“I can’t believe you did this,” Brant muttered, keeping his voice low so no one else could hear.
Kurt had walked back to the truck to get the cooler. “Did what?” he said, but the grin stretching across his face made it obvious he was playing games.
“You know what, damn it.”
“Whoa! What’s wrong with you?” Kurt said, sobering. “I did you a favor, bro. You’ve been moping around for a week, and now she’s right here. You can thank me later.”
Thank him? You didn’t get over a woman by staring at her in a bikini. But Kurt had already hefted the cooler out of the back and was carrying it to the boat, so Brant didn’t have the opportunity to voice any more of his displeasure.
“All clear,” Miles called out a moment later, letting Brant know he could go park.
Briefly, Brant considered driving off and leaving them all at the lake. He hadn’t signed on for an entire evening with Talulah, especially because she’d looked just as shocked to see him as he was her.
Cursing the entire time he circled the lot, he finally found a spot big enough for both the truck and the trailer and sat there for a few minutes, trying to regain his equilibrium. He couldn’t leave. Someone who didn’t care whether Talulah was around or not would never react in such a volatile way, which meant he could only slap a smile on his face and act as though she was no different to him than any other woman.
He could manage that for four to five hours, couldn’t he?
Since the answer had to be yes, he got out and strode down to the boat, where everyone was waiting for him. He could feel Talulah’s gaze as he approached, but he refused to glance her way. He’d just ignore her, he told himself, and try to enjoy the sun, the water and the skiing.
Then, when it was all behind him and he got back home, he’d let his brother know he didn’t appreciate being tricked.
Talulah felt unwanted and out of place. Brant wouldn’t even look at her. He took the driver’s seat, which put his back to her most of the time, and found a section of calm water so everyone could ski.
Kurt and Miles skied like pros, and Jane and Kate weren’t bad, considering they’d had far less experience. Jane tried to talk Talulah into going when they were done, but she insisted she preferred to ride in the boat and watch others. She’d only been skiing one other time in her life, many years ago, and it hadn’t been a success.
Miles took over at the wheel so Brant could ski, and like his brothers, he did so flawlessly.
“Are you mad at me?” Jane whispered while he was out of the boat and couldn’t hear her. After getting out of the water, she’d wrapped herself in a towel.
Talulah frowned. She didn’t want to say anything in front of the Elway brothers, who kept glancing over. “We’ll talk about it later.”
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I thought it would be a fun surprise.”
It wasn’t that Talulah didn’t want to see Brant. She did. She was just so conflicted about how her actions would affect the people around her, including him. “It was definitely a surprise,” she said.
When Brant signaled that he was done, Kurt made his way over to her. “Aren’t you at least going to try to ski?”
She could tell he was frustrated by her refusal. “I’m not good at it. I tried once before.”
“It’d be worth trying again,” he said, and after Brant got back in the boat, even Kate and Jane insisted she make the effort. Jane said that all she had to do was grip the rope handles and push the ski against the pressure of the water once the boat started to accelerate, and she’d “pop up.”
They made it sound easy. They made it look easy, too. But once she got out in the cold water and was hanging on to the rope, she found she’d been right all along: it wasn’t easy. Brant had taken over driving again—she had the impression he was their main driver—but as soon as he gave the boat some gas, the ski wobbled beneath her, then cut out to the side, where it was ripped off by the rushing water, and she was dragged behind the boat until she remembered to let go of the rope.
She’d tried four times and drank far more lake water than she deemed healthy by the time she decided to give up. When Brant circled around, and Kurt lifted the rope to throw it out to her again, she yelled, “I can’t do it. I feel like an idiot, making you go in circles. It’s okay. Someone else can take a turn.”
The ski had come off again during her last spill, but she’d managed to grab it. She was trying to hand it up to Miles when Brant said something to Kurt that must’ve been, “Here, you drive,” or something like that, because he suddenly dived off the side and swam over to her.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “You don’t have to help me. I can tell you don’t even want me to be here.”
“You have no idea what I want,” he said with a scowl. “But back to skiing. You’re trying too hard. Relax and lean back. Let the boat do the rest.”
“I hate that you’re mad at me,” she said.
“I’m not mad at you. I—” He seemed to think better of making that statement. “Never mind. Come here.”
She shivered as he adjusted the shoes on the ski, making them fit more snugly. “Remember, let the boat do the work,” he said as he helped her put the ski back on. “Just sit in the water, draw your knees into your chest and let the tension slowly pull you up. I wish I had two skis, so I could start you out that way. It’d be easier for you. But it’s been a long time since we brought a beginner. I don’t even know where those old skis went.”
He motioned for Kurt to throw him the rope and held on to it for her as the boat taxied slowly away from them, far enough to straighten the line. “You’ve been crashing right before you succeed. If you could keep the ski under you for another second or two, you’d have it.”
Getting behind her, he pulled her into the chair he formed with his body so she could get in the proper position. “See? Like this,” he said. “Now relax. Are you relaxed?”
“I’m kind of scared, to be honest,” she said, her teeth chattering.
“There’s nothing to be scared of. If you get in trouble, all you have to do is remember to let go of the rope. But that won’t be necessary this time because you’re going to get up.”
“What about you?” she asked. “Why aren’t you swimming back to the boat?”
“Because you’re shaking too badly. I’m going to hold you steady, so you’ll have a better chance.”
“Is that safe? What if another boat comes along and doesn’t see you?”
“My brother won’t strand me out here. If you get up, he’ll just pull you in a circle around me until you’re tired.”
“Are you sure that’s okay?”
He didn’t answer. He seemed to know she wasn’t only worried for his well-being, she was throwing up another excuse to procrastinate her next attempt. Holding her against the firm framework of his body, he signaled for Kurt to hit the gas and let go.
