a T-shirt. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail that told Jack she’d just woken up.
“Did I wake you?” he asked.
“No. I mean, yes, but it’s not your fault. I heard the front door open and close, and when I didn’t hear you creak down the hall, I figured you were out here thinking.” She sat in the chair beside him and looked over. “I’m guessing tonight didn’t go well.”
“That’s an understatement. It went about as bad as it possibly could go.”
“Oh no. Mr. St. James used to like you. Wasn’t he the one who suggested you take Emma to her senior prom in the first place?”
Jack chuckled dryly. “Yeah, well, he learned his lesson there, I guess.”
“My point is he saw the good in you before. He’ll see it again. And there’s a lot of good.”
“I tried to show him tonight. I really did. He refused to even give me a chance.” Jack looked over at Amanda. “He bought an expensive bottle of wine and practically demanded that I drink with him.”
Amanda’s jaw dropped in a dramatic fashion. “What? That’s…that’s just wrong. Knowing you have an issue with alcohol and then rubbing it in your face like that. Please tell me you didn’t…”
“No.” Jack shook his head and returned his attention to the trees. “I don’t need to drink to feel good.”
Amanda reached for his hand. “You have it all figured out. I’m proud of you and also a little jealous.”
“You’re figuring things out too,” he said.
“Trying.” She looked out on the backyard with him. “It’s beautiful here.”
Jack nodded. “It is.”
“I could’ve just come here for the summer to clear my head and get it back on straight.”
Jack smiled. “I think you did the right thing. Is your head on straight now?” he asked.
“Pretty much.” She grinned over at him. “Thanks for taking care of Sam for the last few weeks.”
“No problem.”
“You know, one of the things I learned in counseling is that you can steer your life in the right direction, but you have to know that waves are going to toss you all about. Or something like that.” She furrowed her brow and looked at Jack. “It was a boating analogy of some type. My therapist said to know the people and things that will keep you afloat if you fall out of the boat. Your life preservers, he called them. You’re one of my preservers, Jack. And Sam and Mom. I need to get back to church too.”
Jack looked over. “That’s good advice.”
“Okay, then tell me. Who or what is your life preserver?”
He scratched the side of his face as he thought. He enjoyed hanging out with Granger and Luke lately. Then there was his family, small as it was. “You’re on the list. You’d save me, right?”
“After all these years saving me? Of course.”
“Good to know.” Emma came to mind too. She’d always been his friend and more. If he lost her, he wasn’t sure any of his available lifelines would keep him afloat. But he wasn’t going to lose Emma, no matter what her father thought of him. Now that he’d found her, he was going to hold on to her.
“Whoa. I don’t know what thought just crossed your mind, but it was pretty serious,” Amanda said on a laugh. “I’m guessing it was about that girlfriend of yours.”
Jack didn’t feel the need to respond, which was its own sort of answer.
“I’ve always wanted a sister,” Amanda said. “Emma would make a good one.”
Jack looked over, feigning offense. “A brother isn’t good enough for you?”
Amanda chuckled softly, the sound drifting off toward the woods and the water. She still had her hand on his, and she brought her opposite hand to cover it as well. “You’re more than enough, but you’ll never get your hair and nails done with me or go dress shopping on Main Street.”
Jack furrowed his brow. “No, I won’t. And if I did, I think your dreams of Emma being your new sister would be over.”
Amanda laughed some more. It was good to see and hear her so happy. Then she squealed softly. “Uh-oh. I think that was a raindrop…There’s another.”
They both lifted their faces to the sky to check just as a heavy downpour broke over them.
Amanda let out a quiet shriek. Then they both jumped up and dashed for the back door, already drenched by the time they got inside.
“You look like you just fell in a pool,” Amanda whispered to him.
“I’ll grab us a couple