“But he’s special,” Bree said, her cheeks turning pink.
Jace smiled. “Why, thank you, ma’am. You’re pretty special yourself.”
Red put the basket in the back of Jace’s truck.
“I hope you don’t mind the trailer sittin’ over there.” Jace pointed in the direction of where he and Wyatt had parked it next to a few others.
“No, I don’t mind. Y’all have a good day out there on the water. Mind you, son, she’ll out-fish you.”
“That’s a given, sir, since I’ve never fly-fished before.”
“Oh, boy,” Red answered as he turned and walked back toward the lodge. “Take care of my girl,” he added right before he opened the big, wooden lodge door.
“He’s taken a fancy to you.” Jace walked over so he was close enough to cup the side of her face with his palm.
“I remind him of his daughter.” Bree leaned into his hand.
Jace doubted she realized she did it.
“That right?”
“Yes.” Bree grew somber. “She passed away a long time ago. She was my age.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. One of the guys told me he lost his wife last year, too.”
That was news to her. She’d spent just about every day of the last couple of weeks with Red, yet it seemed as though Jace knew as much, or more, about him than she did.
She sighed. She was about to take Jace fly fishing with her. And she was going to teach him how to do it. This could go south very easily. Although, as she had to remind herself over and over again, she was here mourning Zack. Anything she did to help facilitate the grief she needed to force herself to face was ultimately a good thing. Right?
“Where’d you go?” he asked.
“Thinking about Zack. I can’t help it. I don’t want to help it. I hope you understand.”
“I do understand, Bree. And if you’ve changed your mind about fishin’, or about me being here today, you won’t offend me.”
She wouldn’t? Maybe he wanted to leave. Maybe he didn’t want to be around a woman mourning her late husband. It had been evident he’d wanted to do more than hold her this morning, but she’d told him she couldn’t. Did he understand that it wasn’t because she didn’t want to, that she just wasn’t ready?
“It’s up to you, Jace. I know I’m not the best company. If you want to leave…”
His arm moved around her shoulders so he could bring her in close. “I didn’t say that, Bree. There isn’t any place I’d rather be than with you.”
“You’re a charmer, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not. I’m just a man who wants to spend some time with you. I’m not tryin’ to charm you, or seduce you, or anything else. Just time, Bree, that’s all I’m looking for.”
“So we’re friends. Just friends?”
“For now,” he winked at her.
Yeah, he wanted it to be more than that. Of course he did, but he was willing to wait. He had plenty of his own crap to sort through. She wasn’t alone in that. There, lingering in the back of his mind, was the thing that he never stopped thinking about—the situation with Tucker.
He’d fallen in love with, made love to, a woman he knew his brother was also in love with. And she’d been with Tucker first. There was something in his psyche that allowed him to do that. It was part of his character, and that wasn’t the kind of man he wanted to be.
While it seemed as though it was a lifetime ago, it wasn’t. It hadn’t been ten years since the accident took the life of the woman both he and his brother had loved. He couldn’t blame it on his youth. He wasn’t that much older now.
“My turn,” she said. “Where did you go?”
“Thinkin’ about Tuck. You see, Bree, I’ve got my own mourning to do. Even though it isn’t the same, I’ve lost my brother.”