He’d be darned. Anna Grace was playing right back.
“How old is she?” Louisa asked after a long silence.
“Five years older.”
He watched their silhouettes. Looked as if Anna was still wearing his sweatshirt.
Good.
“How many kids does she have?” Louisa asked.
“Three boys.” Anna reached for something. “Wanna see pictures?”
Louisa scooted closer to Anna.
He’d never seen pictures of her nephews.
The two girls put their heads together, and Jackson felt an unfamiliar, uncomfortable swelling beneath his breastbone.
Anna was good for Louisa.
“He’s really not into commitment.” Louisa said it so quiet, Jackson almost missed it.
It was true, but when he saw Anna’s shadow nod, and when he heard her answer, “That works for me,” the swelling in his chest broadened up toward his shoulders and sunk into his gut, making his stomach feel every bit of the marshmallows he’d eaten.
But twigs snapped and leaves swished near the trail down to the creek, so Jackson took a deep breath to make his lungs squeeze his innards back into their proper places. The campfire didn’t feel warm at all anymore.
“Girls go to bed?” Lance asked when he and Kaci appeared, hand in hand, happy and content and committed.
“Yep,” Jackson said.
“Sugar, we’ll watch the fire if you want to call it a night.”
He was calling it something, but the right word wasn’tnight.
It waslonely.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
He’d always thought fishing was for catching fish, but that was before a woman hooked his heart.
—The Temptress of Pecan Lane, by Mae Daniels
Saturday dawned with perfect fishing weather. A little overcast with a breeze rippling the surface of the water. Anna could still smell the breakfast campfire. She’d eaten so many pancakes, they were filling in the space between her ribs.
She’d been out of bed before Louisa, which had given her the opportunity to use Jackson for nose- and finger-warming.
Kaci would’ve been proud of her for asking for help.
Jackson certainly had been.
But now everyone was up and about, poles in hand, casting on the bank of the creek.
Jackson slid up next to her. “You want me to bait that hook for you, Anna Grace?”
She just looked at him.
He grinned. “No lizards, but worms are okay, huh?”
