She held her breath as Cassidy slid a CD from its case, into the player, and adjusted the forward speaker volume. Curiosity changed to surprise when Brenna heard the opening promenade of an original cast recording of Allura. She had caught the obscure musical during a trip last year to New York City.
Cassidy adjusted the volume again, raising it to catch the voices of the singers. “I’ve never heard this,” she ventured.
“It’s something I caught on stage last year. I had a chance to speak with the proŹducer afterward, and I asked for a recording.”
“What’s the play about?” Cassidy leaned back with her elbow in the window, head resting in her palm, gaze fixed on Brenna.
“It’s a love story between a dancer and his partner.”
“Period or modern?”
“Period. 1920s,” Brenna said.
“Like our last story. So, was it accurate?”
“More or less.”
“What drew you to see it?”
“The lead actor was a classmate of mine in high school.”
“Really?”
Brenna nodded. “We were…an item, I guess, and worked in all the drama proŹductions together, went to Homecoming and Prom together. That sort of thing.”
“So you went to see him in his first Broadway play?”
“Oh no, not his first, but the first I’d seen, yes. He and I were both stage struck. He has been in New York since we were eighteen. He got steady work; I didn’t. After leaving a soap, I drifted away from New York, bitten by the big-screen bug. I came to L.A.”
“Do you want to go back?”
Brenna nodded solemnly. “Someday. Maybe after Time Trails is finished, I’ll find an apartment in New York and try my luck again.”
“I have no doubt you’ll make it.” Cassidy smiled, her hand covering Brenna’s on the gearshift for a moment.
“You think so?”
“I’ve seen you act, remember?” Cassidy chuckled.
Brenna’s smile returned. She pulled her hand from beneath Cassidy’s and brushed her hair from her face as she chuckled, too. “What are you going to do?”
“When Time Trails is over?” Cassidy dropped her head and studied her hands in her lap. “I haven’t had any offers yet. But,” she added quietly, “I really haven’t been looking.”
“Because of Cameron?”
“Yes.”
“I’m really sorry about how things turned out.”
“Don’t be. He’s just… We didn’t have the same priorities.”
“That makes it hard to make a relationship work,” Brenna acknowledged, feelŹing guilty about not speaking with Kevin in over a week.
“The hours. The pace.” Cassidy sighed. “Why do we do it?”
“Because we love those hours, that hectic pace,” Brenna responded with a wry twist to her lips. “Thomas knows.” She glanced over her shoulder and asked with a smile, “Don’t you?”
“Mom’s a nut case less than a month into hiatus,” Thomas provided, which made Cassidy laugh. “Short vacations are okay, a weekend here or there, but longer than a couple of weeks and she’s climbing the walls. She built the deck last summer.”
Cassidy laughed again. “Handywoman, huh?”
“My set-building days left me with a few skills,” Brenna supplied with a blush.
“I’d say so. I saw the deck and that swing. Nice work.”
Brenna was warmed by the compliment. She dwelled on it for a few moments, almost missing their turn off. At the last possible opportunity, she changed highŹways, heading more east than north.
When they arrived at the park entrance, Brenna displayed their pass and was waved inside. The ranger gestured them forward. “Follow the road ahead. Parking for the hiking trail to the campground is the second one on your left.”
“Thanks” Brenna told him, then pulled away from the station.
“You really do come here a lot,” Cassidy commented as they drove into the park.
“Yes, we do.” Brenna rolled up her window and looked in the rear view, noticŹing Ryan had finally stirred. “Just in time,” she said with a smile, reaching back between the seats to tickle a sock-covered foot.
Cassidy leaned between the seats and brushed his hair smooth. “Sleep well, buddy?”
He nodded. “Could I have juice?”
“You’re thirsty?” James asked. The youngster’s blue eyes lifted quickly to the dark-haired teen, and he nodded. “Mom, is it all right if I pull one of the juice pouches for him?”
Brenna deferred to Cassidy. “It’s all-natural.”
“That’s fine, thanks,” Cassidy said. “It’ll help him wake up.”
