Jackson cared about that answer more than he should’ve. That chuckling in his head and pounding in his chest got louder too.
“I’m with the school crowd.”
“Oh, good. An education is so important for a single woman these days. What are you studying?”
“Chemical engineering at James Robert.”
The other girl’s eyes went big as Jackson guessed his own were. He’d known she had some brains, but didn’t know she had that many. “Oh, wow. Wouldn’t it have been easier to take the alimony?”
Just when things were getting interesting, Anna stood up about fourteen feet tall and glared down her nose like she’d been born and bred a Southern lady herself. “A friend of mine at school mentioned she got one of the scholarships the officers’ wives club sponsored this year. She was really grateful. You’ll have to let me know when the next fundraiser is. If ex-wives can contribute, that is.”
Jackson didn’t know how the girl had missed that duck-and-cover sign. It should’ve thwacked her upside the head a second time, it swung down so hard, but the girl kept on talking. Good time to get those burgers and hot dogs. “’Scuse me, ladies. Anna, Kaci’s wanting the rest of them burgers and those hot dogs for the kids.”
Anna looked at him, then looked again, and her cheeks went all dark. Her jaw hung like a door with broken hinges, and her eyes darted this way and that as if avoiding him meant he wouldn’t be there.
But he kept on walking into the kitchen as if he didn’t notice. Partly because his momma had taught him better than to embarrass a lady, but more because he was glad she recognized him.
He’d never been good with being forgettable.
The back door opened, and the base commander’s wife walked in behind him. Lance had pointed out the higher-ups, and Jackson was glad he had. Lance had also told him Kaci and the commander’s missus were tight over their officers’ ex-wives club thing, the commander being his missus’s second husband, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to know Kaci was up to something.
Even if it did take a rocket scientist, he had that covered too.
“Wendy, there you are,” Sarah Sheridan said. “Do you have a minute? Rosa and I need a little help on a thrift store problem.”
“Absolutely, Mrs. Sheridan,” Wendy chirped. She gave Anna a bright, “See you around!” then smiled at Jackson on her way past.
Before the door shut behind them, Anna had herself buried in the fridge. When she finally pulled her head back out, her cheeks were pale again, and she almost made eye contact. She handed over a platter of hamburgers, then dove back into the fridge.
Good thing Mamie and Miss Flo weren’t here to see this. Might hurt his reputation.
Or get Anna in trouble for insulting their sugarplum.
She came back up with a bowl of hot dogs and some of that spine she’d shown Wendy the Windy. “That’s the last of it,” she said, and she even looked him straight on.
“Much obliged, ma’am.”
She must’ve gotten her fill of his pretty face, because she looked away right quick. Her gaze fell on the window, and her face went screwy.
Mrs. Sheridan and Wendy were on the other side.
“You handled her right good for a Yankee,” he said.
That earned him a hint of a smile, which earned him another big old wallop right about where his heart sat.
And because he wasn’t a fool about knowing what wanting to see a bigger smile out of her might mean, he took himself and the meat outside.
Anna could’ve used about halfa lifetime to recover from the triple-whammy of signing her divorce papers yesterday, Wendy’s inquisition about her failures tonight, and the exterminator’s appearance in the middle of it, but the cookout had just started. Before she could straighten the ceramic utensil crocks on the counter, Lance brought in the first batch of burgers. Behind him, a crowd filtered inside looking for food and cooler temperatures.
When all the extra bodies made the house feel hotter than boiling oil, Anna ducked outside in search of a dark, quiet corner. The sun hadn’t set, and too many people were still playing in the pool for her to succeed in either goal. Instead, she settled for a semi-hidden spot near a fan where she could arrange the bin of pool toys by size and color. If she’d known how many CGOA people would be here tonight, she would’ve bailed. Which was probably why Kaci hadn’t mentioned it. She wondered if the CGOA was the exterminator’s crowd.
Jackson, she reminded herself.
And there he was again, squatting next to the pool in his board shorts and faded Alabama T-shirt, showing a kid how to hold a Nerf football. He didn’t seem to mind the occasional splash the kid caused. He glanced up and met her eyes and gave her a friendly smile. She quickly looked away, realizing she’d dropped a pair of water balls where thepool noodles would’ve fit better. But a minute later she found herself focusing on him again.
He was still watching her.
“Good gravy, you haven’t changed into your swimsuit yet.”
