Page 32 of This Time Around
“Right, well, I’m going to go feed everyone now,” Skye said from below as two tortoiseshell cats twisted themselves around her ankles and meowed. “A couple of them get pills, too, so it’s a bit of a chore. It was a pleasure meeting you, Jack.”
“Likewise. Thanks for putting the ladder back. We might have been trapped up here forever.”
Which wasn’t the worst thought in the world, though the look on Allie’s face told him she felt otherwise.
Skye hustled off down the hall, a stream of cats yowling behind her. When she was out of earshot, Jack sat back on his heels and turned to Allie. “So,” he said. “I take it you’re keeping your shirt on?”
Allie’s cheeks turned pink, and she tugged at the hem of her sweater again. “Right. Um, I think we kinda got caught up in the moment.”
“Not the first time.”
One corner of her mouth tilted up, and he could tell she was trying not to smile. Trying not to remember that summer after their senior year in high school in the backseat of the car, windows fogged up, hair wild, Allie’s skirt pushed up around her hips as Jack?—
“That would be dumb.” Allie’s words jolted him back from the memory. “Fooling around, I mean.”
“Right,” he agreed, nodding for emphasis.
“We already know we’re an awful match,” she said. “No sense going down that path again.”
“Agreed. Nothing but potholes and landmines and slugs on that path.”
“Definitely.”
The certainty in her expression told him she believed it. So did he, dammit. There was no reason to even toy with the idea of starting anything with Allie Ross again.
But his brain flashed to the memory of her mouth on his, fingers twisted in his hair, a small moan in the back of her throat.
Right now, he couldn’t say for sure if the memory was sixteen years or sixteen minutes old.
Chapter 6
Allie looked across the table at her father, wondering how it was possible he’d aged twenty years in the six he’d been here at the Sheridan Federal Correctional Institution.
“It’s so good to see you, Alliecakes.” Her dad squeezed her hand across the dark gray table between them, and Allie bit the inside of her cheek to keep the tears at bay.
“You, too, Daddy. I’ve been thinking about you a lot since I was here Monday. You’re sure you’re doing okay?”
Less than a week had passed since Allie had come to tell him his mother had died, and that she wouldn’t be bringing Grandma Victoria to visit on his birthday like they’d planned. He looked tired, more tired than he’d looked on her last few visits. His eyes seemed red, but maybe it was seasonal allergies. He probably wasn’t getting allergy-reducing acupuncture treatments in prison.
“I’m okay,” he said. “It’s been a rough week. But it’s been nice seeing you twice in the same week.”
“That’s true.” Allie cleared her throat. “I saw Mom.”
She watched his eyes light up, and a pang of sadness rattled her ribs. Yes, her parents had bilked people out of thousands of dollars. Allie knew that. They’d done it together the way some couples took up tennis or wine tasting in middle age. That still didn’t make it any easier for her to see them separated by two hundred miles and masses of steel bars.
“How’s your mom doing?”
“Good. She was sad to hear about Grandma. Wanted me to send you her condolences.”
“I sure do miss her.”
Allie wasn’t sure who he meant, but didn’t want to ask. Didn’t want to make this any harder than it was.
But her father had always been able to read her mind. “I miss your mom, and I miss your grandma.” He squeezed her hand again. “I miss you most of all. Miss seeing my little girl whenever I want.”
The tears battled their way forward, and Allie fought back. Her dad didn’t need to feel worse than he already did. She stared at the tall Ficus in the corner, grateful for the greenery scattered throughout the visiting area. It gave her something to look at when the sight of her father in prison garb threatened to unravel her. She’d always been a daddy’s girl, and had never gotten used to seeing him behind bars.
Taking a deep breath, Allie glanced at the guard hovering three feet away. He wore a dark gray uniform and stared straight ahead, though she knew he was listening to every word of their conversation.
