The Weekday Brides 04 - Single by Saturday (23 page)

“Good book?” Rena’s voice woke her, causing the book to slide off her lap.

“Not really.”

Rena dropped to the ground and leaned against her elbows to stare out at the lake. “How are you liking it here?”

“A lot more than I thought I would.”

“It’s a great place to recharge.”

Karen could tell by how Rena fiddled with the grass at her side that something was on her mind.

“Do you think you’ll be back?”

Karen hesitated, knowing full well she wouldn’t return. Unless the Gardners were up to inviting Michael’s ex-wife along for their family vacations.

“Uhm, yeah.”

Rena didn’t look at her, just nodded slowly. “You love him, don’t you?”

She was being led, and set up if she wasn’t completely clueless, but didn’t have an earthly idea how to get away from this conversation. “Of course.” She did love Michael, for the friend he’d been since they met.

“But you’re not
in love
with him.”

Karen opened her mouth to deny her words, but Rena stopped her.

“No. Please don’t reply to that.”

Karen swallowed her words and waited.

“One summer when Mike was sixteen we sat close to where you and I are right now. He was miserable. He’d tried to explain to our parents his desire to jump into the plays at school…how he didn’t mind working with his hands but didn’t see it as something he wanted to do to earn a living. Our dad didn’t get it. He sat right here and told me everything in his life was confusing and that none of us understood.”

“Sixteen is a hard age,” Karen added.

Rena nodded. “Coming of age is a lot easier if you’re not struggling with your sexuality.”

Karen froze. Through tight lips she asked, “Don’t all teens struggle with their sexuality?”

Rena caught her eyes. “Some more than others.”

Oh, Michael
…
your sister knows.

“You know what I think?” Rena asked.

Here it comes.
She waited for the bomb to drop and couldn’t do anything other than watch.

“What’s that?”

“The reason you both haven’t come sooner is because Michael didn’t want any of us to get to know you. I also think the reason
you and Michael aren’t talking about having kids…and you hesitate about discussing your return to Hilton, is because the two of you are planning to divorce.”

Karen opened her mouth.

Rena shook her head.

“I’d even lay money on the table to say the two of you could appeal for an annulment even after a year of marriage.”

“You have an interesting imagination,” was all Karen could come up with.

“Yet you’re not denying anything.”

How could she? Flat-out lying to Michael’s sister would make her look stupid when they filed for a divorce. “What do you want me to say, Rena? My loyalty to your brother is stronger than most family bonds.”

“I can see that. My guess is you’d even sacrifice yourself…for a while anyway, to help him.”

She hesitated…then said, “Your brother deserves his family’s love and respect.”

Karen glanced toward the cabin, the lake…anywhere but Rena’s eyes.

Rena offered another slow nod. She gazed over the lake again. “You’re going to tell Mike about this conversation, aren’t you?”

“Are you ready for any conversation the two of you might have as a result?” Karen asked.

“I miss my younger brother. We’ll all miss him. I can’t speak for everyone, but for me, I’ll take the real Mike Gardner any day over Michael Wolfe.”

“He needs to protect Michael Wolfe.” Karen hoped the message behind her words was clear.

“I’ve protected him my whole life,” Rena said. “I won’t stop now.”

Karen pushed to her feet before Rena achieved any more revelations. “It’s a cool enough day for a jog.”

Rena glanced around with a frown. “You should take Judy with you.”

Karen patted her back pocket. “I have my phone.” She didn’t even bother going back to the cabin to change clothes before taking off into a run.

There wasn’t a real trail around the lake, but Karen kept close to it anyway. She needed some alone time, but didn’t need to get lost.

In a way, she hoped she could be gone long enough for Michael to return, and maybe Rena could talk to him herself. Who else knew about him? Not Judy…or Hannah. They were clueless.

Zach had kept his distance over the past few days, but she always felt his eyes on her, across the campfire, or as she helped Janice and Rena with their meals. His eyes often lingered on his brother, too.

Karen jogged until she couldn’t see the cabin any longer then slowed her pace to a brisk walk. She checked her phone, noticed a lack of service, and shoved it back in her pocket. Calling Gwen for some sisterly advice wasn’t an option. She’d have to figure this one out herself. Part of her wanted to warn Michael before he returned to the cabin, but the other part wanted him to enjoy his alone time. Then at least he could go into any pending confrontation sated and ready for battle.

Maybe he’d always worried that spending time with his family would reveal his secret.

A long stretch of an even path appeared before her so she took off into a run. She cut through the trees that sat along the bank, and back down to the lake several more times before she realized how far she’d run. She removed her phone from her pocket and attempted to find a signal. Nothing. It was still midday, but she didn’t know exactly how far or how many miles it would take to get around the lake to come back alongside the road so she turned around. She walked for another mile or so before resting on the water’s edge.

After a good thirty minutes of sitting there contemplating life, she heard the buzz of a motorcycle moving toward her.

Sure enough, Zach made his way to her with a frown on his face. He skidded to a halt and killed the engine. “I’ve been searching for you for an hour.” His accusatory tone brought the hair up on the back of her neck.

“I’m right here.”

He glanced around, flung his arms wide. “You don’t even know where
here
is.”

“I’m not lost, Zach. I was on my way back.”

“You shouldn’t run off alone. There are hunters out here, trails that lead to nowhere.”

“I might be a city girl, but even I know not to wander off in the woods alone.”

He lowered the kickstand and climbed off the bike. She noticed his lack of helmet and wondered how fast he had left the cabin.

“What if you got hurt, twisted an ankle or something?”

“I have my phone.”

He glared at her. “A phone that doesn’t work most of the time.”

He had her there.

“Dammit, Zach. I needed some time alone, OK?”

Her outburst stopped his. His arms fell from his hips.

