THE JUNE SUN beat down on Jamie’s head as she glanced over her shoulder and caught the summer rays glistening off a boat speeding out on the lake. Its sleek hull cut through the still water like a snake she’d once seen slithering through high grass. Sitting on the side of Keag’s dock, she kicked up her feet, splashing cool droplets onto her polka-dotted swimsuit and off skin so hot she was surprised the water didn’t sizzle when it hit her. Even the ducks were hiding in the shade under the dock and refused to come out. The boat whirred behind her again. Man, what she wouldn’t give to be that driver, slicing through the water with the cool breeze kissing her face. It was maximum freedom, like the seagulls that soared above the water.
Damn. She should have been out skiing on the lake now. Keag had promised to take her. But he was as strict as her mother, who turned into a regular Cruella De Vil about safety. Jamie decided she was mad at Keag and skimmed a stone across the water. Even if she could make it skip three times, since he’d shown her how.
At the sound of a motor coming nearer, she looked over her shoulder again, then swiveled around fully. Up close, the boat was really cool—whiter than snow, with skinny blue stripes along the sides. It was about twenty feet long, and had four seats. Behind the wheel stood a tall guy with curly brown hair, dressed in white like the captain of a ship. Wraparound sunglasses prevented her from recognizing him, even as he moored at Keag’s dock. He secured the boat and hopped out.
“Hi, Jamie,” he called to her.
When he whipped off his shades, she smiled at Jeff Keagan. “Hey, Baywatch guy.”
He grinned, and his eyes crinkled around the corner like Keag’s did when she said something funny.
“Thanks, squirt.” He glanced around. “What’re you doing on Dad’s dock?”
“Waiting for a spotter.”
“Spotter?” Kicking off his deck shoes, he plunked down next to her and swirled his feet in the water with her.
“Yeah. Your dad promised to take me and Max skiing today but after her last final exam, Max’s parents decided to pay some attention to her, so she ditched me. Keag won’t take me skiing alone in the boat ‘cause there’s no one to watch out for me while he drives.”
“He’s right.”
“I know. It’s just that if we have to wait till Mom gets back from taking Grandpa on a tour of Guardian, it’ll be late afternoon, and Keag has to work tonight.”
Casually, Jeff surveyed the lake. “Great day to be choppin’ in the wake.”
Jamie tracked his gaze. “I really wanna go out. Portia taught me the basics. But Keag says he can give me pointers so I’ll be as good as Max.”
“Funny, he never made that offer to me.”
Jamie’s head snapped around; she saw a hint of sadness in his eyes. Quickly, he flicked his glasses back in place.
“What offer?”
“To teach me to water-ski.”
“You own a boat company and you can’t water-ski?”
“Oh, I can now.” He picked up one of her stones and sent it flying across the lake. “I learned at Yale. I was on their rowing team, too.”
“Yale? You smart, Baywatch guy?”
“Yep.” He sounded sad again.
“My mother’s smart, too.”
“It can be a curse,” he mumbled. Shaking his head, he scanned the shore. “Where is Dad?”
“Doin’ some work on Aunt Clare’s room.” Jamie’s eyes narrowed. “You come to see him?”
“Yeah, sure. Why?”
“I heard him telling Clare you don’t have time for him anymore.” Jamie wondered how far to go. She decided to take the risk because Keag had been nice to her, and maybe she could help him. “That he wishes you did but ‘what goes around comes around.’” She scowled. “What does that mean?”
Leaning back, Jeff braced his arms behind him on the dock and looked heavenward. “It means you reap what you sow.”
She threw him a sideways glance. “Which means…”
“If you’re nice to somebody, they’ll be nice back, and vice versa.”
Jamie gaped at him “Did Keag beat you up?”
“Nah. He just wasn’t around enough.”
“Oh, yeah, I know about that. For a while, I called the nanny, Mom.”
“Jeff? Hi.”
Startled, Jeff looked up at his father and felt as young as Jamie, and as needy. And he hated it, though that was partly why he was here. “Hi, Dad.”
“Did you come to see me?” The hope on his father’s face pricked Jeff’s conscience. Did his father really want to spend more time with him?