“That’s what I thought,” Brenna replied as she pulled into the lot. Parking, she looked around and spotted Mike Connell, the charity director. “Looks like we aren’t the first.”
Brenna tossed her keys to Thomas while she went to catch Mike’s attention. “Good morning.”
Connell was a tall, spare man with brown eyes, curly brown hair, and a face worn from years in the sun. He wore a wide-brimmed hat and a leather jacket over what was really a skydiver’s jumpsuit. “Hey, Brenna.”
“Thomas is here,” she said before he could ask. The two of them were conductŹing the central attraction of the weekend a rock climb up a fifty-foot rock face. “I wanted to introduce you to a friend first.” She waved Cassidy over. The blonde had the hiking pack half on when Thomas spotted his mother beckoning and quickly helped her finish.
“I remember her from the Halloween party,” Mike noted, holding out his hand and shaking Cassidy’s. “Good to see you again, Miss Hyland.”
“Cassidy, please.” She shifted awkwardly under the weight, and Mike reached back and held the pack’s support beam above her head while she adjusted the bal-
ance. “Thanks.”
Brenna watched the woman push her hands through tousled blond hair and swallowed against her suddenly dry mouth when the blue eyes met hers briefly. She looks relaxed. That’s good, right? Brenna had worked hard the last week to keep news of the blowup from leaking out and was pleased to see that her efforts had paid off. Seeing the way Cassidy had been torn up by being thrust into Will and Cameron’s pissing match, she had needed to do something. She dragged her attention away from Cassidy, where it was straying far too often. “How far to the campsite?”
“Second change in the tree line,” Mike supplied. “About an hour up the side. It’s not too steep and a pretty basic hike. It will put us next to the feeder spring and just below the rock face we’re climbing tomorrow.”
“Sounds good.” Brenna shook his hand again and returned to the car and effiŹciently secured her own backpack. Primal energy flowed through her as she adjusted the belly strap. “Thomas, how are you doing?” She glanced toward her sons and found both Thomas and James already wearing their packs, kneeling next to Ryan.
“I want one!” the little boy pouted.
Cassidy started forward, but Brenna grasped her hand, stopping her.
“They’ll find something small for him to carry,” she assured. “I promise they won’t give in to his request for a pack.”
As the two women watched, Brenna’s sons performed a negotiation worthy of Commander Jakes. Soon Ryan had his Wild Things monster tied to his back with about six feet of tent rope. He was grinning ear to ear as he reached for his mother’s hand.
The five joined the gathering crowd, children and adults of various ages and sizes, a host of them wearing long-sleeved LAKE logo shirts and carrying packs with personal utensils and sleeping bags. Adults carried tent bundles. Brenna and Cassidy had split the materials for their own tent between them. Thomas and James had done the same for the tent they would share with Ryan.
Mike moved to the front of the group and welcomed everyone. “All right. Everyone ready for the best weekend of your lives?”
Cheers rose throughout the group, and Brenna looked at Cassidy, who was scanning the surroundings with a quiet, expectant smile. / am
so ready for this, Brenna thought as the group started out. She fell into step next to the taller woman. She heard Thomas and James behind them, already chatting with other teens. Between her and Cassidy, Ryan darted every which way, trying to take in the whole atmosphere at one time. Brenna pointed out birds and squirrels, and a frog jumped away from their path as they continued through the woods and the trail began to angle upward.
The sun found Cassidy’s face and lit the pale skin with a soft golden fire as her eyes met Brenna’s. Thudding in her chest, Brenna’s heart sped up in response. She dusted her hand through Ryan’s hair as she looked ahead on the trail, wondering what waited around the next bend.
It was nearing nine o’clock when the group reached the campsite. While the youngest children played tag, the older ones assisted in setting up camp. Despite the cool November temperature, the exertion had them all sweating very quickly. WieldŹing a hammer, Brenna had just finished sinking the first stake in her last tent when she stood, stretched, and pulled off her outer shirt. Tying its arms around her waist, she returned to her work in her tan cotton tank top, arms bare and glistening.