The engine roared, the rope yanked her arms and the pressure of the water hit her ski at all once, causing her to wobble like she had before. She thought she was going down again, but remembering what Brant had said, she fought to straighten her ski and keep it underneath her for a little longer—and it worked. The next thing she knew, she was flying across the water like those who’d skied before her.
She wanted to look at Brant in triumph, but she knew she’d fall if she did. She hung on for dear life as Kurt made a wide circle, exactly as Brant had predicted he would. They went around twice. Then, once she got close to Brant again, she let go.
“I did it!” she said as she sank into the water, this time with her ski intact. “Did you see me?”
He swam the short distance between them since she couldn’t maneuver very well. “I did.”
“You’re smiling,” she pointed out in surprise.
“I’m proud of you. And I figure you have enough people mad at you,” he added with a shrug.
“I do. Thanks for not piling on.”
He sobered as he studied her. “Did you give Paul the commitment he’s been after? Is that why you haven’t called me?”
She wiped the water from her face. “No. I haven’t called because I suck at romantic relationships, and you know it. You’re better off without me.”
He lowered his voice. “What if I don’t want to be without you? You have a phobia about getting stuck with the wrong person, but I don’t care. I want you. What do you say to that? Do you ever think of me?”
“Only every second,” she told him glumly.
His smile reappeared, this one much broader. “That’s my girl.”
His girl. When Paul said things like that, it bothered her. But when Brant did it, she went positively gooey inside. “The odds are stacked against us, and I don’t want it to end badly.”
He met her gaze. “I wish I could promise you it wouldn’t. Maybe I’ll get my heart broken for the first time. Maybe you will. But we’ll have one hell of a good time before the big crash.”
“Do you have to use the word crash?” she asked.
“We’re brave enough,” he insisted. “Don’t you think? We’ll risk it together.”
She was in an impossible situation. And yet her hand found his hand, and a sense of contentment filled her as they laced their fingers together. “What about Charlie and Averil and Paul?” she asked. “There will definitely be repercussions.”
“If it’ll make you feel safe enough to give our relationship a chance, we’ll be more careful this time. No one else will have to know we’re seeing each other.”
“Okay.”
“Hey! What’re you guys doing out there?” Miles yelled. “Are either of you ever going to ski?”
“Do you want to ski again?” he asked her.
Talulah didn’t bother to answer. Her mind was on something else entirely—all the times in the past few days she’d talked herself out of calling Brant, and yet here she was with him anyway. That effort had turned out to be a waste. It hadn’t changed anything. She still wanted him as badly as she ever had.
Almost before she knew what she was going to do, she leaned over and brushed her lips against his.
He looked shocked when their eyes met afterward, and everyone on the boat started cheering. “What happened to keeping it a secret?” he asked as he started to laugh.
She didn’t have a good answer. “I don’t know. I’ve wanted to do that since I first saw you glowering at me from inside your truck. I guess I acted impulsively.”
“That’s fine with me. I actually prefer full transparency. If anyone has a problem with us being together, they’ll just have to get over it,” he said and, ignoring the fact that they had an audience, he grabbed her by the life vest with both hands, hauled her up against him and kissed her soundly.
Brant had never had so much fun. After they quit skiing, they docked the boat and had a barbecue on shore, where he grilled hot dogs and burgers and Kurt pulled a potato salad and a fruit salad he’d purchased at the local grocery store out of the cooler.
“We should all have brought something,” Talulah said as she sat next to Brant on a tree trunk, her plate in hand.
“We have everything we need,” Brant said and leaned over to whisper something else. “Kurt took care of it all. In case you couldn’t tell, he’s trying to impress Kate.”
She gave him a sly smile. “After watching them together today, I think it’s working, don’t you?”
“I don’t know. It can be hard to tell with a woman.” When she elbowed him in the ribs, he laughed and said, “Ouch! Here I am, nice enough to take you back, and you do that?”
“You’re lucky to have me back,” she said, shooting him a sulky look.
She was obviously teasing, too, but Brant did feel lucky. He was also grateful that they had this time away from town, that they were with people who had their best interests at heart and that they didn’t have to worry about all the drama that’d caused Talulah to shut him out.
After they finished eating, Talulah got up and went to the edge of the water to wash her hands, since Kurt had forgotten to bring napkins, while Brant remained on the tree trunk, unable to take his eyes off her.
“If that isn’t a dreamy expression I don’t know what is,” Jane said, sitting down beside him.
He slid over to give her more room. “I can’t believe you and Kurt planned this out in advance. What a dirty trick.”
“We had to do something! You were both being so damn stubborn.”
“I’m glad it worked out.”
“So am I.”
She picked up a stick and began to draw in the dirt. “So...you have two weeks before she has to go. Will that be enough?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ll think about what comes next later. At least I have two weeks. That’s more than I had this morning.”
“I’ve never seen you like this,” she said, looking mildly bemused.
He didn’t like other people getting involved in his business, so he usually held his cards much closer to his chest. It wasn’t entirely clear to him why he hadn’t done a better job of that when it came to Talulah. She’d taken him by surprise somehow—in every way. “Yeah, well, let’s hope I don’t end up like Charlie.”
“Mad at her, you mean?”
Seeing Talulah shake the water off her hands and start back toward them, he lowered his voice. “Mooning after her for the rest of my life.”
Jane chuckled. “If anybody can convince her to stay, it’d be you.”
“You might have too much confidence in me.”
Jane looked from Talulah to him and back again. “I don’t think so.”
“What are you two talking about?” Talulah asked, grabbing her beach towel so she could finish drying her hands.
“I was saying that the world is full of possibilities,” Jane said with a wink and went to get more food.