Instructions for Love (12 page)

“I don’t have a boyfriend.” Annoyance clouded her face. She stomped off to the dining room and seconds later was laughing, telling his mother how much she liked the bread pudding and asking for the recipe.

Dane tuned off to their chatter, going about the table and picking up their things. He washed the dishes and had just set the dry towel above them in the drain when Erin bounced back into the room.

“Mom Bea is such a sweetheart,” she said, her hands doing their small happy clap.

“I have to agree. She’s great.”

He leaned back against the counter, watching Erin’s bright face. She glanced at the table and then at the drain. “You’ve already done the dishes. I was going to wash them.”

“No problem. I’m accustomed to cleaning up, at least in the kitchen.”

She peered around the room. “Oh, these need more water.” She lifted the vase with roses and took them to the sink.

He had hated having her cut those roses. But he did like seeing her take care of them.

She set the water-filled vase back in the center of the table. “There.” She looked up at him. “Mom Bea reminded me. Tomorrow I’m supposed to go fishing.”

Dane’s disturbed mood returned. “And how did she say you’re supposed to do that?”

Erin peered down. Her gaze swept the floor and then swung up at him. “She said you’re a pretty good fisherman.”

Anger stung his chest. “Me?”

“Yes, well she said you might not be in the mood and you’d have things to do, but you can’t just work all day seven days a week. She said to tell you that if you’d just let work go for a couple hours, you’d find yourself having fun.”

“Fun?” How could he have fun when he’d have to take this woman out in his boat? She’d probably get his lines all twisted up, and taking mountains of knots out of monofilament wasn’t a chore he liked doing. “It’s too hot to fish, and they probably aren’t biting. Too much wind with the low pressure system that’s pushing in.”

Erin faced him from the opposite side of the table. “She said to ask you real sweet.” Placing hands on her hips, she leaned forward and gave him an extra wide smile. “Oh Dane, you are such a nice gentleman. Wouldn’t you like to take a lady fishing? For just one tiny fish?”

“Only one?” Before it was out of his mouth, he regretted his words.

“That’s all Aunt Tilly asked for. Her instruction for Day Two said catch a fish.”

“But as soon as we get one, we’re coming back.” He spoke to her backside as she traipsed away, heading for the foyer. He went behind her, making certain she’d heard. “I have work to do tomorrow,” he added.

She whirled around and smiled at him. “I know. And thanks for this evening. It was lovely.”

He watched her jaunt into the master bedroom.
She
was lovely.

And she liked him. She’d said so on the phone, during her talk with Trevor.

Well, he decided, heading for the guestroom, after she caught that one fish tomorrow, she would be heading back to Trevor, and they’d get their matters all straight.

Tomorrow was another day, he recalled from having been forced to read
Gone with the Wind
in high school. He’d been glad his English teacher made the class read what he’d expected to be a mushy love story. Instead, he admired Scarlett O’Hara’s fierce determination to save her family’s plantation, especially now that he’d had to do the same thing. Nature had been kind and the men he employed were hard workers, all giving him tremendous assistance in keeping the fields his grandfather had let fall behind from going under.

And if he wasn’t careful, he’d face the same problem. He needed to get all of his equipment ready. He needed to get ready to plant his fields.

Entering the room he had to sleep in, he pictured Erin coming through this room earlier. She’d glanced at his clothes tossed aside and then scooted to the bathroom. How funny she’d looked in that tiny space, glancing all over the place and eventually staring up at the window. He hadn’t noticed how that bathroom had been made for only one person until he’d stood near her, getting her jasmine scent, seeing a dimple on the rear of well-toned skin on her shoulder.

“Grr,” he muttered, yanking off his clothes and tossing them at a wing chair. He’d forgotten to get more clean clothes out of the room she was going to sleep in.

Early in the morning, he would have to sneak back in there.

Chapter Ten

Erin awoke having the strangest impression that someone crept into her bedroom. She sat up in bed, tugged the sheet to her neck, and peered around.

The foyer door and door to the next bedroom were still closed. So were the shuttered doors leading to the porch. The slight sound she’d heard when she woke up earlier must have been the house settling. Or possibly a chicken or raccoon or other small animal.

