It rained for three days straight, a heavy, relentless downpour that flooded the low areas of River’s Sigh, creating massive puddles in odd places and filling the creek to the brim. It also sent a strong warning: no matter how nice and mild it could be, weather in the north was unpredictable, regardless of the season. Now, although the deluge had ceased for the time being, the sky was a lumpy porridge of dark clouds, which suggested it was merely taking a break and was nowhere near done pouring on them. Aisha hoped it didn’t mean that yet another one of her and Jase’s workdays would get cut short. It was literally the calm before the storm. There was so much to do! When she’d dropped Mo off to Sam in the office, Jo mentioned they had a couple of full weeks coming up—some artists’ retreat.
Aisha was used to the busyness of running at full capacity in the summer; they all were. But to have max numbers this early in the spring? Before high season even kicked in? She’d be so knee-deep in housekeeping, it would be tough to find time for all the extra work that preparing for a busy summer required. And it meant she wouldn’t be as available to Jase’s beck and call. She didn’t like how much that disappointed her, and she sucked in a deep, steadying breath. Maybe it wasn’t about the boy. Maybe it was about the physical exertion. She loved outdoor work!
Jase’s shy smile filled her mind. Oh, yeah, she thought. That’s what you’re enjoying. The “outdoor work.” She rolled her eyes at herself but couldn’t help but notice she’d started walking faster the moment he entered her head.
Come find me when you’re ready. Jase’s words all those weeks ago still played through Aisha’s head occasionally. She was sure he hadn’t intended any double meaning, so why did she keep torturing herself with the idea that maybe there was one, or that the universe was prodding her or something? She was not interested in Jase. He was not interested in her. They were just working together—and surprisingly efficiently and well, at that. If her extreme bizarreness when they first met had registered with him, the time they’d spent together since had made him forget about it. Thank God.
And think of the devil. Jase’s voice came from some hidden vantage point beyond a massive brush pile, though he could obviously see her. “So she decided to finally show up today? How lovely of her.”
Aisha covered her mouth with her hand, feigning a cough, so she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her laugh. Teasing her by talking about her in the third person had become a habit for Jase. It was super weird. And silly. And somehow, maybe because as far as she could tell, he only did it with her, sort of sexy. (Something she wouldn’t admit aloud to another living person even under torture!) Silly and sexy. Who even knew that could be a combo?
“Well, somebody has to work,” she retorted, “and since that somebody never appears to be you, I guess it only leaves me.”
Jase literally jumped out of a tree just beyond the brush pile she’d now reached, and landed right beside her, grinning at her insult.
She tried not to think about the wiry strength of him or what it might feel like to—
“What are you smiling and looking so cheerful about?” Jase asked, just as a breeze kicked up and sent a tangle of hair into her face. He reached out and for half a second, she thought he was going to smooth it aside. Her stomach leaped.
Equally quickly, looking abashed, he dropped his hand.
A rush of disappointment warmed her cheeks and confused her. She hid her discomfort by looking down and fiddling in her pocket for a hair elastic. She bundled her mop into a tight topknot. “No sign of Colton yet again?”
Jase kicked at a chunk of wood on the path, catapulting it out of the way. “No. Sorry. I really thought he’d be here today.”
Aisha looked up again and knew she was grinning. “No apology necessary.” The day, which she’d already been looking forward to, was instantly even better. There was something about Colton that still made her edgy. She preferred having Jase to herself. The thought made her redden and Jase must’ve noticed because he gave her a searching look.
“Let’s get to work.”
He agreed silently, moving immediately into motion—but his work was curtailed as quickly as it started by the roar of a four-wheeler. Callum.
Callum got off the quad, pulled off his helmet, and nodded at Jase. “Hey, how’s it going?”