She turned to the water, and tossed the rock she had in her hand at a nearby bush. As soon as the rock hit, the bush rustled and started to move. Before Karen could move away, more ducks than she could count took flight and aimed directly at her.

She screamed and scurried from her rock, slipped on the bank, and found herself knee-deep in muck before scrambling up and out of the water. Her cry didn’t stop as she covered her head and lunged toward Zach.

Birds…all of them, scared the crap out of her. Always had.

Zach caught and held her still. “Hey. It’s OK.”

She heard another flap, but refused to open her eyes. “Get ’em off.”

“They’re gone.”

She stood perfectly still, eyes closed and ears opened. She had one hand protecting her head, and the other one latched to Zach’s waist. His arms sucked her into him.

Once the noise of the birds flying away drifted, she opened one eye, fully expecting at least one bird to have held back to make her panic all over again.

Only the two of them stood there. “Gone?”

“Yeah.” Zach started to chuckle.

“It’s not funny.”

“I’ve never seen a woman move so fast in my life.”

She shoved out of his arms and looked down at herself. Her knees were covered in mud, the side of her leg caked with the stuff. “I don’t like birds.”

“I gathered that.” He still laughed. “Ducks haven’t been known to attack humans, though. I think you’re safe.”

“Stop laughing.”

He sucked in his bottom lip but his eyes still mocked her.

“Birds are unpredictable,” she made her argument. “They have claws and beaks.”

Zach’s eyes swept her wet frame. He laughed again.

“Oh…you…” she reached down, took a handful of muck and tossed it directly at his chest.

He stopped laughing. “Oh, you didn’t just do that.”

She lobbed another handful of mud at him before she slapped a hand on her hip. “Stop laughing.”

He swiped the mud from his chest, and leaned over to grab a handful for himself. When he rose to his full height, his playful smile met hers. “I think you missed a spot.”

The mud hit her chest and it was game on.

Her position close to the bank gave her the most ammo. She took two handfuls to his one and had him dripping in mud in a few throws. He started to duck away from her assault.

She slipped on the bank, grabbed handfuls of mud, and flung it in his direction several times. When it became apparent she was going to be over her head in the water, she retreated from the water’s edge.

He chased her around the bike, and missed a shot that was aimed for her butt. She was leaning down to grasp more dirt when he grabbed her from around her waist and took them both to the forest floor.

She was laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe, the birds forgotten.

Zach rolled her onto her back and covered her body with his. Karen took one last shot and smeared mud on his face with a free hand. They were laughing and Karen was moving her head from side to side to avoid him smearing mud on her face, too.

He grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head, then leaned down to rub the dirt from his cheek against the side of hers.

“Eweh!”

They were both laughing, chests heaving, before either one of them realized where they were.

The deep blue pools of his eyes watched hers as everything around them calmed except the pounding of their hearts.

Her head told her to move, push him away. She saw the indecision in his eyes as well.

The forest closed in and the chemistry they’d been denying since they met zeroed in on this very moment. Zach’s heated gaze lingered over hers.

“Make me stop,” Zach whispered over her lips.

The brisk staccato of his breath raced against hers.

His lips were so close and the need to feel them too strong to deny. “I-I can’t.”

His eyes searched hers. “I can’t either.”

Zach’s warm breath was nothing compared to his lips. Soft, sensual, and searching. His kiss was so caring and careful she closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel. It had been so long since she’d lost herself in something so basic she’d forgotten how wonderful it was to just be kissed. She moaned and kissed him back, opened her lips against his to play and deepen the feeling they both had wanted for so long.

Zach released the hold on her arms and they fell behind his back to hold him close while his tongue slid beside hers for a solid taste. He was testosterone, and pine…strength and desire all rolled up in one.

His body pressed her into the soft earth and her leg wound around his to bring him closer. She broke contact briefly, then rushed back in for more. The taut muscles of his back narrowed to his waist and tight ass. When was the last time she felt anything so perfect?

They went on like this until breathing became a serious effort and a warm fire pooled just south of her stomach. Zach’s thumb pushed against her breast, and her nipple hardened.

Reason started to leak back in. If Zach was anyone other than Michael’s brother, she’d welcome everything. His kisses, his caress, the erection she felt even now as it pressed through his clothing and against her leg.

She couldn’t do this. Maybe in six months, when she and Michael were divorced…but now? The deceit to Zach, the disloyalty to Michael…

Karen forced her emotions back in and ended their kiss.

Zach watched her under a hooded gaze.

“We can’t…”

He closed his eyes, rested his forehead against hers. “I know.”

She swallowed and tried to catch her breath.

“I should run from you as fast as my feet can take me away,” he confessed.

Remorse laced his words. She wanted to tell him he wasn’t an awful brother and she wasn’t a cheating wife, but that could only lead to an explanation that would ruin Michael.

“Don’t hate yourself Zach.”

“How can’t I? I think about you. Dream about you.” He opened his eyes and found hers again.

“Maybe after this kiss, that will all fade.”

He smiled through the pain. “I’d like to believe that.”

The thought left her cold. She’d dream of nothing but him.

“We should go. Before someone else comes looking for us.”

He nodded, looked as if he were going to kiss her again, but then pulled away and helped her to her feet.

When he turned around, she noticed the muddy handprint on his ass and cringed. She looked down at herself and noticed his print on the side of her waist and breast.

“Zach?”

He turned around and she pointed to her clothing. “Oh, that’s not good.”

“You have a little…” She pointed to his butt. He noticed the damage and smeared a patch of fresh dirt to cover her prints. Karen followed his lead and did the same to herself. After the two of them were satisfied with the hiding of evidence, Karen slid behind him on the motorcycle and he drove her back to the cabin.

Chapter Eighteen