Perfect bliss. That was the only way she could think to describe what she was feeling just then.
His lips were smooth and soft. And the kiss was only the softest of caresses before he pulled back. His thumb stroked over her cheek, and his gaze roamed her face. Then his focus dropped to her mouth and a low sound escaped his throat. Swiftly, he captured her lips with his own, fully, firmly, flagrantly.
She could feel the steady beat of his heart beneath her fingers. Hear his rapid breathing. Taste the yearning for this never to end that hung between them.
But it did end. Because all too soon he eased back and pressed his forehead to hers. She gulped for air and he did the same. A tremor shivered through her. “Justus—” She inched away far enough to ensure she could get a good look into his eyes. “Maybe I can try to get a job near you? Near Deschutes Rejuvenation?”
He shook his head. “I thought of that, but Dakota, I don’t want you in danger. My job is…tough. Gritty. Draining. And sometimes I work with boys who’d like nothing more than to get at me in some way. I don’t want to put you in the middle of danger. And I certainly don’t want you near in a case like that.”
She pouted softly. “I could be tough if I needed to be…”
He shook his head and gave her a quick peck before pulling back again. “No. I couldn’t live with the risk I’d be putting you in.”
She wanted to wheedle and plead. She could talk him into it, she felt sure. But she stopped herself. She certainly didn’t want to create a situation where Justus might get hurt trying to protect her. And there was still Riley to think of. “Okay, but I’m going to miss you.” She rested her forehead against his chin and contemplated just how true those words really were.
Finally, she leaned back and looked up at him. “When do you leave?”
His eyes were soft, contemplative, full of an emotion she couldn’t quite pin down. “We’re heading out tomorrow morning.”
“So soon.” Dread seeped through her. She rubbed one finger over the middle button of his shirt. How had he enraptured her so quickly?
He bent down to intersect her line of vision. “How about that dinner I asked you to? You and me? Tonight? Maybe even a little dancing.” He pumped his eyebrows twice.
She giggled and angled forward to whisper conspiratorially, “I’m a great dancer. This amazing guy taught me. And he did a pretty good job if I do say so myself.” She covered her mouth and the laugh that wanted to burst out. “So long as we don’t dance anything but a waltz.”
His chuckle was warm and soft. “I bet a smart lady like you would pick up any steps to any dance fairly quickly. Especially if an amazing guy was doing the teaching.”
“How about right now?” She took his hand and stood, pulling him out to the relatively firm dance floor of wet sand. She stepped into the circle of his arms and wrapped her own around his neck, peering up at him. “We’ll dance to the song of the surf.”
“The song of the surf?”
“Mmmm. Something Mrs. Murton said.” She tipped her head in thought. “The ocean is a reminder to us of the vastness of God’s grace. Always washing in, ready to clean us up and give us a fresh new start. Second chances. New beginnings.”
His hands settled at the small of her back. “I think I could use a refresher course in that.” A soft seriousness glinted in his eyes. “I told you about Treyvon. I need to go visit him. I’ve been putting it off.”
“I know what that’s like – putting something off – so I’ll just say that you’ll feel better once you go.”
“I have no doubt you are right.” He eased out a breath. “I’ll go see him as soon as I can.” Soft emotion shone in his eyes as he studied her. “Dakota, I’m not sure where this can go. What the next step is for us.”
She batted away his hesitation with a flip of her wrist. “Maybe we don’t always have to know what the next step is. Maybe we just give ourselves to the dance and see where it takes us?”
“Doesn’t sound like much of a plan.”
She nodded. “But maybe it’s the only plan we’ve got.”
He lowered his head and kissed her lingeringly. “I’m game if you are.”
“I’ve enjoyed every dance I’ve ever had with you. I don’t see why this one will be any different.” She purposely stepped on his toe.
He laughed. “It’s an adventure already.”
Epilogue
Justus stepped out of his car and eyed the imposing building before him for a long moment, hands resting on his hips.
He’d been home for a week, and had already put this off longer than he should have.
Dakota had been chiding him softly via text messages to do this ever since he’d arrived back home. He grinned and shook his head. Already, he couldn’t imagine his life without her in it.
He pulled the visiting order out of his back pocket and smoothed it open. He handed it and his I.D. to the guard on duty. The man checked him off and waved him through to wait in the visiting area.
Treyvon blinked when they brought him in and it was obvious the guard hadn’t told him who his visitor was. “Mr. Teague.” He stopped, seemingly unsure whether he should sit down or not. “I’d ’bout give up. I didn’t never expect to see you again.”
Sorrow washed through Justus. “I’m sorry about that, Trey. I really am. I needed some time, but I should have been here much sooner than this. How’ve you been?”
The boy sank into the seat across from him and started talking, and Justus knew he was exactly where he was meant to be.
The visit was too short. They always were. But he did his best to offer Trey words of encouragement, forgiveness, and hope before the guard came and indicated it was time to head back to his cell. Trey’s eyes held a question. “You gonna come again, Mr. Teague?”
Justus nodded. “I’m going to be here every chance I get from now on, Trey.”
“Thank you.” Moisture glistened in the boy’s eyes, but he blinked hard and spun on his heel, dogging the guard’s footsteps out of the room.