“Uh-huh. I took today off and thought I’d drop by.” He ruffled Jamie’s hair. “The squirt here says you’re on nights.”
Spence grinned. “I am. This is a great surprise.”
From the corner of his eye, Jeff saw Jamie scramble up and pull on a shirt. “I’ll make myself scarce. You got better things to do, Keag.”
Jeff exchanged a quick glance with his father, then nodded at Jamie. She got almost an arm’s length away before Spence grasped the big tropical parrot on the back of her royal blue cover-up. “Not so fast, kid.”
Hauled back, Jamie stared at him, surprised.
Jeff said, “I sure would like to go waterskiing.” He nodded to his boat. “I got my slalom, and a new pair of O’Brien combos.”
His father’s look was full of soft approval.
“You mean it?” Jamie exclaimed.
“Of course.” Jeff indicated the boat. “We can go right now. If you’re ready, Dad.”
“I am. I just changed into my suit.”
“Awesome.” She stepped toward the boat then halted abruptly. “Oh, man. I called Mom on the phone. She’s coming here after work.” Jamie shrugged. “I can’t leave her hanging.” An embarrassed smile crossed her lips. “I really ragged on her about working today.”
“Ah, guilt, a child’s favorite weapon.” His father’s tone was dry, teasing, but Jeff wondered if there was some hidden meaning. Did he used to attack his dad with guilt?
Jamie took the jab like a contender, head up, shrugging her shoulders. Jeff was about to speak when from behind him an out-of-breath female voice called out, “Jamie? I’m here.”
All three turned to see Alexis Castle—every inch the CEO-in-training—hurrying down the dock in high heels. She wore a knee-length white silk suit, all buttoned up, even in this heat. Her hair was pulled back off her face. Even breathless, she could have been an ad for Executive Women.
Jamie threw herself into her mom’s arms. “Super. Jeff’s gonna take us out in his KeagCraft.”
His father stiffened. Jeff sighed. Three steps forward…
Jeff turned his attention back to Alexis and Jamie. The excitement on Jamie’s face tugged at his heart. His gaze shot to his father, who was staring, not at mother and daughter, but at him; an odd look was in his eyes.
Shrewdly, Alexis surveyed the situation. “Jeff’s taking you and Spence out?”
“Yeah.”
Drawing back, she held Jamie by the arms. “Still want me to come along, now that you don’t need a spotter?” Even Jeff could hear the hope in her voice.
“Yeah, Mom, I do.”
Alexis stole another quick hug from her daughter, then asked Spence, “Give me five minutes to change?”
After a moment, Spence nodded. Then a young, very male smile claimed his face. “My heart’s trippin’ in anticipation to see what suit Jamie got you.”
She rolled her eyes. Turning, she covered the wooden slats of the dock as fast as her heels would carry her. Spence watched her steadily, then called after her, “Take some motion sickness pills.”
Without turning back, Alexis waved over her head.
Jamie shot Jeff a questioning look.
Jeff returned it, equally puzzled. What was going on between his nomad father and her mother who epitomized corporate ambition? Whatever it was, it shocked the hell out of him
o0o
“HEY, KEAG, YOU see that?” Youthful exuberance filled Jamie’s voice; she was excited—to be cruising the water in the middle of a hot summer day, and to be the focus of adult male attention. There were times such as these, when Alexis was forced to admit that Jamie missed having a father. Austin felt it was one of the reasons for Jamie’s flamboyance and sass.
Today “Keag” made a pretty good substitute. As Jeff headed the boat out to skiing-friendly waters, Spence lazed in the stern next to Jamie and stared up at the sky through aviator sunglasses. The breeze blew back his hair, revealing a high, wide forehead. His face was darkly tanned. Long lean legs stretched out from under green trunks, and his beige Guardian Flight Base T-shirt hung casually past his hips. He studied the sky, then pointed. “Yep. Right there. A big, woolly dog.”
Enrapt, her daughter tracked his finger as if it were a magic wand. “Hmm. You think it’s a sheepdog?”
“I don’t know. See the tail? It might be a St. Bernard.”
Alexis’s heart bumped in her chest. To steady it, she crossed to the bow, where Jeff slouched in the captain’s seat. “Mind if I sit?” she asked him.
