Stef Ann Holm, Lucy Back [paper ebook reader .TXT] 📗

map of goose bumps on his arms and chest. He’d jumped into the reservoir to swim with Devil Dog, but the water temperature was still below sixty degrees.

“Matthew, come get your towel,” Lucy said, standing and holding it out for him. She wrapped his narrow shoulders in the soft terry and gave his upper arms a vigorous rub.

“That’s good, Mom,” he moaned, ducking away from her and reaching into an open bag of potato chips sitting on an empty deck chair. “Hey, Coach,” he said, crunching, “this is a killer boat. Can you take me for a ride in it?”

Jason and the other boys showed up, less to look at Drew’s boat and more to check out Mackenzie.

“Yeah,” Nutter exclaimed. “Can we, Coach? You took us out last year and we haven’t been on it yet this year.” He said to Jason, with a gap-toothed grin, “Dude, he goes so fast, it’s like we’re freakin’ hydroplaning and going to flip over.”

“Drew Tolman,” Sue said sternly, “you had better not be going that fast with these boys onboard.”

“Can we, Coach?” Matt pressed.

Jason’s eyes were on Mackenzie, something Lucy didn’t fail to miss. Her son had never had a girlfriend, but he was at that age where he did like girls. He’d gotten the job at Woolly Burgers, and the few times Lucy had gone in to talk to him a moment, the teen girl who had waited on them that night was hovering around. Lucy had told Jason the facts of life, but she supposed it was time for a refresher. Times like these, she wished Gary were around so he could do the honors. But he was about as reliable as a Yugo.

“I’m Jason,” Jason said to Mackenzie, shifting his weight to expand his chest a bit more. He wore navy trunks, no shirt, his pale chest void of hair. But his voice had dropped some time ago. He could use a haircut and a little more grace in the way he walked. He was gangly, all leg and limb. Lucy figured he’d probably top out at about six feet like his dad.

“Hi. I’m Mackenzie.” The way she said “Hi” sounded like buttered rum and flowed just as warm through the air. There was definitely something appealing about a Southern accent, and Mackenzie wore hers with apple pie sweetness.

“Okay, get on.” Drew motioned to Lloyd to loosen the anchor ropes from the cleats. “I’ll take you for a trip to the dam. We can see what the water level’s at.”

“For real? Bang-o-rang!” Matt exclaimed.

The boys filed onto the boat, the white leather upholstery like a blanket of ivory. There ended up being five boys and Mackenzie. Drew took the helm, then to Lucy’s surprise, glanced at her. “You want to come, too?”

She hadn’t given it any thought until this moment, and her first reaction was to say no.

But Lucy had been bucking convention these days in ways she hadn’t anticipated. And someone had to make sure Drew kept the boat at a decent speed. After all, her babies were onboard.

“You go, Lucy.” Sue nudged her forward. “Keep him in line.”

Lucy wrapped a lime-green scarf around her long hair to pull it into a ponytail. “All right, Drew. Someone has to keep an eye on you.”

As she took his hand to climb on, he said beneath his breath, “Sugar, you can look at me all you want.”

Drew moored the boat on one of the floating docks by Overlook Dam so the kids could take dives and run around.

There used to be an entire town underneath them. Back in 1898, they’d found silver along the old creek’s banks. Big Eddy Murdock had struck it rich, but eight years later, the ore had been mined out, and the town had been fully deserted by the early twenties. Floods wiped out what was left, leaving outbuildings ruined by silt-laden waters. Murdock, Idaho, was abandoned until 1973, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided to construct a $327-million dam for flood control purposes.

Drew had told Mackenzie about the dam’s history as they’d launched at Big Eddy’s Marina. Backing the Hummer to the water’s edge, the boat trailer’s tires rolling underwater, he’d unhooked the cable, and on impulse, told Mackenzie to get behind the wheel and pull forward.

Seeing his slight daughter gunning the big engine of the four-wheel drive SUV had made him smile. But at the same time, made him sad. He’d missed being there for her driver’s training classes, the day at the DMV when she got her license…and a boatload of other milestones in her life.

When she’d talked about Bobby Wilder being her daddy, there was nothing Drew could do but listen and curse himself for the jerk he’d been. The only saving grace was the fact that maybe, in time, he could make things up to her.

They had the whole summer, and he was going to do his damn best to get things right, to take his time, to listen to her, to be there for her if she needed him.

Sharing his world was top on his list, which was why he’d wanted to bring her to Overlook today. This was where his friends gathered, where good times were always had. He had a feeling she’d like it, and so far, she’d been laughing and smiling. A lot.

He noticed she took an interest in Jason Carpenter. At this point, Drew wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Mackenzie might’ve had a boyfriend before. She was seventeen, beautiful, an easy personality to be around. Then again, maybe Caroline had frowned on that sort of thing. Caroline had been fairly strict, yet loving.

Hell. Drew didn’t know diddly about Mackenzie’s love life. Didn’t want to. He’d have to give Lynette a call. There were certain things he’d always asked about—if Mackenzie were doing well in school; if she’d been sick; if she needed any extra money or wanted to buy a special something. But his daughter’s dating habits had never been one of