her boyfriend anymore. He’s living it up with some other chick. It’s all over his Instagram page.”
Jack looked like a deer in the headlights. He probably didn’t know that Amanda and her boyfriend had broken up. Maybe Amanda didn’t even know.
“Okay.” Jack looked at his hands, which had fallen into his lap. “Maybe your mom isn’t with her boyfriend anymore. Maybe they broke up, I’m not sure. It’s none of my business though, and it’s not yours either.”
Sam huffed. “You see?” he said to Emma. “He’s going to feed me more lies.”
Emma held up a hand to him and then looked at Jack. “Jack…,” she pressed.
He met her gaze and gave his head a slight shake. “It doesn’t matter what Amanda’s Facebook or Instagram page is showing or not showing. She’s Sam’s mom, and she needs some time to herself. She wants you here, Sam,” he said, looking at his nephew. “And while you’re here, you follow my rules and you come home when I tell you to. Otherwise, you don’t go out at all.”
Emma gulped a breath. The tension in the room was palpable.
“So you’re just going to lie all summer?” Sam shook his head. “Fine. I’ll follow your rules, but I don’t trust liars.” He stood. “If it’s okay with you, I’m going to bed now.”
“That’s probably best,” Jack said, “because you’re working with me tomorrow, and we have a lot to do.”
“Whatever.” Sam walked past them without another word and headed down the hall.
Jack ran a hand through his hair, and for a moment, he looked like he wanted to pull it out.
Emma reached out and touched his arm, gaining his attention. “You could’ve told him the truth.”
“It’s not mine to tell,” Jack said. “Amanda doesn’t want him to know.”
“Maybe you should talk to her, then,” Emma suggested. “Sam already knows she’s not with her boyfriend. Or ex, it sounds like.”
Jack nodded. “I’ll ask Amanda again. But she might not even be aware of the ex part. Learning that could set her back.”
“So many secrets.”
Jack looked at her, his gaze dropping momentarily to her hand still on his forearm. “It’s late.”
She nodded. “Yeah.” They held each other’s gaze for a long moment. She didn’t know what he was thinking, but that kiss they’d shared was at the forefront of her mind, where it’d been since it’d happened. “I better head back home.” She said the words, he nodded, but neither of them moved. “Or…”
Jack’s brow lifted subtly. “Or you could stay a bit longer. I can make us a sweet tea or lemonade, and we could sit on the porch. We could talk.”
Talk. That sounded innocent enough. But that was yet another lie she was feeding herself.
* * *
The view from Jack’s back porch looked out on a thin forest of pines. Through the tangle of limbs and tree trunks, slivers of Silver Lake were visible, reflecting the quarter moon overhead.
“It’s so beautiful here.” Emma sighed as she sat in the deck chair beside him.
Jack thought so too. That’s why he sat out here so often. It was serene. Calm. Peaceful. Some nights he told himself that sitting out here by himself and enjoying nature was something that would never happen if he settled down. His married friends seemed to have active and full lives. The ones with children seemed loaded with activity and noise. At least that’s what he told himself to stay contented in the moment.
Now his mind was telling him something completely different. How nice would it be to share this view with someone every night? To share the details of the day, his hopes and fears, his successes and letdowns. To have kids who ran barefoot beyond the deck, chasing fireflies and wishing on falling stars?
How would it be to retreat to bed with someone at night instead of alone?
Jack looked down at the glass of lemonade in his hands. One kiss did not lead to him and Emma sleeping together. As friends, that was a line they could never uncross.
“Most men keep beer in the fridge,” Emma said suddenly. “Most that I know, at least.”
Jack looked over at her. “Do you open these men’s refrigerators regularly?” he asked.
She laughed softly and shook her head, a tendril of hair slipping off her shoulder to rest along the back of her chair. “No, I guess not. Most men have at least one drink when they go out. You never do. Why is that?”
Jack felt slightly taken aback by her question. He shrugged as if