Return to Summerhouse (The Summerhouse 2)

He stretched out on the blanket on the other side of the food and looked out at the lake.

“Is it true that all your family is gone?” she asked quietly as she stretched out across from him.

“My brothers are.” He picked up a sandwich half and glanced at her. “It was the oddest thing. After my dad died my three oldest brothers got job offers in Alaska.”

“In…?” she began, then grinned. “I see. That is indeed a coincidence. Imagine that. Three offers for three brothers.”

“It was extraordinary, wasn’t it?”

She picked up a sandwich. “Only three brothers? What about the rest of them?”

“They all decided to try their luck in Alaska, so they all went. I gave them my double-cab truck and off they drove.”

“But I guess they write often.”

“Every week. And they call Mom and me every Sunday evening.”

Faith laughed. “You’re terrible!”

He smiled at her in agreement as he reached for another sandwich.

Faith opened the plastic container of fruit salad. “So who cut this up? Your mother?”

Ty nodded. “I think you should spend some time with her. She’s a nice woman.”

For a moment her mouth hung open in shock. Was he inviting her to his home? In all her life she’d never been to his house. She’d seen his father and his brothers around town, but she, like everyone else, gave them a wide berth. “Okay,” she said at last. “I’d love to.”

Ty said nothing as he turned to look at the lake. But she knew he was pleased. “So tell me about that college you went to,” he said.

An hour later, they had eaten every bite of food and cleared it all away. They were lying on the blanket, their hands behind their heads, and looking up into the willow tree.

“How about a swim?” Ty asked.

“No suit,” Faith said, then before he could speak, she said, “and I don’t do skinny-dipping.”

Ty rolled to his feet and went to the car. He returned with a canvas bag and tossed it to her. “See if you can find anything in there.”

She unzipped the case to see four swimsuits in different sizes. One was a tiny bikini, but the other three were one-piece. One looked old and too big, but a red one was her size. “If I asked you where these came from, would you tell me?”

“What do you think?”

“I think I don’t want to know.” She picked up the red suit and went into a little grove of trees to put it on. When she emerged, she had the pleasure of seeing Ty’s face show what he thought of her in a swimsuit. In college she’d found out that her tomboy childhood had helped for the required sports courses. By her senior year, she’d earned a minor in physical education. All the exercise had toned her body and she knew she looked good.

Ty had on a pair of trunks and was waiting for her, but when he saw her in the swimsuit, his eyes widened. “Your legs,” he managed to choke out.

“What about them?” she asked innocently. She’d been told many times that she had the long, lean legs of a dancer. “Too fat?” she asked facetiously as she turned around. “Too thin? Too long?”

Ty recovered himself enough to shake his head at her. “I bet you gave those Yankees a hard time.”

“Actually, I did what I could to become one of them.”

“A lost cause if I ever heard one,” he said as he held out his hand to her, and they ran into the lake.

The water was just as cool and as calm as she remembered it from childhood. But even better, Ty was just as playful and fun. He swam underwater and chased her. She climbed on his shoulders and dove off. They had a major splashing match that Ty won easily. When they saw a motorboat approaching and it was a family with four young children, Ty stood on the bottom just so his head was under, while Faith climbed on his shoulders and stood there and waved to the wide-eyed, pointing children. Faith looked to be standing on top of the water.

“You nearly drowned me,” Ty said when the boat had passed and she let him up.

“You never could hold your breath for very long,” she said, splashing him as she swam out into the middle of the big lake. Ty was right behind her.