Page 98 of Spindrift

Thethree of them strolled through the twisted trunks and settled in the shade of aparticularly gnarly apple tree to wait for Lillian and Angie. Emilia nursed herbeer while Stevie and Morgan drank soda, listening to the drone of the bees inthe apple blossoms. Morgan’s arm lightly encircled her waist, but they took itno further. Their dogs lay in panting heaps in the hot sunshine.

“It’sbeautiful out here,” she said.

“Waittill the fall—”

Emiliacouldn’t tell if she’d imagined the ripple of stillness that passed throughMorgan as she cut herself off.

“Howare the apples?” She hoped the words would rescue them both from the unspokenquestion of what the changing season would bring.

“Amazingif you don’t mind a few worms,” said Stevie.

“Lilmakes an amazing apple pie. And Stormy will do small batches of cider for us.”

“Notthat we’ll ever get to enjoy it,” said Stevie.

“Daniellewill find someone eventually.” Morgan rested her head against the trunk of thetree.

Emiliafelt Stevie’s measuring look and did not meet her eyes. She could not work atSeal Cove. Even if she was looking for a job, which she wasn’t, throwingherself completely into Morgan’s world would be a disaster on so many levels.To begin, she still hardly knew the woman, for all that her body begged todiffer, and if things didn’t work out between them—which was highlylikely—she’d be stuck working with her. Secondly, once again she would havemade a career decision based on her heart instead of her mind, and that hadn’texactly worked out splendidly last time.

Thatdidn’t mean she found the idea repulsive. She allowed herself to sink into thefantasy. Large animal medicinehadinterested her at one point. Perhapsshe could embrace that latent passion and do what Morgan did now, drivingaround the countryside, or leave ambulatory for Morgan and take over the largeanimal duties at the hospital. The pay raise alone was tempting. Large animalvets didn’t always make as much as their small animal counterparts, butcompared to a shelter vet, she’d be rich—in more ways than one. The Seal Covepractice felt like a family. They cared about each other. They loved what theydid. She desperately wanted to be a part of something like that.

Angie’sshout of greeting floated over the orchard. With matching sighs, the three ofthem stood, stretched off the somnolent atmosphere, and walked back to thehouse. Emilia felt the absence of Morgan’s hand in hers but did not reach outto take it. She was an adult, not a sixteen-year-old. She didn’t need that kindof constant reassurance, and she had never been one for PDA. Walking besideMorgan was enough. The backs of their knuckles brushed every few steps, and thewarmth of the summer afternoon encircled her like Morgan’s arms. She shot her alazy smile over her shoulder. Morgan’s answering grin poured down her spinelike sunlight.

Angiestripped out of her stained work polo as they entered the fenced yard.

“It’shot.” She slumped into a lawn chair in her sports bra. “Why is it hot?”

“It’sJuly. Need a hose?” Stevie made a move toward the spigot on the side of thehouse.

“Don’tyou dare, Stephanie Ward.”

Stevielunged.

Angiewas up and shrieking before the water hit her. Stevie, Emilia conceded, wasalmost freakishly fast, and a spray of water slapped Angie across the back asshe tried to flee to the shelter of the house. Dripping, she turned, and Emiliacovered her own burst of laughter with her hand as Stevie got Angie across thechest.

“Youare so dead.”

Morganpulled Emilia out of harm’s way and toward the grill as Angie forged throughanother blast of water to wrestle the hose out of Stevie’s hands. They wentdown in a heap of arms, legs, and enthusiastic dogs, who had decided this wasthe best game in the entire world.

“Notin the mood for a wet T-shirt contest?” Emilia asked as Morgan knelt to checkthe gas.

“Why,are you offering?”

“Tospray you?”

“No.To get wet.”

Emiliawished the line, which was borderline Stevie-bad, hadn’t worked on her, but herbody energetically disagreed. She tangled her fingers in Morgan’s hair, gladthe grill blocked them from view, and shook her head in disapproval. Herexpression held for the two seconds it took for Morgan to close the distanceand nip the fabric of her jeans, and then she had to fight not to gasp. Stevieand Angie were still entangled in a ball of curses and laughter. At the moment,Angie appeared to have Stevie pinned and was dousing her entire front with thehose while the dogs took turns diving in to bite at the water. They vanished fromher sight as her eyes closed. Morgan’s hands found her ass, pressing the zipperof her jeans against her mouth in a kiss that left her clutching the grill forsupport.

“Plentyof gas.”

Morganstood and opened the top of the grill with a self-satisfied set to her lipsthat Emilia found simultaneously frustrating and incredibly hot.

“Morgan!Save me!” Stevie’s cry for help was interrupted by Marvin, who had chosen thatmoment to lick her face enthusiastically.

“Youstarted it,” said Morgan.

Stevie,however, didn’t look like she wanted rescuing. Emilia couldn’t help noticingthe way she was grinning, or the way Angie, whose bare skin glistened, leanedover her to shove the hose down the front of Stevie’s shirt with a victoriousexpression that had one too many layers for a simple water fight.

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