"We ran into Candace and her friends, and he wanted to stay with them. I think he likes Candace, and she doesn"t like me."
Morgan stood and shoved Austin over again. "So the race is off?"
"I didn"t say that." Austin scrambled to his feet. "But since I have to wash two cars, I think it"s only fair that I get an extra apple if I win."
"No deal, son. If you win, we"ll let you clean our shoes."
"Wow, muddy shoes over an apple, I"d be a fool not to take that offer," Austin said drolly. "Okay, how about a barbecue plate and a funnel cake, no apple?"
"I"ve got dibs on the potato salad. I know you won"t eat it anyway. Ow," Jaclyn squeaked when Morgan hit her with the corn. "All right, I"ll share with you."
"Well, I"m good with the new terms then," Morgan said.
"Deal." Austin turned and took off running.
Jaclyn reached out and touched Morgan"s shoulder. "Are you hurt?"
"No, the plants really did break my fall. My a.s.s is wet, though."
"You"re very good-natured."
"He"s a lot of fun, and I really do believe he tripped."
Jaclyn laughed. "I"m sure he did, but you"d think someone with feet that big would manage to stay upright more often. I was the same way at his age, tripping constantly and dropping nearly everything I put my hands on."
"I"m having a hard time believing that. You seem pretty graceful."
"Well, you haven"t been around that long. I"m sure I"ll do something to challenge that opinion." Morgan and Jaclyn were moving at a pretty brisk pace, the sounds of the parking area were growing louder. Jaclyn caught Morgan"s arm again. "Listen, that"s Annie arguing with her kids about sodas, they"re at the concession stand." She moved in front of Morgan and started walking faster.
Something that sounded like a horse was coming up behind them fast when they made another turn. "Run, Jaclyn!"
Jaclyn took off in a sprint with Morgan on her heels. They rounded one corner, and the lights of the stand came into view. Jaclyn poured it on, and Morgan pumped her legs hard to keep up with the stride. Jaclyn demonstrated her lack of grace and tripped, Morgan slammed into her before she could regain control, and they rolled out of the maze.
"Aw, man," Austin said breathlessly as he came out behind them.
"We"re all right," Jaclyn said with a laugh to the onlookers. "We just beat a fourteen-year-old through the maze."
She and Morgan laughed at the applause.
Their picture was snapped by one of the maze photographers as Morgan said, "Way to go, Grace."
Chapter Sixteen.
"Y"all are like so embarra.s.sing. Mom, you have straw sticking out of your hair and shirt, and, Morgan, you"re just muddy."
"My hands are clean." Morgan snagged a piece of funnel cake. "And your mom"s car is gonna be clean tomorrow, too."
"Your Jeep is what"s going to need to be cleaned. He"s right," Jaclyn said, looking at Morgan, "we"re a mess."
Morgan grinned as she picked a piece of straw from Jaclyn"s hair. "The mess is worth the fun. I"ve had a blast, and we have a picture to prove it." The five-by-seven on the table showed Morgan and Jaclyn laughing as they lay tangled together and Austin behind them grimacing in defeat.
"You have mud on your cheek," Jaclyn said as she wiped Morgan"s face with her finger.
"Y"all look like two monkeys grooming each other." Austin grinned for a moment, then his eyes narrowed as he looked past Morgan and his mother. Dylan and Candace emerged from the maze holding hands. "Aw, man, Dylan and cranky Candace are together now, and I can"t stand her."
Jaclyn looked over her shoulder, then back at Austin. "You and Candace were friends, what happened?"
Austin shrugged and made a face. "She got all weird. She told me she"s gonna get her braces off next week, and I told her she might be cute then, especially if she didn"t get big like her mom. She got all mad and started yelling at me, and all I did was pay her a compliment."
Morgan"s eyes flew open wide. "You insulted her and her mom all in one sentence." Austin looked like he didn"t get it. "Okay, what if I told you that you"d be cute if you didn"t look like your mother?"
Austin looked offended. "My momma is pretty, everybody says so."
"She is very pretty, but listen to what I"m saying."