“Not at all.”
She took the shotgun chair and watched him out of the corner of her eye. His skin was ruddy from the wind, and his hair, corporate short, was a few shades lighter than Spence’s. He had Spence’s jaw, square cut and stubborn, but there were also little dimples on the side of his face when he smiled, like now, that his father didn’t have. Jeff angled his head back to Spence and Jamie. “Can’t see them either?” he asked her.
She laughed. “Nope. Never could.” She shot a disgusted glance to the sky, where there was, to her, simply a gathering of cumulus clouds—dense, fluffy, flat-based formations usually created by the ascent of thermally unstable air masses.
“I used to lie, sometimes,” Jeff admitted, “when he’d want to play with me.”
“I did, too, with Jamie.”
They shared a sympathetic look. “He always knew.”
“So did she.”
Alexis shook her head. “I can tell you the rise and fall quota of the stock market on any given day, but I can’t for the life of me find castles in the clouds.”
As Jeff slowed down for an ideal spot for skiing, he nodded. “I didn’t see the newspaper this morning. How’s KeagCraft doing?”
“Up a half point.”
“Castle Enterprises?”
“Up a quarter.”
They shared a few more stock quotes by the time Jeff stopped the boat. Alexis turned to find Spence helping Jamie get out the equipment. As he unraveled the rope, he spoke softly to her.
“He’s good with kids, now,” Jeff said, following her line of vision. Alexis didn’t miss the wistfulness in his voice.
She sighed, thinking of her own inadequacies as a mother. “Sometimes, people find their parenting niche later in life.”
“I know. I’m glad he’s changed.”
“Is it too late?”
“Not for me.”
Did Jeff mean that it was too late for Spence and Judd Keagan? Alexis didn’t dare ask. She didn’t know them well enough to drag that skeleton from their closet.
Instead, she got up and went back to Jamie. “All set?”
“Yep.
“Remember the hand signals and everything?” “Moth-er!”
“Show us, kid.” Spence’s voice was firm as he quizzed Jamie on thumbs up for more speed, down for less, and a pat on the head to indicate she was ready to come in.
“Super. Go ahead,” Spence told her. “I’ll spot.”
Like the good athlete she was, Jamie got into the water and in position quickly. It took her only two tries to get up. After twenty minutes, they signaled her back in and hauled her into the boat. Her face flushed with excitement, her dark eyes—Greg’s eyes—glittering with triumph, she addressed Spence. “I didn’t fall once, Keag. You were right about leaning forward...did you see how I took the wake from that boat...man, Jeff, can I go again today?”
Laughing, Jeff ruffled her hair. As he flipped into the water and up on the slalom, Alexis was hit by a blast of memory…
Come on, Lex. You can do it.
She’d been fifteen, and the McPhersons had bought a slalom. “Lexy” had fallen only twice. On the third try, she’d succeeded; she and Portia were cutting through the water like Olympic ski contenders inside of a few hours. Alexis could almost feel the sunburn on her face, the ache in her calves, and the rawness of her hands. But especially, the thrill of victory. She knew exactly how Jamie felt.
“…take a turn?” Spence stood above her.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re watching Jeff skiing out there like a man in a desert seeing an oasis. Wanna try it?”
“No thanks. I’ve become klutz of the year in my old age. Ask Jamie.”
“Mother’s fitness-challenged.”
“You used to ski?”
“A little.”
“Hmm.”
Spence took the ropes next. He chose the slalom, too, and rose up on the lone ski on the first try. With his shirt off, his golden skin gleamed in the sunlight. He asked for more speed and cut across an oncoming boat’s wake expertly. He was grinning smugly when he returned; he looked sleek and very male, as he climbed into the boat.
Alexis watched him dry his chest and run the towel over his hair, then carelessly smooth it back. When he plopped down only a few feet away, she tracked a drop of water on its way down the center of his chest: trickling over his breastbone through a mat of curly hair...caressing his abdomen...dripping into the green trunks. His hips were slim, his legs muscular and his stomach flat. Pilots needed to stay in shape, she knew. When she glanced up, he was staring at her.