Steadying a pole for a tent across the way, Cassidy studied the loose fall of auburn hair concealing Brenna’s face from her view. She considered ihc smoothly muscled arms and could easily picture the other woman laboring on her deck. FamilŹiar energy swept her through her loins. She recalled watching Susan kiss Virgil and sighed.
Diverting herself from the budding feelings, Cassidy took a deeper breath of the pine-scented fresh air. Out here it felt like anything was possible. She worried fretfully at her bottom lip as she moved to hold the next pole. She was assailed by a strong vision of brushing Brenna’s sweat-dampened hair away from those high-colŹored cheeks and
“Ouch!” Cassidy blinked and looked down to where the man she was helping had just rapped her booted foot with the stake hammer.
“Sorry,” he offered.
“It’s all right, Gerry.” She patted his dark shoulder absently and wriggled her toes. The sudden impact had hurt, but thanks to her footwear’s thick leather and sturdy construction, she could already feel the ache subsiding. She judiciously moved her feet back as he resumed his hammering, fighting down a blush as she felt Brenna’s eyes on her from across the clearing.
Brenna’s color was high, and her smooth skin was highlighted by wet sunlight. Cassidy stole another glance toward the working woman and sighed again. Brenna had made a lot of adjustments over the year they’d worked together. When the actress eventually told Cassidy how much she respected her work, her reaction to the revelation had surprised her. The more she thought about it, though, the more she realized that Brenna’s respect was something she had desperately wanted.
Gerry proclaimed the assembly finished, and Cassidy let go of the last pole. Brushing her palms together, she dropped onto a log. Sitting by one of two unlit fire pits, she pulled off her own outer shirt, using it to wipe the sweat from her face and neck, thankful that she had already pulled her hair into a ponytail.
A thin towel suddenly draped across her shoulders, sliding down into her hands. She looked up to see Brenna sitting on the log beside her. Cassidy returned her friend’s quick smile. She lifted the towel to her face to mop at the sweat, pausing abruptly at another scent already on the towel. Brenna.
“Want to go for a swim before lunch?” Brenna asked.
Despite the evaporation of sweat from her back and shoulders, Cassidy still felt hot. “I could use the chance to cool off.” She dropped her gaze quickly from the warm glow of Brenna’s sun-touched, smiling face. She squeezed the towel reflexively, not sure why she was suppressing the sudden urge to grasp Brenna’s hands, which were fidgeting in her lap.
We’re friends, right? Friends could touch, and no one would think anything of it. The two of them had even touched in comfort before. However, she knew her earŹlier daydream had not had mere comfort in mind.
The opportunity fled, as Brenna stood in the next moment. “I’ll round up the kids.”
Her hand brushed across Cassidy’s damp shoulder, sending conflicting waves of chill and heat along the nerves. Mopping at her face, Cassidy watched Brenna walk away and wondered what the hell she should do. Clearly the gesture was an invitation. But to what?
Cassidy thought about Hanssen being gay, about the idea of her wanting Jakes. Jakes and Hanssen were fantasy. This was reality. Does that make a difference? Cassidy was not sure.
Walking away from Cassidy and the curious pale blue eyes that had followed her all morning, Brenna reached a cluster of trees where the younger children were racing about. Catching one girl under the arms and swinging her around, she announced loudly, “Swim time!”
Shrieking, the children raced to their tents in a mad scramble, eager to be the first dressed and into the water. Mike stepped from his tent, already clad in plaid green swim trunks. The teens, Thomas and James among them, loped over more sedately, also ready to change.
Brenna caught a wave from James and waved back, fretting when she realized her arm and chest were still tingling from her light contact with Cassidy’s shoulder. As she walked toward their tent, Cassidy approached from the other side. She found herself studying the other woman’s figure.
So, she’s physically attractive, Brenna. You knew that a year ago.
In the beginning, Cassidy’s physical beauty had scared Brenna, professionally and personally. She agonized for months over what she had done, or not done, to lose the confidence of the production staff. Why had they brought in someone younger, taller, and a former model, to boot? Looking at Cassidy now, she felt no jealousy. It also was not protectiveness filling her chest, since she wanted to wrap much more than her arms around the younger woman.
