They made good time to Tucson, entertained by Emily and having missed most of the evening traffic. Chad slowed the van and took an exit, then wove through the streets toward the rolling foothills.
“Why is it so dark?” Brianna asked, her voice high and whiny. “Don’t they believe in streetlights here?”
“Tucson is a dark-sky city,” Jane said, gesturing Chad straight through an intersection.
Brianna scoffed. “Well, obviously it’s dark, but why?”
“It’s to reduce light pollution so you can see the stars better.” Jane frowned at the dark street, then consulted the map on her phone. “But it sure makes finding my uncle’s house a challenge.”
Noah could only imagine what Grace would say if she were present. Most likely, she would defend the dark-sky movement, waxing poetic about the night sky’s beauty and encouraging all of them to get out and enjoy nature more. She might remind them of the harmful effects of light pollution on both humans and ecosystems, finishing off with a hearty endorsement of reducing energy consumption.
Either that or she would have played along with Brianna, encouraging further complaints while sending conspiratorial looks Noah’s way.
“What’s funny?” Vanessa asked.
“Huh? Oh, nothing.” Noah crushed his smile and thoughts, fishing for a distraction out the window.
Headlights from passing cars revealed shopping districts and neighborhoods with more plant life than Noah had anticipated in addition to brief glimpses of wildflower-covered hillsides. The houses grew bigger and farther apart as they left the city behind, solar panels blanketing many of the sunbaked rooftops.
Following Jane’s directions, Chad passed a golf course and wound through streets named for the hills’ animal inhabitants—Fox Drive, Coyote Cove, Bighorn Lane—before pulling into a long driveway coming off a cul-de-sac. Dim landscape lighting illuminated the drive as they approached, turning off a few seconds after they passed. It was another hundred meters or more before Noah caught sight of the house, an adobe-style mansion with a semicircular portico guarding the front entrance. An archway next to the entry led to more garage doors than Noah could count in a glance, everything lit by dim, downward-aiming lights. The effect was stunning, like something you would see at the front of a hotel. A superfancy hotel.
His stomach clenched. What kind of person was this uncle of Jane’s, anyway? What had Noah gotten himself into? Before he could work up a full panic, he found himself drawn from the van by the flow of stir-crazy companions, everyone thrilled at being free and gawking at their surroundings. The afternoon heat had diminished into a lovely evening. A burly middle-aged man in jeans and a T-shirt strode toward them from the one open garage, a giant grin on his face as he rubbed greasy hands on a towel.
Chauffeur? Mechanic on retainer? Noah fought an eye roll—thankfully so, because as soon as Jane saw the man, she squealed, “Uncle Frank!” and ran at him.
The man laughed and pulled her into a giant bear hug. “How’s my Janie?” he said, drawing back and holding Jane by the shoulders to give her a once-over before catching Chad’s eye. Releasing Jane, he gave her fiancé a firm handshake and back slap. “Chad! Good to see you again.”
“Great to see you!” Chad said. “Still working on the Packard?”
The man’s expression lit up. “She’s a gem. You’ll have to come see what I’ve done, but the car can wait. Who’s doing introductions?”
Jane laughed and complied. “Uncle Frank, this is Brianna, Emily, Vanessa, Kaisley, and Kylie.”
He repeated everyone’s name as he shook their hands. “You two must be twins!” he said to Vanessa and Emily with a wink, triggering a cascade of laughter among the women. Then he turned his attention to the guys, straightening to maximize his substantial height and pulling his thick shoulders back. “And here’s my competition—”
“Frank!” A woman’s voice stopped him in his tracks.
“Uh-oh.” He shrank into himself, looking to the girls. “Don’t let her get me!”
A tiny woman stepped out from the house, her hands on hips covered by a frilly apron. Silver hair in a loose, thick braid hung to her waist. “Don’t let him bother you,” she said, stretching up to swat Frank’s arm. “He’s all bark.”
He feigned a grunt and settled a huge, gentle hand around her shoulder. “Don’t get any ideas, young bucks. She’s taken.” This earned him an elbow to the ribs.
“Aunt Leanne,” Jane said, stepping forward.
“Oh! We’ve missed you!” Leanne hugged her niece and each of the girls as Jane introduced them. “And here’s Chad!” Leanne said with another hug. “Thank you for bringing our Janie for a visit.” She threaded her arm through Frank’s and turned toward the other men. “Now, let’s meet Frank’s so-called competition.”
Once the introductions were finished, Leanne waved them all toward the house. “I’m so happy you’re all here,” she said. “We figured you’re probably sick of being cooped up in that van, so we set some food out by the pool. Jane, why don’t you take everyone up to the guest house so they can change if they want to swim.”
