“I see your point.”
He wiped his hands on his shorts and flashed her a grin. “Wanna come jogging with me on the beach? It’s the best time. Great breeze, beautiful water…”
She hesitated, just long enough to make him wonder if he had something green caught between his teeth. But then she smiled. “I was going to go in early, but…Just let me change. Although I warn you, I’m used to jogging on pavement, not sand. I don’t know how far I’ll get.”
“Not a problem. I’ll just leave you in my dust.”
She grinned. “We’ll see about that.” Then she whirled, scooped up her school things, trotted back to her house and disappeared inside.
Jack found he was still smiling. He glanced at Buster. “She’s pretty unaffected and charming, isn’t she.”
Buster lifted a muddy eyelid. “Mmmmhmmmmm.”
“I thought you’d agree. And don’t worry, I’ll rustle up some chickens from the general store and some fish offal from the docks after my run and I’ll drop them off for you up near the falls.”
Buster made a disappointed groan.
“Look, you know it’s against the rules to feed you in town. Although, I have to admit, after all this time, we ought to trust you more.”
Buster seemed to nod.
“And, I’d be awful surprised if no one has ever fed you in town.”
Buster winked, as if to say, I’ll never tell.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Well, I’ll see what I can do.”
Buster rumbled something and worked his way deeper into the mud.
Less than five minutes later, Lynn, clad in a jogging outfit, met Jack on the cracked pavement. They stretched a bit, then loped at an easy pace down toward the beach. “It’s easier if you run on the wet sand,” Jack told her. “The water has it pretty much packed.”
“Yes. The electrolytic effect of the water increases the charge interaction between the sand particles, forming a more stable soil matrix.”
“That means the water has the sand packed, right?” Jack asked, staring at her.
“Umm…yes. I guess I’ve spent more time in laboratories than I have at beaches.”
“Living here ought to remedy that.”
From his mud wallow, Buster watched them go, apparently content to let the stupid humans run around in the heat by themselves.
THEY RAN AWAY from the town, to avoid the fishing boats and piers, along a wide expanse of spun-sugar sand. Lynn felt her calves straining in a new way, even on the harder wet sand, but she hardly cared. She was still utterly enthralled by the Caribbean blue water, a color that defied description. She could have scientifically explained that incredible blue-green down to the last grain of sand on the ocean floor, the exact depth of the water and its refractory abilities, but for once the scientist in her just wanted to shut down and let her senses drink it all in.
Besides, however far she had gone at Princeton working with the quantum universe and the observer effect, the reaction of the observer remained unquantifiable. In short, there was no scientific way to explain her reaction to the sheer beauty around her.
And at the moment, she didn’t care.
She was breathing deeply and her calves were screaming when finally Jack slowed to a halt, the tiki-hut roofs of the casino in sight.
“Are you okay?” he asked. He was hardly out of breath.
“My legs are complaining about the sand.”
He flashed a charming grin. “Let’s walk back then.”
She glanced at her watch and saw that she still had plenty of time. “At least part of the way,” she agreed. “You’re a bad influence, you know.”
“That’s the first time I’ve been told that.” He cleared his throat, indicating he was joking, as they turned and started back.
“I’m sure,” she agreed dryly.
“What did I influence this morning?”
“Well, like I said before, I was going to school early. I wanted to prepare some projects to do with my students.”
He looked at her with an arched brow. “Not a volcano, I hope.”
“Why not?”
He pointed to Big Mouth, the towering volcanic cone that had birthed the island. “Because we live with the real thing.”
“And it’s going to erupt for the benefit of my class?”
“Gee whiz, I hope not.”
She had to laugh at his pretend look of horror. “No, not volcanoes,” she finally said. “Isn’t there a volcanologist on the island?”
“Yeah, Edna. I’ll introduce you, if you like. She could probably tell the kids whole bunches of fascinating stuff. Maybe even take them on a walk up to the lava tubes.”
She nodded, trying not to grimace as her legs tried to knot up on her. “I hope I can walk to school. Darn, that was a punishing run.”
“You’ll get used to it.”
She looked askance at him. “You’re awfully sympathetic, being a minister and all.”
He shrugged, a wicked twinkle in his eye. “Absolutely heartless, that’s me. Try walking backward instead.”
“Huh?”
“Trust me.”
Uggh. The last time she’d heard those words…. But she decided to let go of the memory and pivoted, glancing over her shoulder as she walked, feeling how the reversed motion stretched and soothed her calf muscles.
“Don’t look,” he said. “You’ll make your neck ache. Just trust your muscle memory to guide you.”
“You sound like Obi-Wan Kenobi from StarWars.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Nah. Just an old, broken down, church-league basketball coach.”
She wished she wasn’t imagining him out on a basketball court. She wished she wasn’t dragging her gaze away from an awesome pair of runner’s legs, close enough to touch, muscles rippling with a controlled power that made his stride seem utterly effortless. She’d thought he was attractive before, but somehow this morning, he’d passed attraction and hit the top of the scale at ten or so. Perfect ten. She almost giggled at herself.
“My class,” she said, in a tone meant to remind herself of important matters. Instead she came off sounding stern, as if corralling recalcitrant five-year-olds.
“Yes,” he agreed, looking suitably solemn. “Your class.”
She cleared her throat and made herself look away from him. The water was more beautiful, after all. Wasn’t it?
“One of the things I’ve been learning from my students is how little they know of anything off this island.”
“Is that bad?”
“Depends.” She still refused to look at him. “I don’t want to bring in the big, bad world, if that’s what you mean. It’s not my job anyway. Besides, they already gamble. How much harm could I do?”
He threw back his head and laughed. “Point taken,” he said finally, wiping a tear from his eye. “Sin and degradation, all the way down to kindergarten.”
She eyed him. “Why do I think you’re making fun of me?”
“It’s just the way you said it. There’s