“Maybe. I’ve always wanted you to kiss my feet,” she said, daring him to do as she asked.
Jake knelt down in front of her and pressed his lips to her ankle. It didn’t take long for Caley to realize that he was turning her little game into a full-out seduction. He kissed each toe, then ran his tongue along her instep.
When he began to suck on her toes, Caley closed her eyes and leaned back. No man had ever done this for her. She hadn’t realized that the foot was an erogenous zone. “Oh,” she said.
“Do you like that?” he asked.
“Yes,” she murmured.
“Does it feel better?”
Caley nodded. “Much.”
Jake stood and ran his thumb along her lower lip. He bent close and kissed her. “Is there anything else that hurts?”
“Are you trying to seduce me?” she asked.
“Maybe. Do you want to be seduced?”
“Yes,” Caley said with a smile. “See, isn’t that easy? Just think of what might have happened if you’d said yes the first time I asked.”
“I was tempted,” he said, pulling her hand up to kiss her palm. “So tempted. You looked so beautiful that night. You were wearing that little lace blouse with blue flowers on the collar.”
“You remember that?”
“I remember everything about that night. For the next five years, I’d sit on that spot on the beach and wonder if I’d ever get a chance again.”
“I guess you did,” Caley said.
“I just assumed you’d always be around. When you didn’t come back that next summer, I thought I’d messed up bad. Now that I have you again, it’s going to be hard to let you go.”
It was as close to a profession of love as Jake had ever come and the sentiment made her heart ache. When she was young, she used to read all sorts of meanings into the words he spoke to her. But his meaning was clear now. The only problem was, Caley wasn’t sure what she could do about it.
“I’ve got a sleeping bag in the back of my truck. We could put it in front of the fireplace. It’s almost as good as a bed.”
“I’ll meet you there,” Caley said. As he walked out of the room, she drew a deep breath. “I’m not going to be able to let you go, either,” she murmured.
JAKE STOOD IN THE DOORWAY of the great room, his hands braced on the doorjamb. Caley sat in front of a crackling fire, her naked body wrapped in the sleeping bag. They’d made love twice in front of the fire, first with a frantic passion and then later slowly and playfully, the two of them teasing each other to completion.
The day was entirely theirs now that the wedding had been put on hold. Jake had felt so bad about her toe that he’d gone upstairs to retrieve the photo album and a few packets of letters from the trunk.
Though they’d enjoyed the sexual chemistry between them, the connection that afternoon had been more emotional than physical. Every time he looked at her, Jake realized how special she was. She was smart and funny. And she challenged him, forcing him to see her in a different light. She’d stolen a piece of his heart a long time ago and now Jake was certain that he never wanted it back. As long as Caley cared for him, he’d be a happy man.
“Are you warm enough?” he asked.
She turned and smiled, the light from the fire illuminating her pretty features. “I am. Come and look at this. I found a photo of the summer kitchen.”
Jake crossed the room and squatted down next to her, taking the photo from her fingers. “Look at that stove. No wonder they had to put the kitchen in a separate building. One spark from that and this whole place would have been kindling.” He stared at the ceiling. “I should probably put some kind of sprinkler system in here. I wouldn’t want this place to burn down before I had a chance to pay for it.”
“You should really send this stuff back to the family,” she said.
“I don’t think the owner realized there was anything left in the attic. I think I’ll make an inventory and then see what she wants me to send back to her.”
“What is her first name?” Caley asked. “Is it Arlene?”
“Yeah,” Jake said.
“I’ve been reading these letters. They’re from a boy she met at a summer dance. They had a romance. He was from town. And she lived in Chicago. It looks like they wrote to each other for years.” Caley frowned. “There are some here from when he was in the war. And then they just stop. Are there more letters in the trunk?”
“I can go look,” Jake said.
“You don’t think he died, do you?”
“No,” Jake said. “They’re probably still in the trunk. I’ll go get them.”
Jake wandered back to the bedroom, grabbing the flashlight along the way. It felt good to have Caley in his house. It felt right. He could imagine them here together, spending their summers on the lake. Everything would be so much more interesting if she were a part of his life. They’d begin and end each day together and in between, they would swim and cook and make love by the light of the moon.
Jake rummaged through the papers and then found one more packet of letters, this one much smaller and tied with a black ribbon. He brought them back to Caley and sat down beside her.
“See, it’s all right.”
She stared at the packet as she slowly untied the ribbon. As she read the first letter, Caley slowly shook her head. “No,” she murmured. She glanced over at Jake and he saw tears in her eyes. “This one is from his mother. He died in France in 1944.” She flipped through the rest of the letters. “These are all from his mother.”
Jake reached out and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “It’s all right. Why are you crying?”
“I don’t know. It’s so sad. They were in love and then they lost their chance to be together.”
He kissed the top of her head, unable to soothe her distress. “I guess you have to just appreciate the time you have,” he murmured.
Caley nodded, wiping her eyes on the corner of the sleeping bag. “I do appreciate it.” She looked at him. “I do.”
Smiling, Jake dropped a soft kiss on her lips. “Why don’t we get dressed and I’ll take you back to the inn. You can have a nice hot bath. We’ll pick up a pizza on the way back and we’ll spend the night watching movies.”
Caley put the letter back in the envelope and retied the ribbon. He pulled her to her feet and helped her get dressed, wiping away the tears that continued to trickle down from the corners of her eyes.
Jake was sure she wasn’t crying about the letter anymore. But he couldn’t figure out what the tears were for. Had she realized that they wouldn’t have much time left? Was she already contemplating leaving? Or was it something else?
“You should probably check on Sam and Emma before we leave.”
“They’ll be fine,” Jake said.
He held her jacket out for her and as she pulled it on, she looked around the great room. “I really like this place, Jake. It doesn’t matter how much you paid for it or how much it will cost to fix it. It was worth every penny.”
Caley followed Jake back into town. He pulled into the parking lot of a small Italian restaurant next to the post office downtown and waited for her to pull in next to him. Jake had survived on their take-out pizza when he had visited North Lake in the winter. As they stood at the bar perusing the menu, he glanced at a waitress standing near the end. She smiled at him and gave him a little wave.
“Hey, Jasmine,”