“It’s a great day for a picnic.”
“Yeah, if we ever get there.”
After a few seconds of silence Virginia tilted her head and asked, “Chad, does it bother you when Bailey kisses me?”
He looked at her and rolled his eyes. “No.”
“Then why did you act so mad just now?”
He looked away and said nothing.
“Chad?”
He jerked his head toward her. “Because,” he yelled, “you’re always in the way, that’s why! I want to spend time with my dad, and every time I turn around he’s kissing you instead!”
She flinched. “Chad, I���”
“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say!” He jumped up and leapt off the porch, then disappeared around the house.
Virginia sat down on the porch steps and contemplated her next move. Sighing, she rolled her head back and closed her eyes. Even a fool could see where this flirtation with Bailey was leading. The question she had to answer was whether she believed he’d become a man with staying power; otherwise, she couldn’t afford to invest any more of her life and love in Bailey Kallihan.
The one thing she was sure of was that Chad needed to be with Bailey. Maybe it was his age or maybe it was his genetic tendency, but he flourished around his father and Bailey benefited from Chad’s company as well.
She opened her eyes. So where did that leave her?
The door opened and she sat up. His hair still wet from the shower, Bailey walked out wearing navy swim trunks, a pale gray T-shirt, and low-top athletic shoes. He smelled like soap and carried the picnic basket in one arm, an old quilt and three faded life jackets in the other. “What are you thinking about?”
“You,” she said.
He sat down beside her. “What about me?”
She looked him in the eye. “Where do you see yourself in five years?”
His eyebrows knitted and he toyed with the frayed thread of a life jacket. “I plan to be right here at Shenoway, but I don’t think that’s what you’re asking.”
“No, it isn’t.”
He lifted his gaze to hers. “Ginny, I can’t imagine any other woman in my life except you.”
Tears gathered in her eyes.
“Uh-oh, the tears I can’t handle.” He leaned over to kiss her nose and she smiled. “That’s better���are you ready?” He stood up and offered her a semi-free hand.
“Yeah.” She pulled herself to her feet and took the life jackets. “I don’t know where Chad’s run off to, though.”
Bailey put two fingers in his mouth and whistled shrilly. Chad burst out of a grove of trees, carrying his slingshot.
“Can we go now?” he yelled, running toward them, making it perfectly clear the adults had been the holdup all along.
“If you carry your weight.” Bailey tossed him the quilt.
The walk to Milton Creek, the Kallihans’ west property line, took about thirty minutes, but it was well worth it. They were lucky enough to have a family of persistent beavers on their land who’d dammed up a portion of the creek, just enough to form a deep swimming hole.
Virginia’s cheeks warmed when she saw the shady blue-green pool. She and Bailey had skinny-dipped there on more than one occasion when they’d dated. She caught his eye, and from his smile knew he, too, was remembering. In fact, she suspected that Chad might have been conceived on this very bank.
Chad’s expression was dubious. “It looks deep.”
“It is in some places,” Bailey said. “Can you swim?”
Chin jutting, Chad said, “Sure… a little.”
Immediately, Virginia said, “Then you should wear your life jacket.”
“No,” Chad whined. “That’s for sissies!”
“Hey,” Bailey said, raising an eyebrow. “You heard Ginny.”
“All right,” he grumbled, frowning.
They spread the large quilt on a mossy stretch of bank, the weeping willow above them providing dappled sun and shade as its spindly branches swung to and fro. Within minutes Bailey had stripped off his shirt and shoes and waded into the water. Virginia watched the muscles in his back ripple as he made a series of shallow dives to stake out the depth of the water.
He surfaced to their far right and threw his head back. “It’s deepest here���more than fifteen feet���everywhere else it seems to be running from five to eight feet.” He swam back to the bank using powerful strokes, then stood up and waded out.
Virginia was unable to tear her eyes from his dripping body. The water found every rippling valley as it rushed down. The hem of his nylon trunks dragged, pulling the waistband a half inch beneath his tan line, and outlining his manhood in jarring clarity. He walked over to them and shook like a shaggy dog, laughing when she squealed and Chad jumped up to run out of range.
