Page 55 of Derecho

Her eyes dipped to my mouth, before her tongue came out to lick away the droplets of water on her lips.

“I think⁠—”

As soon as her hand rested against my shoulder, I felt something in my shorts pop. No, not anything attached to me. As soon as I realized what was happening, another seam snapped. And popped. And I felt the fabric that was wrapped around my body start to shift away from my skin.

“Oh shit.” I pulled back from her, my hands instantly diving beneath the water before I gave Lainey an eyeful of something she didn’t want to see.

“What’s the matter?”

“My mother has betrayed me,” I gasped. “These are dissolving swim trunks!”

Lainey’s eyes went wide, and then she burst into a fit of laughter. It rang out and echoed off the trees surrounding the spring.

“Dolly might be my hero,” she sputtered.

“I’m going to swim over to the rocks and get out. It’s your turn to face the trees over there and not peek.”

“Oh yeah, Florence. I promise. Go ahead. I won’t peek at all.”

I believed her for about half a second, until the whistle hit the air at the same time my naked behind did.

Lainey

“Istill don’t see why we all had to come into town to do this?” Jessie groaned from the front seat of Violet’s SUV. It’d been three days since the springs, and I still couldn’t look Lachlan in the eyes.

That man was…God, I was acting like a flustered fiend around him. And it wasn’t his strong arms covered in tattoos, or the thin gold chain he wore around his neck that moved every time his muscles flexed when he talked, or the beautiful scars on his legs that kept me blushing every time I looked at him. It was the endless loop of his gorgeous ass—that I, of course, had looked at as soon as he got out of the water—playing over and over in my mind! It was good to get out of the house, even if I was now stuck in a car with someone who absolutely despised me.

“Because. It’s big girl bonding time. I feel like it’s rare that it’s just the four of us. No kids…well, except for Lainey’s little one, but unless she goes into labor, we’re good there.” Violet laughed.

“Sorry, is that a possibility?” Hayes looked horrified as his head poked out past Birdie’s face. The three of us were in the back seat, packed tightly like sardines in a tin. Ugh, why had I thought of that? Now I was going to be nauseous all morning. Canned fish was horrific. My belly tightened, as if the little creature agreed with me.

“Lainey? You okay?” My sister’s hand landed on my arm.

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. No baby today. I’m sure he knows there’s a few weeks left on the schedule. But I’m not sure why I had to come along for girl bonding…”

“I have to be here…and I’m not even a girl. Of course you would be invited!” Hayes grumbled.

“Knock it off, Hayes. You volunteered to help me bring my books down to the bookstore before the storm rolls through. I won’t hear any slander from you now,” Violet chided.

I liked Violet. She reminded me a lot of my sister and Dolly. A strong woman who was meant for motherhood. She kept Hayes in line like she was a seasoned mom, even though Connor was less than a year old.

We pulled into the parking lot of the bookstore on Cherry Street, and I’d never been happier to get out of a vehicle in my life. My back was killing me today, and as soon as I was able to stand, relief hit me like a tidal wave.

While everyone else got out of the car, I walked to the sidewalk, stretching my back as the sun warmed my face. This street was always so charming, lined with trees and flower planters. There were cars parked all along the pavement, a testament to how our community still committed to shopping locally.

A wave of unease suddenly washed over me. I looked up and down the road, but couldn’t place why it felt like someone’s eyes were on me. Looking over my shoulder, everyone had congregated around the trunk. Violet was clearly deep into giving Hayes instructions, and both Lainey and Jess turned to make their way toward me. As soon as I faced the street again, I saw him.

A man in a car. With his phone pointed toward me.

“Ready to go inside?” My sister’s hand landing on my arm made me jump. “You okay? What’s wrong?”

I turned to her, smiling. “There’s a guy across the street in a red car, and I think he just took a picture of me, or something? I don’t know. He was staring at me, and then I noticed his phone was out.”

Birdie turned, her face set in stone and she stepped away, but my hand caught her before she could go any further. And the guy clearly took the hint, his car pulling out of the parking space and taking off down the street.

“Ew. That was so weird.” I shivered, even with the warm summer sun making me melt. “Let’s go into the shop.”

“I hope he wasn’t one of those guys who has a fetish for pregnant women…” Jessie whispered.