eliza undid her belt and popped open her door, trying to ignore the sudden swoop of butterflies in her stomach. It was foolish to be nervous, but it felt like a lot was riding on the next few minutes.
Jack appeared at her side, took her hand and helped her out of the car. He leaned close, smile gleaming as brightly as his white shirt. ‘You look stunning.’ His hand brushed the base of her spine, just a fraction above the curve of her bottom. ‘Absolutely gorgeous.’
His words—and the span of his fingers at her back—gave her the little injection of confidence she needed. Smiling, she let Jack steer her across the gravel to the front door. He dropped into a crouch, bringing his eyeline on the same level as his nephew’s, and her heart gave another little flutter at the way he was so careful and conscious of his size around not just her, but Noah too. ‘Hey, buddy, this is my friend Eliza.’
Huge hazel eyes, just like Jack’s, seemed to fill the little boy’s face as he stared up at her. The smile on his face turned tentative and she couldn’t help but notice the way he inched closer to the protective cradle of Jack’s body. ‘Hello.’
She didn’t have as far to crouch as Jack, so Eliza bent at the waist and offered her hand. ‘Hello, Noah. I’ve heard lots of lovely things about you from your Uncle Jack, so I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.’
Noah glanced towards Jack, received a quick nod of encouragement and then closed his small fingers around hers. ‘Is Sam your brother? He’s funny.’
When he didn’t release her fingers, she turned her hand to cup his. ‘That’s right. He’s my big brother which means he gets a bit bossy sometimes, but he’s very good at looking after me.’
Noah gave her his mini-me version of Jack’s lopsided smile and it was all she could do not to clutch the wall for support. These two would have her tumbling head over heels in love with the both of them if she wasn’t careful. ‘Uncle Jack said if you become his forever girlfriend you might have a baby, and then I can be a big brother too.’ He puffed out his little chest. ‘I’d be very good at it.’
Jack’s jaw dropped, followed by a rush of colour to his cheeks and a desperate whisper of ‘Noah!’ His expression was such a picture of abject horror it was all Eliza could do not to laugh.
Completely undeterred, Noah still had his eyes on her, and there was such eagerness and longing glowing in them it sobered her in an instant. Reaching out, she cupped his cheek. ‘I’m sure you’d be a wonderful big brother, sweetheart, just like your daddy was to Uncle Jack.’
He smiled that shy, sweet smile and leaned against Jack’s shoulder. ‘My daddy was the best.’
‘Yes, he sure was.’ Jack’s husky whisper drew her gaze and their eyes locked. ‘Thank you.’ He mouthed the words before turning his head to kiss Noah’s temple, and the boy squirmed closer for a hug.
And there it was.
She’d assumed the moment her heart surrendered there would be a fanfare of trumpets, or an explosion of fireworks. Some epic gesture from Jack she could weave into a story to tell their children and grandchildren. But there was no lightning bolt—only a quiet, calm surety settling over her that she had found her place in the world at last. She had so much love to give, and she would give it all to this wonderful, lonely man and the heartbroken little boy in his arms.
Their drive to the multiplex on the outskirts of the nearest big town was quiet. Eliza left the radio on an easy-listening station which filled the car with old favourites and classic tunes she hummed along to. The atmosphere between them wasn’t strained, but she wasn’t quite ready to admit to Jack how she was feeling, and he seemed lost in his own thoughts. The car park was busy, and she had to crawl along the packed lanes of cars for fear of hitting one of the many groups of pedestrians who seemed to lose all sense of self-preservation in places like this.
‘Over there.’ The relief which filled her when Jack pointed to a free space near the end of the row melted away when she saw how close the people carrier on the left was parked to the white line ‘I’ll hop out,’ he said, and did so.
She waited for him to do the typical man thing and take his place at the back of the space to guide her in, but instead he tucked his hands in his pockets and wandered down the aisle a few paces. If she hadn’t already been smitten with him, that might well have sealed the deal. Forcing herself to pay attention to the task at hand, she edged the hatchback into the tight space and wriggled out of her side of the car.
Jack took her hand and they strolled towards the neon lights illuminating the cluster of bars and chain restaurants sprawled throughout the complex in front of the cinema. ‘We’ve got time for a quick drink, if you’d like one?’ he said, pausing outside the nearest bar. When she nodded, he tugged open the door.
A mass of people filled the entrance lobby and a barrage of noise from the packed bar beyond them swept over Jack and Eliza on a wave of thumping music and a head-spinning mix of perfume, alcohol, fried food and sweat. They’d never make it as far as the front of the queue before the film started. ‘Maybe not,’ Eliza offered.
Jack nodded swiftly in agreement and let the door go, cutting them off from the noise and smells. ‘If it’s this busy, we should probably go and buy our tickets while we can.’
The cinema was blessedly quieter, and cooler thanks to the powerful blast of the air condi
tioning units above the door. They made their way to the sales counter, pausing to verify the correct screen for their film. It had been ages since she’d been to the pictures, and even longer for Jack, so neither of them had had much of a clue about the latest films. They’d settled on a comedy which had been at the top of the charts for a couple of weeks, in the hopes it would be less busy than a brand new release.
Eliza hung back whilst Jack bought their tickets, letting her eyes roam over the dimly-lit foyer. The carpet felt sticky beneath the soles of her wedged sandals, and she decided it was best not to think about the gallons of coke, popcorn and other less savoury things that had likely been trodden into it over the years. The concession counter at the back of the foyer caught her attention, and she called to Jack who was closing in on the front of the queue. ‘Shall I get us a drink? He cast a smile and a thumb’s up over his shoulder, before turning back when the server spoke to him.
By the time Jack had secured the tickets and joined her, Eliza was standing to one side of the counter clutching a near-bucket sized soft drink which was already sweating condensation from the half a ton of ice inside it. ‘The larger size was only 30p more,’ she said with a rueful smile when Jack raised an eyebrow at the enormous cup.
He swapped it for the tickets, then took her other hand. ‘Well, at least we won’t run the risk of dehydration.’
Chapter Sixteen
Thankfully, the bored-looking kid dressed in an oversized black T-shirt and a baseball cap bearing the cinema chain’s logo glanced at their tickets and pronounced the screen open. Hand in hand, they wandered along the corridor lined with garish posters advertising films Jack had never heard of and had even less inclination to see. It had been his idea to see Eliza that evening, and though nothing could spoil the thrill which jolted him every time her lovely curves brushed against his side, his mind was full of the day to come.
Summer at Lavender Bay Page 18