Bailey lowered himself to the quilt with a sigh, stretching out his long legs in front of him. “Feels good, doesn’t it?” he asked her. “Coming back here, I mean.”
“Yes,” she agreed, glad it felt special to him too. She pulled her T-shirt over her head a bit self-consciously. His gaze roved over her body as eagerly as hers had taken in his. To her embarrassment, her nipples hardened, plain to see in the pale pink swimsuit.
“What’s for lunch?” he asked with one eyebrow cocked.
She reached over and gave his shoulder a playful shove, then he grabbed her hand and kissed the fleshy area between her index finger and thumb. The contact from his tongue triggered head-to-toe responses. Remembering Chad’s accusation, she glanced around nervously, then said, “I’ll get out the food.”
“I’ll take him in before he eats.” Bailey grabbed two life jackets as he stood up.
While she unpacked sandwiches and opened bowls of coleslaw and baked beans, Virginia kept an eye on her men. Chad looked pale and thin in his baggy trunks, but his shoulders were wide and his legs were long, both guarantees that his father’s good build would be his destiny. They spent several minutes collecting smooth stones for Chad’s slingshot ammunition, tying them up in Bailey’s bandanna, then they both waded out into the deeper water. Chad seemed tentative at first, his eyes widening in fright when his feet couldn’t touch bottom. But he soon learned to trust the life jacket, and Bailey showed him some basic strokes and kicks he could do while wearing the flotation device.
“Hey, Ginny!” Bailey called after a few minutes. “Aren’t you coming in?”
“I don’t know…”
He began to make chicken noises and flap his arms, Chad readily joining in.
Laughing, she stood up. “Okay, okay.” She slid her shorts down her legs, a move that earned her a catcall from Bailey. She waded in, strapping on her jacket.
The water felt wonderfully cool and invigorating to her warm skin, the rocks smooth to her bare feet. She swam out to them in a few strokes, then rolled over on her back to wet her hair. Bailey’s fingers grazed her toes, which triggered a tickling match, which triggered an all-out water fight, reminiscent of many.
Finally they were all exhausted and traipsed back to the bank to refuel.
Chad and Bailey both ate so much, she began to wonder if she’d packed enough food���she’d forgotten how much food a hungry male could put away. But at last the two were sated, stretched out in the sun, and patting their stomachs as if they’d spent every Saturday of their lives together, dozing away the afternoon.
*
Bailey opened his right eye and glanced at Ginny. Her eyes were closed, but she wasn’t asleep. He opened the left eye and glanced at Chad. Definitely snoresville. Quietly rolling up on his right side, he stared down into her face for several seconds. If ever he’d seen a classic beauty, it was Ginny. But more than beautiful, she was striking���a head-turner���with those huge eyes and full lips… a look all her own… memorable.
To that he could surely attest. Had a single day passed since their divorce when he hadn’t thought of her at least once?
“Hey, beautiful.”
<
br /> She started and her eyes snapped open. “Oh.” She put a hand to her chest. “Bailey, you scared me to death.”
“Ginny,” he said gravely, “you scared me to death.”
When she realized he was serious, she frowned. “What?”
“When we were married,” he said slowly, “you turned so serious and so responsible overnight, I was scared.”
“Bailey, we were having a baby���”
He put a finger to her lips to stop her. “I know. You should have been serious and responsible, but I should have been too, and I wasn’t. I was scared because I didn’t want to change.”
Her eyes misted and she breathed heavily for a few seconds, holding his gaze. “And now?”
“And now,” he said hoarsely, leaning over her, “I’m strong enough to change.” He lowered his mouth to hers, a feathery, airy kiss. He sampled the tastes and textures of her mouth slowly, with no driving need, no immediacy, no straining. Just an unhurried, thorough exploration of her plump, memorable mouth. She moaned and offered up the velvety tip of her tongue for his to dance with.