The smell of freshly baked bread greeted Noah as soon as they stepped into the house, which was decorated in an expensive-looking southwest style. Still, it felt homey, especially with the warm welcome they’d received.
Above the garage, the guest house had a huge common area and two big bathrooms in addition to several bedrooms. The girls would be sharing those rooms while the guys took the couches and floor. Noah stowed his things in one corner and dug his trunks and towel out of the bag. Once they had all changed, they followed Chad and Jane down to the pool.
The main house opened onto a beautifully designed deck area, lounge chairs lining one side of a huge rectangular pool while umbrella-clad tables flanked the other. A pavilion, complete with barbecue, fireplace, and a flat-screen TV mounted on the single wall, housed Leanne’s idea of “some food”—a huge spread of fresh fruits and vegetables with hot-out-of-the-oven breadsticks. Noah had to keep reminding himself that he was at a home, not a resort.
Brianna and the twins dipped their feet into the pool, but Vanessa and Emily dove right into the deep end. A race to the other end found Vanessa winning easily, slipping through the water like a torpedo while Emily exerted twice as much effort for half the speed.
They came up for air at the side of the pool where Noah was about to get in, Garth uneasy at his shoulder.
“Rematch?” Vanessa said. “Maybe you weren’t warm.”
Emily scoffed. “As if that would help! You’re either a mermaid or part fish!”
Vanessa answered with a deftly aimed spray of water from her clasped hands. “How about you, Garth?”
“Not me,” he said. “I barely dog-paddle.”
Noah thought he saw a blink of disappointment before she turned her smile on him. “I’m game,” he said, his pulse picking up. “How many laps?”
“Are we racing?” Alec said, jumping up from his perch between the twins. “You’re going down! Water or deck start?”
Noah fought the urge to groan under the weight of Alec’s ego, thinking maybe he should bow out. Vanessa’s eyes flitted to Alec and back to Noah, her smile mischievous. “What do you say, Noah?”
Though the pool was a big one, Noah had no idea whether Alec could swim a straight line, let alone dive one. And since none of them had goggles . . . “Water start, two laps?”
“You’re on,” Vanessa said, pushing off toward the deep end.
Alec executed a running cannonball that set the twins squealing. Noah slipped into the water unnoticed during the uproar and positioned himself on Vanessa’s far side.
“Think you can take him?” Noah asked her.
Vanessa tipped her head to one side. “I’ve raced him before. It’s you I’m not sure about.”
Emily climbed out of the pool and took charge. “All right, you three, backs to the wall!”
Alec took his place on the other side of Vanessa. “You’re going down, mermaid!”
She laughed and shoved him farther away. “Only if you grab my ankles! Swim nice, beach boy.”
Noah let them banter, focusing instead on some deep breathing.
“On your marks,” Emily’s voice grabbed his attention, “get set, go!”
All three pushed off. Noah dove under, keeping his eyes open in the deliciously comfortable saline pool and watching his friends’ blurry figures rise to the surface and begin stroking. He stayed comfortably underwater, concentrating on his dolphin kick and maintaining an efficient streamline while they battled it out up top. He doubted he could beat Vanessa in a freestyle, but she hadn’t specified a stroke. Fortunately, he had always been able to hold his breath longer than the average person. He made the first underwater turn barely in front of the others, but by the time he made the second, he had them by half a body length. As he made the third turn, he could see Vanessa coming into the wall ahead of Alec’s longer form. Lungs begging for air on the final stretch, Noah kicked harder, rising to the surface as he touched the wall. Vanessa lunged in after him, with Alec a split second behind. The cheers of the spectators grew louder as the water drained from his ears.
“Epic fail, beach boy!” Vanessa laughed.
Alec took her ribbing in stride. “Well, I gave it my best shot. I’m not ashamed to take second to a mermaid.”
“Second?” Emily said from the deck. “Aquaman beat you both!”
Surprise registered on both his opponents’ faces, but Vanessa’s quickly changed to amusement. She challenged Noah to a strictly defined freestyle rematch and narrowly won, while Alec basked in consolation from Brianna and the twins. Jane strung a net across the pool for a rousing game of pool volleyball during which Alec successfully bolstered his ego. Noah couldn’t help but think how being six inches taller than anyone else in the pool was a distinct advantage. All things considered, though, Alec seemed to be a nice enough guy. Noah wouldn’t hold it against him that he was many things Noah was not.
As he laid down on his sleeping pad that night, he found himself grateful for Jane’s pushiness. He never would have sought out or agreed to this trip on his own. Things had started out a little awkward, but his sneaky swim victory had established him as an accepted member of the group. Initially, he had regretted allowing his competitiveness to show, but with most of them calling him Aquaman for the duration of the evening, he had to acknowledge that it had been a good move.
It had been a long time since he’d felt he belonged.