Brenna was feeling very energized, she realized. While working on the tents, she had found her progress constantly disrupted by side glances toward Cassidy. Checking on the first-timer’s progress, or so she told herself. However, it was clear that Cassidy was fine. Very fine, she noted, tracing the backs of her legs, the way her hair had worked free from her ponytail. It was insane the way she had tracked drops of sweat from Cassidy’s hairline down her cheek, throat, and onto her collarbone before tossing a towel across the lean shoulders. She wanted suddenly to be very active, very sexual, but couldn’t understand why a woman she was just barely beginŹning to know and had until recently largely ignored would be at the center of the whirlpool of emotions.
She and Cassidy reached for the tent flap simultaneously. When their hands touched, the vibration ricocheted through her body. It came to a stop deep in Brenna’s groin, where it crouched like a wild cat coiling to pounce. She quickly pulled back. She motioned Cassidy inside, pacing outside as she tried to bring her reactions under control.
Aware of the necessity for propriety, but reveling in the chaotic feelings sweepŹing her body, Brenna was surprised when Cassidy suddenly reemerged and straightŹened up before her. Her gaze swept the trim body, noting the sleek black one-piece suit.
“Your turn.” Cassidy stepped out of the way.
Just as the tent flap started to fall, Brenna felt a fleeting touch on her back. Startled, she looked back, but Cassidy was looking off into the distance. Then the canvas obscured everything.
Brenna bit off a gasp as she hit the surface of the cold spring. Diving shallowly, she came up and tilted her head back, letting the water wash the hair back from her face. She stroked evenly to the shallow side, where the youngest children were being supervised by adult partners.
Screeches and nervous laughter arose as little toes hit the cold water. She stood
and stretched against the sandy bottom, watching Cassidy coaxing Ryan into the water. Abruptly, he jumped. When he came up spluttering, his mother tucked a hand under his stomach. He laid out, arms and legs splashing in a sloppy crawl stroke.
Thomas swam past Brenna, briefly diverting her attention. He had partnered with a young black boy, probably ten years old. Thomas paused frequently to
check his buddy’s progress. She smiled, and her chest fdled with pride. He’s growing up so fast, she thought, watching her eldest child stand and shake the water from his hair. Thomas was beginning to look a great deal more like his father. Thinking about Tom made her think about Kevin and their fight. Resolutely, she pushed the issue aside.
She moved through the water toward a sputtering boy whose head had dropped beneath the surface. Grasping him under the arms, she helped him clear his face and directed him back to his partner. The boy’s uncle waved to her as she moved off again.
A splash behind her drew her around to see that someone had brought a volleyŹball, and a group of adults and children were siding up, batting it back and forth among themselves. Mike leaped up, intending to intercept the ball but missing, landŹing heavily in the water. The resulting wave smashed into Brenna. Staggered, she snatched at the ball he had missed and smacked it back with the heel of her hand. Mike laughed, as did others.
As the game continued, Brenna heard splashing coming closer and turned again, expecting to find another child in need of a hand. Instead she found Cassidy walking along, keeping a firm palm under Ryan’s stomach as he propelled himself forward, his puffed cheeks regularly dropping into the water. Finally, he tried taking a deep breath and swallowed some water. Catching him around the stomach and pulling him up, Cassidy waited for him to stop coughing, unalarmed. Her gaze lifted from him and found Brenna. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Hi? Brenna castigated herself for the singular response. Come on, for cryŹing out loud, talk to her. “He swims pretty well,” she noted. “Lessons?”
“No. Just the waterproof baby class at the Y when he was two.”
“Oh.” Brenna fell silent, feeling like a teenager at a prom. The rush of sensation she experienced in Cassidy’s presence was both exciting and terrifying, and she exhaled slowly.
Howls and loud splashing drew the women’s attention to the rocks. Brenna spotted James leading off a series of wild cannonball jumps, each splash bigger than the last as the group’s teens hit the water.
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