Back out in the parking lot, Justus sank into his car and pulled out his phone. I did it. It was hard. But really good at the same time.
Yay! So proud of you, Dakota responded, followed by a pair of smoochy lips.
He grinned. I’m going to hold you to that kiss the next time I see you.
She sent a succession of the smoochy lips and then ended with, ha ha.
Now you are just torturing me.
The next emoticon was an animated one that pumped its eyebrows. Just doing what I do best.
He sighed and dropped his head back against the seat rest. This long distance thing was going to be torture. And the term had just started. He didn’t see himself having time to get away again until Thanksgiving. But he was glad they were giving it a shot. He didn’t know how God was going to work this relationship out. He only knew their future was in His hands. And for now, that was enough.
For now.
Written in the Sand, Pacific Shores, Book 4
Coming Summer 2015
Read an excerpt on the next page.
Chapter 1
Riley Ross set her bags of groceries from the Thift and Save into the back seat of her old Jeep and glanced at the time on her phone as she yanked open the front driver’s door. Of course Mom couldn’t have given her anymore than five minutes notice that she needed Rem picked up from soccer practice today, because that would be too much to ask.
And what was so urgent that Mom couldn’t find the time to pick up her own son? From the slight slur in her voice when she’d called, Riley would be willing to bet her last dollar it involved keeping a bar stool warm, and a healthy tab running, down at Pete’s.
Riley sighed. This was the first day of soccer for Rem. And she wasn’t going to be surprised if it became her regular responsibility to pick him up each day. Because it was too much to ask of Mom to get her son to and from the places he needed to be when she was so busy warming the chaise lounge at the house and instructing the
live-in maid what meals to prepare and what rooms to clean, or apparently equally taxing, keeping Pete in business.
Riley grimaced at herself in the rearview mirror as she pulled out onto the two lane coastal highway in front of the grocery store and headed toward the high school. “Stop it.” She gave herself a pointed look. It was too easy to let her frustrations with her mother’s behavior make her forget that it was all a mask to bury the pain Mom refused to face. Heaven knew she’d tried to get mom to counseling on more than one occasion. And had talked to her about moving on until she was blue in the face.
Jesus, it’s going to take something big to reach her, I’m afraid.
Thankfully her job as a second grade teacher’s aide had regular hours. She got off at four o’clock each day. So it wouldn’t be too much of a hardship to swing by the high school and pick up Rem and run him up to the Bluffs. She reminded herself how thankful she’d been when she heard he’d decided to play soccer. She hoped it would keep him from finding too much trouble this year. The way Rem was always trying to prove himself to everyone had her just a little bit terrified of what he might get involved in during this his first year in high school. She’d heard the school had hired a new coach. Hopefully he would be a guy who had his head on straight and not one of those macho jerks who would teach his kids to obliterate the opponents no matter what.
The late August sun beat down unmercifully and Riley could feel sweat dampening the armpits of her light blue silk top. She lowered all four windows and let the breeze cool the interior of the car. At least her hair was up in a bun off her neck today, not that the wind was probably doing her any favors in that department. But the only thing on her schedule for tonight, after dropping Rem at home, was to change into jeans and head over to finish up some of the remodeling to the house on 2nd Street anyhow, so it wasn’t like it mattered what she looked like.
She whipped into the high school parking lot and stopped in a slot close to the soccer field. She could see the team doing cool down stretches near the far goal, but couldn’t pick out who Rem’s coach might be from this distance.
She propped her elbow against the window and rested her head against her fist. Her eyes slid closed. Five o’clock had been a long time ago. And she still had a lot of work left in her day. Maybe she could catch five minutes of rest while she waited.
Birds twittered lustily from the shade of the Maple off to her left, and somewhere high overhead she heard the shrill cry of a gull. The sun beat down on her head warming her and only increasing her drowsiness. An insect droned by and the wind slipped through grasses and leaves, whispering tranquility and peace. All the details blurred into a soft haze.
Riley’s head fell off her fist and jolted her awake. She blinked and focused. The team was standing now and several players were already near her in the parking lot loading their sports bags into vehicles and laughing and joking with one another. She scanned the field for Remington, but didn’t see him anywhere. He might be expecting Mom to pick him up from the parking lot on the other side of the pitch. Riley sighed and rolled up her windows, then climbed from the Jeep and slung her purse over one shoulder as she clicked the locks into place. She should have thought to ask Mom if they’d predetermined a place to meet. Not that Mom would have necessarily remembered if they had.
She rubbed the back of her neck, willing away the last vestiges of sleepiness as she picked her way up the low grassy hill to the level of the field.
She sheltered her eyes with one hand as she scanned the players searching for Rem’s red mop of curls. Finally she spotted him, still in the center of the field twirling a soccer ball around with his feet while he apparently engaged in a conversation with…
Riley froze where she stood. She felt the heels of her pumps sink into the soft moist soil at the edge of the field, but couldn’t seem to move. Her mouth was dry. And all thoughts of sleepiness had fled. In fact her heart was beating so hard anyone might have thought she’d just been running a 5K instead of napping in her Jeep.