Embarrassed, she turned her head quickly; after an awkward silence, she heard him yell to the bow. “Jeff, head over to that cove on the starboard side.” At his son’s questioning look, Spence finished, “We’re gonna get Miss Alexis up on skis.”
o0o
THE WAIST-DEEP water lapped around Alexis’s body, kissing her hips, hugging her thighs. She’d removed her shorts, but not the yellow T-shirt that fell just to the bottom of her bathing suit. Spence had seen a strip of lacy black spandex peeking out from underneath; it conjured visions of a dark bedroom and tangled sheets.
“Are the bindings snug?” he asked, as she faced forward and he stood behind her.
“Uh-huh.”
He’d talked her into this by promising to review the correct form for skiing, step by step. “Hold on tight to the handle and bring your knees to your chest.”
She did.
Grasping her hips just below the life jacket, his fingers rested lightly on her T-shirt, but he could feel womanly flesh beneath them. He breathed deeply. “There, that’s good. Keep the skis at a forty-five degree angle, with the tips three to six inches out of the water.” He edged closer to peer over her shoulder—to check the skis, he convinced himself. She was breathing a little fast. Well hell, he was too, except he wasn’t nervous about the skiing. Her ponytail bobbed him in the face, and he caught a whiff of wildflowers.
“Keep your legs together.”
She choked back a cough.
“You ready, Dad?” Jeff called, from the boat where he waited with Jamie as his spotter.
Spence held up his palm to indicate stop, or in this case, not to start yet. He wasn’t quite ready to let Miss Alexis go.
“Release the rope if you fall.” Close enough so that he could whisper in her ear, he relished the feel of her. A little tremor coursed through her and sweat beaded on her neck and face. His, too.
When she inched back, he cursed the life vest she wore.
“I’m ready.” Her response was breathless.
“Be patient. It may take you several tries to get up.” Not him, though. He was glad the lake covered his lower body. “Don’t hold on if the water ahead looks like something you’re afraid to ski across.”
Again the nod. She was so close her hair tickled his cheek.
He couldn’t resist. His arms encircled her and he covered her grip on the handle. She sucked in her breath, but didn’t move away; as a matter of fact, she leaned back more. “Just checkin’ that your hands are in the right position,” he lied, hoarsely.
No comment. Waiting a long moment, he savored the feel of her body nestled in his, her scent filling his nostrils. Finally, he drew back and gave Jeff the go ahead.
Jamie shouted out, “Knock ‘em dead, Mom.”
As Alexis took off, Spence cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “You can do it, Lexy.”
It took her four tries. Four excruciating, wonderful, tense, delightful tries—of adjusting the vest, the tautness of the rope and the angle of her legs. From the shore, he watched as she gained confidence. Squatted on the skis. Gradually straightened. Remembered to lean into the turns. She’d skied before, and eventually, like riding a bike, it all came back to her.
By the time Jeff picked her up and returned to fetch Spence, she was beaming like a kid who’d mastered her first two-wheeler. As he climbed into the boat, she said, “Thanks. That was fun.”
“Life should be fun, Lex.” For a long time, he looked into eyes that glistened with pleasure. Would they do that when she ca—he cut off the thought and glanced at his watch. It was five o’clock.
“I’ve got time for ice cream before I have to go to work,” he told everybody.
“It’s suppertime.” Jeff and Alexis chimed, almost in unison.
Jamie rolled her eyes at Spence, then said to her mother, “Come on, Donald, live a little.”
Spence glanced at Alexis.
Shrugging, she said, “Oh, okay. I’m game,” surprising him.
In ten minutes, they pulled up to Frosty’s, a local ice cream stand at the end of the lake. It perched precariously on the water, a forty-by-forty weathered gray shack that Spence frequented. After mooring, Jeff and Jamie offered to get cones and raced each other to the stand, which even at the dinner hour, had a long line of people. Spence and Alexis seated themselves at the end of the dock at a round wrought iron table. She chose a chair right next to him, close enough to touch. Silent, they both stared out at the water. It was gilded with a fine layer of sunlight, and still; the boats knocked softly against the wood of the dock and the seagulls squawked around them.
“You did good, Lexy,” Spence finally said. His tone was playful.