She had rested well after having such a pleasant evening. Except when Trevor called.

Darn, why was it so difficult to deal with the man? Why did her boss insist that she return to work just because he thought she had become enamored with a man here? She had vacation days coming.

She headed to the bathroom and paused to listen, disappointed not to hear a shower running in the adjoining room. A glance at the stained-glass window told her it was still dark.

She showered, felt a chill, and decided to wear the longer casual clothes she’d brought. She was almost dressed when the aroma of baked biscuits reached her, making her nearly skip through the house to find Dane baking them.

The brightly-lit kitchen was empty.

Sound carried of the dining room door shutting. “Hey sleepy head, you finally got up?” Dane said, coming from that room. He looked boyish with faded jeans and blue T-shirt and fishing lures sticking out from his cap. The smile he wore faded. “You aren’t wearing shorts today?”

She glanced at her jeans and long-sleeve cotton shirt. The shirt had a couple of slight wrinkles, but what would that matter in a boat? “I find it cool this morning.”

“That won’t last.” He headed for the stove. “I made coffee and grits and baked a can of biscuits.”

“How nice of you.”

“I was hungry, figured you would be, too. I ate and then hooked up the boat. Maybe you could hurry. The fish bite early.” He poured coffee from the drip pot on the stove and served her a demitasse cup.

Erin fixed her plate while he strode back toward the storage room. She swallowed a sip of coffee and asked, “How did you know I was up?”

“Saw you through the dining room window.”

She smiled, eating while he accomplished whatever he had to do in other rooms. She liked knowing that while he’d been outside in the dark, he had watched her in here walking through lighted rooms.

He returned carrying fishing lines. “You almost ready?”

She hopped up and saluted. “Ready, captain.”

He gave her the cutest smile.

Scrunching herself up, Erin leaned forward in the passenger seat of the truck cab while he backed the boat trailer hooked behind them into the water. Fear rose inside her that their whole ensemble would slide back. She kept feeling like they were submerging. Soon the murky water would take the truck, cab, and all.

“There we go.” Dane threw the gears in park but didn’t turn off the motor. “Ready to get out? You won’t catch your fish in here.”

Erin glanced out. They were still at an angle, the rear of the truck slanted to the water. They had ridden straight back through the cane field, quickly this time, and reached this water at its rear. Long grasses and lots of shrubs filled the surrounding area. At least dawn had brightened the sky a little, enough for her to see what was out there.

Gingerly, she opened her door. She stepped down, noticing he did the same. Her gaze skimmed weeds before she walked. “A snake might be hiding in that underbrush.”

“Right. So you’d better hurry and get in the boat.”

Her feet barely touched the ground while she dashed for it.

Dane stood, pulling a rope that attached his small aluminum boat to the trailer, and made the boat come to the water’s edge. She stepped inside.

He laughed. “It’s a good thing you can move so fast. All of those snakes might’ve gotten you out here.”

She didn’t like his snide grin or his comment. She also didn’t feel too safe out in the water either, with him still out there on dry land. She shoved her hands on her hips and stood ramrod stiff. “I’ll have you know I’m not usually a scardy-cat female. But I don’t like snakes.” She let her gaze take in the bank, making sure none showed up around his feet. “And I was glad to see you could drive that truck faster than you did yesterday. Traveling fifteen miles an hour wouldn’t make anyone call you Speedy.”

“Ha,” he responded before climbing in the truck. He slammed his door and drove away with the truck and trailer.

Erin peered around in the water. Greenish-brown, it lay calm, with what appeared to be green algae topping its sides, overgrown with bushes. At least there weren’t waves to shake the tiny craft she stood in, its metal bottom uneven with ridges. The opposite bank was close. Good. This canal, as he’d called it, was narrow. If she fell out of the boat, she might maneuver a few strokes to reach land. Where was Dane?

With great relief, she spied him walking to the bank. He untied a rope he’d secured to a bush and stepped into the craft beside her.

“I forgot to ask,” he said. “Can you swim?”