A loud splash broke the silence, startling both of them. He jerked his head around. Chad was gone!
“Help!” he heard him call from the water, followed by the sounds of thrashing arms and legs.
Ginny was instantly on her feet. “He went under!”
Bailey stood and ran to the water’s edge and made a shallow dive. He got a handful of the boy’s trunks and yanked him to the surface. Chad lunged for his neck, wrapping his strong little arms and legs around Bailey’s body, nearly dragging him beneath the water as well. Bailey swallowed a mouthful of water, coughed, then shifted Chad’s back to his own chest and slowly swam back to the bank.
Ginny half dragged Chad from the water. He appeared shaken, coughing violently. “Are you okay?” she gasped, bent over him, clutching his hand to her heart.
“Yeah,” he murmured, struggling to sit up. “I’m okay.”
Still gasping for his own breath, Bailey watched as Ginny’s expression changed in a split second. “How dare you sneak off���I told you to wear your life jacket! I’m not strong enough to pull you from the water. If Bailey hadn’t been here���” She burst into tears.
Bailey pulled her away from Chad, up and into his arms. “Shh,” he said, rubbing her back. “It’s okay.”
But Chad had recovered enough to stand, and his defenses were up. “I didn’t sneak off! If you two hadn’t been rolling around���”
“That’s enough.” Bailey held up a finger in warning. He turned his attention back to Ginny, who cried silently in his arms. “Let’s go home,” he whispered, stroking her hair.
After a few seconds she nodded, sniffing mightily and swiping at her cheeks.
He looked at Chad. “Start packing things up.”
The late afternoon sun was unforgivingly hot, bearing down on Bailey’s sudden headache. They walked back to Shenoway in near silence. Conscious of the warring emotions between Chad and Ginny, Bailey knew it was up to him to make reparations. “How about going to see a movie?”
Chad looked suspicious. “Which one?”
Bailey shrugged. “I’m sure we can find one we all agree on.”
Chad looked sideways at Ginny, then back to him. “I doubt it.”
“Oh, come on,” Bailey urged. “Popcorn, nachos���”
“Hot dogs, chocolate-covered peanuts,” Chad finished, his eyes lighting up.
Ginny laughed softly, and they both looked at her. “I’ve never seen two people so preoccupied with food.”
Bailey grinned, glad to see her sense of humor returning. “How about it?”
“Sounds good to me,” she said.
“Me too,” Chad chorused.
Two hours later they were walking into the theater to see the summer’s biggest action thriller. They juggled seats for a couple of minutes until Chad finally settled happily between them. Bailey strongly suspected the seating arrangement was his son’s attempt to keep them apart. It was becoming clearer to him that Chad was trying to squeeze Ginny out of the picture. No wonder she was having such a hard time with him at home.
Bailey looked over at Chad and pursed his lips. He was planning to take Ginny to the meadow the following day and tell her about the house. He hoped she would see how much he wanted them all to be together. Then he would have to have a talk with his son.
*
Chad’s little separation scheme hadn’t gone unnoticed by Virginia. She looked over at her son and shook her head. He wanted Bailey all to himself, and she was his only competition. Chad had made it clear he didn’t like to see them kissing, which surprised her a little. If he were so eager to live with Bailey, one would think he’d be matchmaking instead of trying to keep them apart.
She shuddered when she thought of the swimming incident. She felt sure he’d jumped in on purpose to break up their kiss, not realizing how dangerous the stunt could be. Then he’d been quick to induce guilt by implying they were too wrapped up in each other to keep an eye on him. Virginia bit her bottom lip. The worst part was the knowledge that he might have drowned if not for Bailey���a sobering fact that once again stirred her own doubts about being able to take care of her son.
Perhaps rekindling her relationship with Bailey would be the answer to their problems. If they remarried, Chad could live with Bailey, which would make the two of them happy, and she could share her son’s development as well. She was optimistic enough to think that someday she would be able to have a good relationship with Chad, but she knew the chances of that were slim if she remained the single obstacle between him living with his father.