“Good, good,” Jase mumbled, but didn’t quite meet Callum’s eye. Aisha wished he would. And that he’d stand straight and be still, instead of hunching his shoulders and shifting foot to foot like he was up to something dodgy. She knew Jase was a trustworthy person and a hard worker. They’d spent enough time alone that if he had a sleazy side it would’ve shown by now, but she worried that everyone else at River’s Sigh wasn’t as convinced as she was. Sam and her dad, especially, seemed bizarrely curious and unfairly critical.
Callum looked around, nodded once more, and put some of Aisha’s concerns to rest. “I have to say Jo and I are impressed with your progress. You’re way ahead of where we thought you’d be by now, even if your brother had been helping.”
Aisha exhaled and felt misty-eyed—a freaky over-the-top response to say the very least. She must be pre-menstrual.
Jase darted the quickest of direct glances at Callum, and his head bobbed in acknowledgement of the compliment. “Thank you, sir. I’m glad.”
“Call me Callum, Jase,” Callum said, his voice kind but carrying a slightly exasperated note like he’d made similar requests more than once. “When you’re done for the day, can you come to the office? Jo and I want to talk to you about something.”
“Yeah, sure.” Jase shot a questioning look at Aisha, but she raised her shoulders in reply. She knew nothing. His gaze returned to Callum’s general whereabouts but not his face. “I’ll be there. Definitely.”
Aisha shared Jase’s unease, although nothing in Callum’s tone sounded ominous.
Callum looked around again, but when neither Jase nor Aisha said anything else, he gave them each a weird look and shrugged. “Okay, well . . . I’ll leave you to it.”
Jase nodded and Callum retreated along the trail, the roar of the quad’s engine going with him.
“Where’s Mo today?” Jase asked as he stooped and got down to work.
“With my dad and Sam.”
It seemed like something was weighing on Jase’s mind, but he didn’t say what. Just lifted what were obviously the heaviest pieces of wood so she wouldn’t have to and started a new row in the back of Jo’s pickup.
They worked in companionable silence, Aisha growing ever more aware of her growling stomach. She should’ve eaten more for breakfast. Plus, despite the physical work, she was feeling chilly. Suckered by the mild temperature of the past few weeks, she hadn’t dressed warmly enough.
“I’m sorry,” she finally said. “I’ve got to break for lunch.”
Jase looked up at the sky, which was considerably darker than it had been even half an hour earlier. “I think I’m going to need rain gear anyway, so I’ll join you—I mean I’ll get something to eat too, not that I’m forcing my company on you.”
“It won’t be fancy, but if you’re into soup, you actually are welcome to join me.”
“Really? That’d be great. I’ve been living off Jo’s cooking, which is awesome, but I should hit a store soon and grab some staples.”
Aisha hesitated, but only for a second. “I’ve got plans in the morning, but I’m going into town tomorrow afternoon, if you want to come with.”
Jase wavered too—but also for hardly a breath. “Sounds good. Thank you.”
They were halfway back to Aisha’s when the clouds opened up like someone was emptying buckets on the earth. She and Jase shrieked like kids and tried to outrun the worst of it—but of course they couldn’t. It was kind of hilarious until Aisha slipped on some muddy leaves. Her feet flew out from under her and she went down hard, landing flat on her butt with a big sploosh in a low boggy spot. She gasped as icy fingers of water went right through her jeans.
Laughing, Jase reached to help her up. “I’m sorry.” He laughed again. “Are you all right?”
Aisha took his offered hand and shivered. The contrast between the temperature of her cold fingers and his, which radiated heat like his heart was beating in the palm of his hand, made her insides squeeze in pleasure. She’d been about to make some crack like, “Oh sure, you seem really sorry,” but all she could manage was a hoarse, “Yeah.”
Jase stared down at their linked hands as he pulled her up. His eyes locked with hers and her stomach squeezed again.
She didn’t want to drop his hand, but to keep holding it as they walked would suggest something she wasn’t ready for. Something she wasn’t sure was actually on the table or being offered. It could be all in her head. Something she didn’t even know if she really wanted.