I took my time walking home because I knew if I rushed, I would be in time to see Mother and Father before they went out. Luckily, I missed them. I really hoped Richard hadn’t been to see them. I was leaving tomorrow evening, but I wouldn’t put it past him to cause a great deal of trouble for Jacob and me.
I entered the house through the kitchen and stopped dead. JT was in the kitchen, stuffing his face with cookies and ice cream. “Have you eaten dinner?”
“Yes.” He carried on eating.
“You’re going to be sick.”
He gave me a chocolate-covered grin. “I have an iron stomach.”
“Ha, you wish.” I made myself a sandwich and sat down with him.
Once finished, I helped him eat the cookies, dipping them into a glass of milk.
I really wished JT were a bit older so I could confide in him. I hoped I didn’t live to regret not telling him.
Chapter 21
Mack stopped reading and closed the diary. She really wasn’t sure if she would be able to continue. There was only the last entry left to read, the one that changed everything.
“Mack, what’s wrong?” Dean asked as he sat up and massaged her shoulders.
She reached back to cover his hands with hers and leaned back into his chest. “I’m nervous to continue, knowing it ends with Rose’s death.” Mack wiped at a wayward tear with her fingers.
Dean wrapped his arm around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. “Don’t you want to know what happened on her last day?”
“Yeah,” Mack whispered.
“Do you want me to read it?” Dean offered.
She let out a sigh. “No. I’ll be okay. Let’s eat and then we’ll read about the fourteenth.”
“Okay, babe.” Dean reached for the picnic hamper. “Cheese or ham?”
“Ham, please.”
Mack took the sandwich from Dean and sat resting her chin on her drawn-up knees, looking further along the beach while she ate. There was another couple further down the beach who were playing Frisbee with two children as a dog ran circles around them. She could hear the children giggling from where she sat.
Mack turned back to look at the ocean. When her sandwich was finished, she turned and knelt between Dean’s legs as she looked up at him.
She grinned and moved closer. Dean’s eyes widened when she reached the bottom of his T-shirt. “I need distracting for a few minutes, and I want to have a closer look at the tattoo I keep catching glimpses of.”
He groaned. “Mack, I’m not sure this is a good idea.” He sucked in his breath when Mack’s hand slid inside his T-shirt and up to his chest. She climbed onto his lap and managed to pull the T-shirt over his head. Dean didn’t protest too much.
“Mmm, you look . . . damn good.” Mack licked her lips. Dean’s breathing had become more erratic.
Mack kissed him on the lips before she moved down to his chest and smoothed her hands over his biceps. She crawled out of Dean’s lap and around to the back of him. Now it was her turn to suck her breath in.
On his back, from one shoulder to the other, spread an eagle. It was magnificent, like nothing she’d ever seen before. Mack reached out and started to trace the wings with her fingers. Dean broke out in goose bumps as she moved closer and started kissing her way across the wingspan.
“Mack,” Dean hissed, “unless you want to put on a display for that family down the beach, I suggest you stop.”
Mack smirked. She knew exactly what she did to him. “Spoil sport.” She crawled back to the front of him and couldn’t help but notice the bulge in his lap. “Your eagle is amazing.”
He smiled. “I drew up the design and the tattoo artist did an excellent job of transferring it to my skin.”
“That he did and the design is amazing,” Mack agreed as she straddled Dean’s hips. “You are really talented.”
She sealed her lips to his in a heated kiss, which ended all too quickly for Dean’s liking.