They’d always had a lighthearted teasing between them, but she grew serious. “What you’ve done here has been good for all of us. Dad and I tend to be so focused on getting the work done that we forget to have fun. Aunt Aggie used to have parties, but she invited her favorites and...” Terri turned to look at him. “You include everyone in what you do and everybody here likes you.”
Instead of the smile she expected, Nate frowned. “Don’t sell yourself short. What you do to run this place is extraordinary. You’re like a tribal chief keeping everyone in line. I’m just the clown.”
She looked back up at the ceiling. “You’re more than that. You work a lot too. You—”
“Hey!” He cut her off, as though he wanted to stop this serious talk. “Are you hungry?”
“Not especially, but I’d put money on it that you are. I’m sure Della would love to have lunch with you.”
Nate got off the bed. “It’s 3:00 p.m. and I haven’t eaten since breakfast. I’ve been listening to stories of how great each man used to be. It seems that today we whippersnappers don’t know what real work is. This was said while I was pulling some black strings off my arms. Got them while diving for trash.”
“You shouldn’t have gone shirtless.” She stood up.
“If a pretty girl is watching me, I tend to strip off. Can’t let all those bench presses go to waste. Why don’t we—”
There was a knock at the door. “Terri? Are you in there?”
“That’s Della,” Terri whispered.
“I can’t find that nice young man who is engaged to marry Stacy Hartman,” Della said through the door. “He isn’t alone in your bedroom with you, is he?”
“Subtle,” Nate whispered, then slid open the door to the outside. “Follow me.”
Terri practically ran past him.
Outside, there were two men attending the big barbecue grill that had magically appeared at Terri’s house. It was covered with sizzling meat. When Nate grabbed sausages and bread, Terri opened a cooler and took out three small bowls of food. She had no idea what they contained.
“Here,” Elaine said from behind her, and handed her a big pink tote bag. “I put a jug of lemonade inside. Take your time. This party hasn’t officially started yet.”
Terri knew she should protest that she and Nate weren’t running off to some love tryst, as Elaine seemed to be implying. They were escaping Della’s nosy questions. But Terri just smiled. “Thanks.”
Minutes later, she was running toward her boat, Nate close behind her.
And not far behind him was Della Kissel calling to Terri.
“Go!” Nate said and Terri stepped up her pace.
They practically leaped into the boat. Nate untied it while Terri started the engine. She took off so fast that Nate nearly flew out the back, but he just laughed.
Terri headed toward Club Circle, where all the shops and public buildings were, but then she made an abrupt turnaround and headed back toward her house. She thought Nate would ask what she was doing, but he didn’t. She stayed close to the east shore, went into a little cove, then came back out near one of the three bridges. It was a place Nate had not seen before.
Terri cut the engine to low, then slowly went near the south side of a piece of land surrounded by water that was known as the Island.
Nate jumped into the shallow water to pull the boat onto shore. There was a stake where he could tie it.
“Damn!” Terri said as she looked at the water. She had on tight jeans and the absurdity of high heels.
Nate walked through the water and held out his arms. He didn’t need to tell her to jump.
Terri decided to forego the girlie protest of “I’m too heavy” and “I could take off my shoes and wade in” etc. In a very practiced gesture, she stepped up to the side and fell backward.
Nate caught her without so much as a grunt and carried her to the sand. “You’ve done that before, haven’t you?”
She did not say “a hundred times” as those words would require explanation. “Maybe. Della is going to torture both of us.”
Nate noted that she didn’t answer his question.
“You can put me down now.”
“Not until we get somewhere we can sit and eat.”
“Ah yes, food. Your number one concern. Did you get me out just to save time?”
He didn’t reply.
She loved the feeling of his big body against hers, and she wanted to