She smiled at him, gratefully, tenderly, and with something else in her eyes. “Thanks. I used to love skiing.”
“I can tell. You caught on so fast.”
“I think I stunned Jamie.”
“A healthy thing to do to your child, now and again.”
“I’d forgotten how much I liked this stuff.” She waved to indicate the lake. “How much I missed it.”
“We give up a lot, without even knowin’ it.”
His gaze had strayed to Jamie and Jeff, laughing together in line. From a distance, they could be siblings out for ice cream on a summer afternoon.
“We do.” Alexis reached out and touched his arm gently. “I think he wants more of your time now, Spence.”
“Until Judd gets to him. I wonder where Grandpa is today.”
“I—”
Spence shook his head. “Let’s not talk about them. The day’s been too nice to spoil.”
She nodded and turned in her chair to stare back at the lake. The movement pulled the wet T-shirt across her breasts. He could see the outline of her black swimsuit through it—scooped low in the front. He wished she’d take off the damn shirt.
His gaze dropped down. A little more black lace peeked out from underneath the hem of the top. The suit was high cut at the legs so he could see a patch of white skin that had been hidden from the sun by a more modest suit. Her creamy smooth skin lured his hand like a magnet.
On her left thigh was a bruise. He reached out to that instead. “Look.”
Surprised, she glanced down. His fingertips lightly grazed the red area just beginning to show on the side of her leg. Goose bumps formed on her skin when he skimmed it.
“Must be from the water slappin’ you when you fell.” His voice was a rusty whisper.
“Must be.” So was hers.
He ran his fingers back and forth just above the red spot. “It’s already starting to turn blue.”
She nodded, swallowing hard. “I bruise easily.”
He’d have to be careful when he touched her.
Slowly, his hand slid up to the top of her thigh. Her skin was golden brown here and taut. His gaze locked with hers as he trailed his palm to her knee. Her eyes darkened to grass-green, and her lips parted. Spence heard laughter from a distance and realized the kids were coming back. Gently, he squeezed her knee and drew his hand back.
Neither of them spoke.
Their eyes stayed on each other.
He gave her a little grin.
She returned it.
And then Jeff and Jamie reached their table.
o0o
JUDD KEAGAN watched the sports coupe that Jeff had taken from the marina glide around the lake with sleek precision and felt a pain shoot through him. It was a heart attack of a different kind. An emotional arrhythmia that wouldn’t kill him, but crippled him at times like these, when he was so acutely excluded from his son’s life.
Turning back to the marina, away from the sight, he was unable to banish the image from his mind: his son at his grandson’s back, pointing out over the water. Two females—probably the Castles, sitting closely together at the back of the boat.
Somber, he stared at the newly erected sign that had been designed for their franchises. It read KeagCrafts, Inc. in large, black, letters which could be easily spotted from the water; below, in smaller print, the sign read Life’s too short to live without one.
Well, he’d gotten part of it right. Life was too short. And he’d made a lot of mistakes. Frustrated, he headed for his Jaguar. The evening sun glinted off its sleek green paint. Judd heard himself laugh, but it was the harsh self-mockery of a man who’d screwed up. He’d gotten the expensive car, and all the other possessions he’d coveted. When he’d worked on the docks in Rochester, he’d vowed to make it big. Vowed that his own children would never have to scrimp and save and struggle to make a living, like he had.
Unlocking the car, he thought about how he’d been able to realize that dream. Only Spence had turned the tables on him. His son had rejected Judd’s offer of ready-made success. Offer, hell. It was a demand…
“What do you mean you’re not going to Yale?”
“I don’t want to study business.”
“What do you want?”
The kid had shrugged. His hair had grown past his ears, his levis and T-shirt hung loosely on his thin frame. “Maybe I want to fly.”
“Nonsense. You’ll go to Yale. I don’t want to hear anymore about it …”
Spence had obeyed his command not to speak of it again. Judd didn’t know until he received a letter from Fort Bragg that his only child had joined the Air Force and was on his way to Iraq; the kid was indeed going to fly.
Away from him.
For good.
Judd slid into the front seat, started the car, and pulled away from the marina, feeling weary and old.