Jaclyn felt her face warm at the compliment and stayed quiet as Morgan tried to get Austin to see the point. "The words if and might should never be in a sentence when you"re complimenting someone. Had you said, "Candace, you"re cute, but you"re going to be cuter when you get the braces off," that would"ve probably gone over better."
Austin made a face. "I don"t think Candace is cute, but she might look a little better when her braces come off. I should"ve told her that, right?"
Morgan looked to Jaclyn for help.
"Son, do you remember what I told you the other day about thinking before you speak?"
Austin sighed. "Girls are hard."
Jaclyn smiled. "Just keep it simple, like, "you look nice today" or "your hair is really pretty." And if that"s not the truth, then don"t say it."
"You looked very pretty today, before you rolled in the hay behind the concession stand," Austin said. "How was that?"
Jaclyn winced. "Better, but keep working on it."
"See ya tomorrow, Morgan," Austin called out as he headed toward the door. Jaclyn smiled at Morgan as she climbed out of the Jeep. "I had a great time, and I"m glad you came with us, but I"m so sorry about the mud we got all over everything. Bring it by tomorrow, and Austin and I both will clean it up."
"It"s a Jeep, what good is it if I can"t get it muddy?"
"The mud is supposed to be on the outside, not all over the seats and carpet." Jaclyn tugged at her soiled shirt. "I think I made the biggest mess. I can feel mud on the back of my neck."
"You"re still pretty," Morgan said as she shifted the Jeep into reverse. "Good night."
"Good night, I had a great time," Jaclyn said as she closed the door. Morgan waited for her to walk up on the porch and open the back door before she pulled away. Jaclyn sighed as she watched Morgan drive away. For a moment in the maze, it seemed they were crossing the boundary of friendship into something more intimate. She didn"t want to read too much into Morgan"s compliments, though they affected the defenses she held loosely, too.
Morgan stretched out in her bed after a shower. Celeste would think she"d lost her mind when she told her she spent a Sat.u.r.day evening running through a cornfield and even more so when she admitted that she enjoyed it. But then it was the company she spent the evening with that made it so enjoyable. She chuckled when she thought about Austin"s so-called compliment to Candace.
The smile remained on Morgan"s face as she thought about Jaclyn. She was easy to talk to, fun to be around, attractive. Morgan felt a tiny tug in the pit of her stomach as she heard Jaclyn"s laugh in her head. She caught herself as her mind started to ponder what it would be like to just let go and see what developed between them. A part of her truly wanted to throw caution to the wind, but the other more practical side was the one she allowed to speak the loudest. This wasn"t home regardless of how comfortable it had become, and she would have to leave it all behind one day.
Chapter Seventeen.
"Why do you keep clearing your throat?" Jaclyn asked Austin the next morning as she cooked breakfast.
"It"s burning and scratchy."
Jaclyn looked away from the eggs she was cooking and watched as Austin took a sip of juice and winced. He looked pale, and his eyes were watery. She took the skillet from the heat and put a hand to his head. "Oh, buddy, you"re hot. Let me go get the thermometer."
Austin was sitting at the table with his chin in his hand when Jaclyn returned. "I can"t be sick, Mom, we have to work on Thor."
She held the thermometer up. "Open." Austin shook his head like he did when he was small. "Son, we both know I"m not going to shove this up your b.u.t.t. Keep clamping those lips, though, and I"ll find another place to stick it."
"If that thing shows I have fever, I"ll be on lockdown. I really want to work on Thor."
"You have time, open." Jaclyn stuck the thermometer beneath Austin"s tongue when he reluctantly complied. "Sit here for a minute and I"ll fix your plate." When she returned to the table and looked at the thermometer, she frowned. "You"re going to have to lay low today."
"Man." Austin sounded miserable as he wiped his eyes. "Of all the times to get sick. Maybe I caught something from the mud."
"Cornitis is very serious. I"ll need to check your armpits for kernels. I hope it isn"t the more virulent popcornitis, but if it is, I"ll be sure to have plenty of melted b.u.t.ter on hand."