She cocked up her chin, speaking more certain than she felt. “I can take care of myself.”

“Good. `Cause when we get in the lake, it’ll be deep.” He sat on the slender metal strip that ran across the rear of the boat, while the concept of deep water reached Erin and sank in.

“Don’t you have lifejackets, just in case?”

He grinned. “Do you see any?” He turned to the handle sticking out on his left from the motor behind, flipped some switches, and pulled on a rope attached to the motor that read 10 HP.

Erin blessed the heavens for sending her into a boat that couldn’t travel fast. At least she shouldn’t fall out.

Moments later, her heart went out to him. Dane pulled and pulled on the rope. Nothing happened. “This thing hasn’t been used in a while,” he said, face flushing as he yanked harder.

The man could probably afford only this small thing. Its interior held little but looked filled. Another metal seat crossed its center, and the fishing lines lay to one side on the floor. A thermos bottle, water cooler, ice chest, and square plastic box took up most other spaces.

No sign of a life jacket.

“You might want to sit,” Dane called, right before the motor roared to life and the boat jerked backwards.

Erin swayed. “You might want to warn people,” she yelled.

“Sorry,” he said, but his eyes smiled. “I forgot you wouldn’t know if a boat was coming or going.”

She tried to give him a harsh stare as she lowered her center of gravity, struggling to keep balance while sitting on the center seat. She had to raise her voice. “No, my home isn’t surrounded by swamps and bayous and the Gulf of Mexico.”

The motor’s roar changed into a quieter hum as he steered the boat, not responding.

She turned to look ahead. A cool breeze fanned her face while they slid through the water. A few birds flew off from the scrub bushes and trees scattered on both sides. After a few minutes, she thought the ride wasn’t too bad after all and felt brave enough to let go of the metal seat she’d been clasping on both sides of her hips.

Only the consideration of her first phone conversation last night spoiled her mood. Trevor had been furious when he learned she was sleeping in the plantation home with a man. What would he say if he knew that today she shared this tiny boat with him? She’d told Travis that as always, she was doing nothing wrong. Of course she hadn’t mentioned how handsome Dane was and how much fun he could be when he let his guard down. But her boss should not complain about her wanting a few days off for whatever reason. He was her boss, for goodness sake. And yes, she’d been noticing he seemed to want something more from their relationship.

Erin frowned. She shouldn’t be thinking about the rugged man sitting behind her and steering this boat. All her life she’d been determined to hold onto what she had, not tossing away relationships that should have meant more, like both of her parents had done. Why couldn’t Travis understand that she needed to stay and fulfill her aunt’s wish for this day? She needed to catch a fish.

“Nice sunrise,” Dane called out, and without glancing back at him, she nodded. The slim orange-red bands stretching across the lower sky crept up and spread into the countless trees to create a picturesque scene.

Maybe catching that fish would even be fun. It seemed so to the men Erin had occasionally seen on television, although their fishing looked like hard work. Those men used yachts in deep water and hooked tremendous fighting fish.

She glanced down. Her legs were not extra long, but she spread her right foot out and touched the boat’s side. Her left foot reached the opposite one. She glanced over her shoulder.

Dane appeared relaxed with his face up to meet the wind. His lips pulled back, not quite in a smile but in a pleased manner. His shirt pressed against his muscular chest and shoulders. His glance at their surroundings gave the impression that he was getting reacquainted with a good friend.

He looked at her. “You’re doing okay?”

Erin nodded. She raised her voice above the motor’s whine. “This isn’t still part of the plantation, is it?”

He slowed their craft and turned into an adjourning waterway. “The property just ended. Now we’re running along the swamps.”

Swamps. She’d heard of them and seen photos in magazines. She turned her head, scanning the area that emitted a distinct smell, musky with a slight tang. Moss-draped trees grew everywhere, but many of these trees stood in water surrounded by stumps. Some trees were black with bare branches, possibly stuck by lightning. Or maybe old age. Beyond them grew others too thick to see through. Up ahead, a white crane on a stump leaned its beak into the water. As their boat neared, it bent spindly legs and flew off.