helplessly.
Cassie walked slowly but confidently down the wooden planked dock until her cane struck the edge, two steps before she would have stepped off. She dropped the cane beside her and shimmied her jeans over her hips and knees until she stepped out of them. She folded them carefully and set them beside the cane, then pulled her T-shirt over her ginger hair.
Jake clamped his jaw tightly as the sinking sun illuminated her from behind and her body became silhouetted against the burnished sky.
She was tall for a girl, and her long legs were lean and sculpted into an hourglass at her hips. Her skin was tanned from the summer sun, and her long hair fell over slender shoulders and a graceful neck. She was … beautiful. He had always thought she was pretty, but he was surrounded by attractive women, and she had never stood out from the rest before. As he watched her lean lithe form move to the end of the dock and slide smoothly into the water, he really looked. Against her beige skin, her pale blue eyes picked up sparks of blue flame from the water and flashed in the light. She had piled her long reddish-brown waves in a twist at the top of her head; a wisp or two escaped to fall beside her cheeks and jaw as she held onto the float and chatted with Jana and Miriam.
He was mesmerized by the sight. Jake felt himself let go of something as he stared at her face. She was gorgeous, sexy, a vision that would have rivaled some of the women he knew from Hollywood. Why had he never seen it before?
A screech from Kyle brought Jake’s mind back to the boat as he realized he’d dropped Kyle’s frog habitat into the water.
Kyle’s shrieks and the splashing descent of the can brought Jana and Miriam’s attention to see what had happened. Jake couldn’t get his eyes off of Cassie fast enough, and it seemed as if he couldn’t drag them away at all.
“Jake?” Miriam’s voice broke his transfixed gaze to follow the can to the blacker depths of the reservoir beneath him and Kyle’s perch. “Are you ... is everybody all right?” she asked choking back a laugh, as Kyle continued to shriek.
“Yeah, yeah,” Jake fumbled, trying to quiet Kyle. “I dropped his can. Kyle, relax I’ve got another one in the bait shed. Just hold the frog, and we’ll go back.”
Jake started the motor again, and Kyle complained loudly as he moved the small boat back to the side of the dock, keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the bow of the wooden structure. He wouldn’t look their way again; he may never be able to look at her again, at least not ever the same.
• • •
“Jake?” Miriam’s voice broke across his concentration as he ate potato salad. Miriam was just finishing up feeding the picnic to her horde and Jake had taken the plate she had fixed for him to the dock. He sat, legs dangling in the water, sun drying his shorts and hair in the dusky light. “Have you seen Cassie or Heidi?”
Jake twisted his upper body around to squint into the blaring sunset behind the vehicles. “Not since dinner,” he said, now scanning the water’s edge for movement. The aspen groves lay in breezeless silence, and Jake stood, picking up his plate and stalking to the end of the dock. “Are the horses still tied to the fence?” he asked throwing his trash into a barrel at the ramps edge.
“No.” Miriam said with a frown. “Cassie told Chris that she was taking Jackpot into the lower meadow to graze, but I thought she would be back by now.”
Jake pulled his T-shirt over his head again and bent to put his shoes on. “Did she say if she was going to the meadow she and Heidi were in this afternoon? The wild horses come to the lower meadows in the evenings. Without their winter coats, they prefer the lower lands at night.”
Miriam shook her head, looking around. “I’ve got to get the kids loaded and back to The Rocking J before sunset, so Jana and I are leaving. Chris said he would stay if she and Heidi don’t get back in time, but I’m
Cassie walked slowly but confidently down the wooden planked dock until her cane struck the edge, two steps before she would have stepped off. She dropped the cane beside her and shimmied her jeans over her hips and knees until she stepped out of them. She folded them carefully and set them beside the cane, then pulled her T-shirt over her ginger hair.
Jake clamped his jaw tightly as the sinking sun illuminated her from behind and her body became silhouetted against the burnished sky.
She was tall for a girl, and her long legs were lean and sculpted into an hourglass at her hips. Her skin was tanned from the summer sun, and her long hair fell over slender shoulders and a graceful neck. She was … beautiful. He had always thought she was pretty, but he was surrounded by attractive women, and she had never stood out from the rest before. As he watched her lean lithe form move to the end of the dock and slide smoothly into the water, he really looked. Against her beige skin, her pale blue eyes picked up sparks of blue flame from the water and flashed in the light. She had piled her long reddish-brown waves in a twist at the top of her head; a wisp or two escaped to fall beside her cheeks and jaw as she held onto the float and chatted with Jana and Miriam.
He was mesmerized by the sight. Jake felt himself let go of something as he stared at her face. She was gorgeous, sexy, a vision that would have rivaled some of the women he knew from Hollywood. Why had he never seen it before?
A screech from Kyle brought Jake’s mind back to the boat as he realized he’d dropped Kyle’s frog habitat into the water.
Kyle’s shrieks and the splashing descent of the can brought Jana and Miriam’s attention to see what had happened. Jake couldn’t get his eyes off of Cassie fast enough, and it seemed as if he couldn’t drag them away at all.
“Jake?” Miriam’s voice broke his transfixed gaze to follow the can to the blacker depths of the reservoir beneath him and Kyle’s perch. “Are you ... is everybody all right?” she asked choking back a laugh, as Kyle continued to shriek.
“Yeah, yeah,” Jake fumbled, trying to quiet Kyle. “I dropped his can. Kyle, relax I’ve got another one in the bait shed. Just hold the frog, and we’ll go back.”
Jake started the motor again, and Kyle complained loudly as he moved the small boat back to the side of the dock, keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the bow of the wooden structure. He wouldn’t look their way again; he may never be able to look at her again, at least not ever the same.
• • •
“Jake?” Miriam’s voice broke across his concentration as he ate potato salad. Miriam was just finishing up feeding the picnic to her horde and Jake had taken the plate she had fixed for him to the dock. He sat, legs dangling in the water, sun drying his shorts and hair in the dusky light. “Have you seen Cassie or Heidi?”
Jake twisted his upper body around to squint into the blaring sunset behind the vehicles. “Not since dinner,” he said, now scanning the water’s edge for movement. The aspen groves lay in breezeless silence, and Jake stood, picking up his plate and stalking to the end of the dock. “Are the horses still tied to the fence?” he asked throwing his trash into a barrel at the ramps edge.
“No.” Miriam said with a frown. “Cassie told Chris that she was taking Jackpot into the lower meadow to graze, but I thought she would be back by now.”
Jake pulled his T-shirt over his head again and bent to put his shoes on. “Did she say if she was going to the meadow she and Heidi were in this afternoon? The wild horses come to the lower meadows in the evenings. Without their winter coats, they prefer the lower lands at night.”
Miriam shook her head, looking around. “I’ve got to get the kids loaded and back to The Rocking J before sunset, so Jana and I are leaving. Chris said he would stay if she and Heidi don’t get back in time, but I’m
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