Austin gazed up at her bleary-eyed. "That"s not funny."
In addition to the loss of humor, Austin also had little appet.i.te, a sign that he felt worse than he was willing to admit. Jaclyn watched as he pushed his plate aside and curled up on the couch beneath a blanket.
"I"m going to check on Chet, and I"ll let Morgan know that you"re taking the day off."
"Tell her I"ll be good to go tomorrow after school," Austin said droopily.
"Sure." But Jaclyn doubted he would be doing anything the next day aside from visiting the doctor.
Chet had everything under control when she walked in. Skip and the boys were having coffee, and the early morning fishermen rush was over. "Bailey left everything tidy last night. Did good sales, too. She"s coming in at noon. I talked to her a little while ago," Chet said.
"I really appreciate your help today. Austin"s sick with what I suspect is his usual seasonal sinus infection."
"You give him a shot of bourbon with honey and lemon juice tonight before he goes to bed, and he"ll be right as rain," Chet said with a nod.
"He"s a little young for hot toddies." Jaclyn looked out the window and noticed Morgan already out on her deck. "I"m going to walk down and talk to Morgan. If you need me, holler."
"Yeah, better check on her," Skip piped up. "I heard you two were rolling around in the maze last night, cher. I"m working on that wedding dress, but you gonna have to wait till crawfish season to wear it. They too little to make a sash with."
Jaclyn grinned. "You hush, Skip."
Morgan was installing brackets on the front of the not-boat when Jaclyn walked onto the deck. "We"re going to be having chicken soup instead of roast today, Austin"s sick."
Morgan looked surprised. "Aw, you"re kidding. What"s he got?"
"Probably a sinus infection, he"s p.r.o.ne to those this time of year. I can"t seem to get him to take his allergy medicine regularly. I guess I"m going to have to stuff the pill down his throat each morning before he walks out the door." Jaclyn looked at the brackets. "What are these for?"
"This is what we"ll attach the posts and wire to for the papier-mache. Hopefully, it"ll look like a Viking ship when we"re done."
"Would you rather me run the soup down to you later? It"s probably best that you"re not around Austin while he"s running a fever just in case it isn"t what I think it is."
"No, no," Morgan said, sounding preoccupied. "You take care of him. I have plenty to eat here. Is there anything you need me to pick up-sinus medicine or juice?"
"No, I have everything he needs, but thanks." Morgan continued to work and didn"t seem very interested in conversation. "Well, I"ll get back to the house now and tend my patient."
"Okay, tell him I hope he feels better." Morgan looked up after Jaclyn walked away, feeling like a total jerk. She"d awoken that morning with Jaclyn strongly on her mind and desires she didn"t want to face. The lame plan to distance herself from Jaclyn, she realized, wouldn"t work because she didn"t have the resolve to execute it. She watched Jaclyn walk down the street it was too late for that approach because all she really wanted to do was chase her. Morgan pulled her cell phone from her pocket and called the voice of reason.
"I know you"re not ringing my phone at nine o"clock on a Sunday morning," Celeste said sleepily.
Morgan looked at her watch. "Sorry, I guess I didn"t think about you sleeping in today. I need advice. You wanna call me back when you get up?"
"No, wait a minute. Keesha, you love me?"
Morgan heard Celeste"s partner groan and say "no."
"Get up and make me coffee, baby. I need to give Morgan advice."
"She called the wrong d.a.m.n number," Keesha grumbled and made Morgan laugh.
"You are the best girlfriend in the whole world," Celeste cooed, and Morgan a.s.sumed Keesha had gotten up.
"I"m sorry that I woke you both."
"Liar," Celeste said. "You"re just jealous because you never knew how to sleep late. Now what"s up?"
"There"s this woman-"
"Aw, d.a.m.n! You"ve only been there a week, fool."
"I know," Morgan said with sigh as she sank down and dropped her screwdriver. "I went to sleep last night thinking that the reason I"m attracted to her is because she and her son are the only thing that makes being here tolerable."
"She straight?"