And all because of the sight of the man talking to Rem. The man with the whistle hanging around his neck. The man who was quite obviously the new soccer coach at Marinville High.
Jalen Rivera.
Happiness washed through her. Jalen was the reason she’d finally seen the Truth that God loved her and wanted her to serve him. The reason she was serving Him today. And without Jesus to lean on over the past few years, she didn’t know where she would be right now. She thought back to what her life had been like not long before she met Jalen for the first time and shuddered. Thankfully God had helped her put those memories behind her little by little over the last couple years. And that had all started because of Jalen – well, Marie and Dakota had had a big part in her salvation story too.
She couldn’t be happier that Rem was going to have such a great coach. She just totally hadn’t expected to see him here.
Slowly she eased her heels from the dirt and started toward them.
Jalen bent and grabbed up his towel from the bag near his feet and scrubbed at the sweat coating his forehead and hair as he smiled at Remington Ross. The kid had shot up quite a few inches since the last time Jalen had seen him two years ago when he’d been in town for Reece Cahill’s wedding. He was still scrawny as all get out, and short for his age, but that didn’t bother Jalen in the least. The kid could control the ball like few his age, and from what he’d seen today Rem had a good understanding of the positions of the game. And it was obvious his interest went beyond just an understanding to an actual love for the sport as evidenced by the fact that while most of the team had already meandered off the field, Remington was still here pacing through some footwork.
Jalen slung his towel over his shoulder and rested one hand on the kid’s shoulder. “Nice job out here today. You have a real knack for the game.” What he really wanted to talk to the kid about was his older sister. The woman who was the reason he’d come back to Marinville in the first place. Was she faring better now that some time had passed after the death of her abusive boyfriend? Was she seeing anyone? Jalen scooped up his sports bag. Please, heaven forbid, she wasn’t married was she? But he held all those questions inside. Time would reveal the answers. Time would tell him whether he was simply a fool lingering over memories of a woman who had somehow captured his heart in a few short days, or whether something could actually come of it.
Remington bent and picked up his ball resting it against one hip as he eyed Jalen. The expression in his eyes said we wasn’t quite sure whether to take Jalen’s compliments seriously.
Jalen nodded. “I mean it. I was impressed with what I saw today. But I hope you won’t let that go to your head because the whole team has some improving to do.”
Remington shrugged. “Sure. I get ya.”
“Good. So I’ll catch you tomorrow, okay?” He waved goodbye and turned to head for his car in the parking lot. He froze.
Picking her way toward them from the edge of the field, one small hand shading her eyes, was Riley. Black slacks. A silvery blue blouse. Red hair piled into a messy knot at the back of her head. And – he swallowed – looking even more beautiful than he remembered.
Take a breath, Rivera. He did that, and then forced one foot in front of the other in what he hoped looked to be a casual stroll across the field and not something similar to the dashing, dancing, and leaping of joy his heart was doing in his chest.
He stopped a few feet before her when he suddenly realized he probably smelled like a field horse after a long day of plowing. He resisted a grimace. Good thing the breeze was brisk so the odors wouldn’t linger around. “Riley.” He offered her a smile.
“J-Jalen.” Her face looked stricken, but she followed up quickly with “It’s so good to see you again!” She stepped toward him, intent on pulling him into a welcoming embrace.
He jumped back. “It’s good to see you too, but I probably smell like the wrong end of a mule right about now.” He nearly clenched his eyes shut. Talk about sm
ooth, Rivera. Way to leave her with such a charming picture.
“Of course.” She offered the reassurance, but her tone said she thought she’d somehow offended him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” Her gaze dropped to where his left hand still gripped the towel slung over his shoulder and she stuttered to a stop and let the rest of the sentence trail away, then dropped her gaze to the grass at their feet.
His own gaze searched out her left hand where she twirled her car keys nervously. No ring, at least.
A herd of wild mustangs on the run must have taken up residence in his chest cavity. For two years he’d be waiting and praying. Wanting to come back and pursue her, but never feeling it was quite the right time. And then he’d seen the ad for the high school soccer coach – or rather Dakota had sent it to him in an email with a little winking face and no other comments. The email had arrived the day before he and Justus had learned that the funding for their ministry, Deschutes Rejuvenation, had dried up and the church who’d been sponsoring the program was cutting it. He had a feeling that cutback had answered a few of Justus’s prayers as well as his own. They both had been willing to continue serving, but both of them had been serving with divided hearts for the past couple years.
The breeze tugged at the golden-red strands of Riley’s hair and he noticed that the sun had brought out a few light freckles across the bridge of her nose. Seeing her again made him feel like an out-of-oxygen scuba diver breaking through the surface of the ocean and pulling in that first life-giving breath of air.
“So you’re here to pick up Rem—”
“—So you’re the new soccer coach.”
They spoke at the same time, and then smiled at each other sheepishly.
She tilted her head. “I hadn’t heard you were back in town?”
There was something different, less vulnerable, about her countenance. “I just got here last night. They interviewed me on Skype since the last term at Deschutes Rejuvenation was still going.”
Song of the Surf (Pacific Shores Book 3) Page 16