And, she had to admit, a future with Bailey was not entirely unappealing. His confession to her today had gone a long way in repairing the holes in her confidence about his level of commitment. Perhaps he was driven in part by his desire to be with Chad, but if he truly loved her���
She looked over at her ex-husband and he winked at her.
The lights lowered and the movie started rolling, beginning with a spectacular explosion, then jumping from scene to dramatic scene. Every brief kissing scene was accompanied by Chad’s loud “Yuck!” followed by a pointed glance in Virginia’s direction. Chad’s hostility toward her seemed to be growing every day.
The drive home was a little more relaxed, the afternoon’s incident fading with distance. Virginia’s thoughts turned to her decision to allow, even foster, the relationship growing between her and Bailey. She wasn’t sure where it was going, but she felt good about its prospects. If she was going to give it her best shot, she’d have to do more than just abandon her previous plan to be the one who appears to care the least���she’d have to make herself vulnerable to him again, a notion that shook her to the core.
“We’re still going horseback riding tomorrow, aren’t we?” Chad asked Bailey.
“Uh-huh. I want to show you more of the farm.”
“Great!”
“It’s straight to bed when you get to the house, so you won’t be tired tomorrow,” Bailey added.
Chad sighed. “Okay.”
Panic bolted through Virginia as a thought occurred to her. She knew Bailey well enough to realize that coming to her bed would be a likely move���perhaps the reason he’d put her things in “their” room to begin with. Had he planned all along to seduce her that night? The idea partly annoyed, partly thrilled her. Her nipples pebbled with anticipation. If he came, she knew she would let him stay.
At the house she felt virginally tense while she made sure Chad had everything he needed before she closed his bedroom door. Bailey stood in the hall when she turned around.
“Will he be all right?” he asked unnecessarily.
“I think so,” she said softly.
“Will you?” he asked, his eyes smoldering, “You had quite a scare today.”
Virginia swallowed. “I’ll be fine.” After many seconds of gazing into his eyes, she nervously pushed a strand
of hair behind her ear. “I guess I’d better turn in.” She turned to go. “Good night.”
“I certainly hope so,” she heard him murmur, leaving her certain he would make an appearance before morning.
Her hands shook as she undressed and showered quickly in the bathroom, but she couldn’t be sure how much of her nervousness was due to memories resurrected by the room and how much was due to Bailey’s impending visit. She tried to calm herself afterward by massaging perfumed lotion into her skin, using long, soothing strokes. The sole nightgown she’d brought was papery white cotton, short and adorned with ribbon roses where the thin straps met the smocked bodice. Despite its near transparency, it suddenly looked very girlish to her. She slipped on sheer white panties, then pulled the gown over her head and switched off the light. After toweling her hair dry in the semidarkness, she sat on the edge of the bed, brushing fullness into her fine-textured hair, gazing out the splendid window at the moonlit view.
Thirty minutes passed, then forty-five, and she was beginning to think she’d misinterpreted their exchange, when a faint knock sounded at the door. Her heart jumped to her throat, and she stood with her back to the window. Her voice didn’t work, but she didn’t have to answer because the knob turned and the door opened.
Bailey paused in the doorway, wearing white boxers, his hand on the doorknob. She inhaled deeply, then realized her body was completely silhouetted to him by the light of the window.
“Ginny?” he ventured to say, his voice hoarse.
“Bailey.”
“I thought you’d be in bed by now.”
She slid her tongue over her lips. “I was waiting for you.”
He stood motionless for a few seconds, then stepped inside the room and closed the door noiselessly behind him. She waited for him at the window, holding her breath.
Inches from her, he stopped. “You look like a dream, standing in the moonlight,” he whispered.
She exhaled. “But I’m not a dream. Touch me, Bailey.”
With a deep groan he pulled her to him in a hungry kiss. His arousal was already hard against her belly. He cupped her bottom and squeezed her against him, then slid his hands beneath her gown and caressed the back of her waist, her spine, her shoulder blades.
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