The Final Act (21 page)

Andrew Hamilton seemed less welcoming than his wife. His eyes assessed Jake and found him inadequate. Although Gretchen’s father was polite, Jake felt uncomfortable and kept quiet during the meal, letting them carry the conversation and watching them interact. Gretchen was clearly her father’s daughter, both in physical resemblance and in being a daddy’s girl. They laughed together over a shared memory, the quality of their laughter so similar that Jake could see the bond they shared would always exclude an outsider.

When Gretchen left the table to use the restroom, Mr. Hamilton took the opportunity to ask questions. “How is my girl holding up? She seems tired. This touring is taking it out of her, isn’t it?”

“It’s pretty exhausting for everyone.”

“Is she getting enough rest? Sleeping good at night?”

It was a loaded question. Jake knew he was really asking if they were sharing a bed. “I think she takes a sleeping tablet sometimes.”

“You know, Gretchen hasn’t ever been away from home before, except for an occasional summer camp. This is her first experience away from her family. I wonder if the pressure of traveling and all those performances is too much for her. She seems anxious and worn out to me.”

“Gretchen loves her job,” Jake said politely. “Maybe she just seems different because she’s growing up and changing.”

Mr. Hamilton gazed at him. “Maybe. Or perhaps she’s fallen in with people who aren’t a good influence and she’s living an unhealthy lifestyle. All I know is Gretchen doesn’t seem very happy to me. She’s not her old, cheerful self.”

Jake kept his eyes fixed on his plate and the remains of his lunch. Mr. Hamilton’s words hit him hard. Whenever one of his cousins got into trouble, whether he’d had anything to do with the prank or not, his uncle used to tell him that. “You’re a bad influence, Jake. This kind of shit never happened before you moved in here. You’re no good.”

Jake had noticed Gretchen’s recent mood swings, but had ignored them. He’d never meant to drag her down, but when he compared the sunny girl he’d met in Chicago with the tense woman she was now, he realized her father was right. Gretchen wasn’t really happy. Maybe it was his fault and maybe it wasn’t, but he felt guilty regardless.

Jake was saved from having to answer Mr. Hamilton’s veiled accusation when Gretchen returned to the table. They walked with her father from the diner back to the bank and bid him goodbye.

He shook Jake’s hand, gripping it hard before letting go. “Nice to finally meet you. I look forward to talking to you more this evening.”

Gretchen linked her arm through Jake’s as they walked away from the bank. “So, that’s my dad. What do you think?”

“Nice guy.”

She glanced at him sharply. “What did he say to you while I was gone?”

“Not much. He thinks you seem tired and asked if you were doing okay.” Jake kept his tone neutral. “Are you?”

“Of course. I’m fine. What do you mean?”

He shook his head. “Nothing.”

She squeezed his arm. “Tell me.”

Jake looked across the street at the little park with its perfectly landscaped paths and freshly painted benches. “You’re a little moody lately.”

“
I’m
moody? Please! Pot, kettle.” Gretchen released his arm.

“I’m not trying to piss you off, but maybe you need to lay off the drugs a little, see if it helps you level out.”

“What?” Gretchen stopped walking and turned to stare at him with stormy blue eyes. “You are so out of line.”

Jake had seen her angry before, but never with him. He didn’t like it and backed off immediately. “Sorry.”

She started walking again, briskly clipping along the pavement. He followed a few steps behind, watching her stiff back, then caught up with her and slipped his hand around her waist.

Gretchen slowed and looked up at him, her eyes shiny and her mouth a straight line. “There’s
nothing
wrong with me. I’m fine.”

He nodded, feeling guilty for putting those tears in her eyes. “I know. I’m sorry.”

She turned into his embrace, resting her head against his chest and curling her hands around his neck. He held her and rested his cheek against her soft hair.

After a few moments, she pulled away, took his hand, and offered him a smile that illuminated her face like a medieval painting of a saint. “Let’s drive out to the national forest and walk the trails. I used to always hike there. I feel like I’ve been totally out of touch with nature since we started this tour. Want to?”

“Sure.” Hiking wasn’t really his thing, but he would’ve dropped to her feet and licked them if she asked him to. Anything to see that smile again.

The walk in the woods wasn’t as bad as Jake had thought it might be. He didn’t dislike nature. He just wasn’t used to it. Growing up, he’d spent more time on asphalt playgrounds or weed-choked vacant lots. Since moving to New York, he’d rarely gone to a city park. Playing in clubs made him a creature of the urban night. But strolling the forest path beside Gretchen, looking at the sun slanting through the leaves and listening to birdsong, was very peaceful. The air smelled green and fertile. He breathed in deeply and swung Gretchen’s hand back and forth a little, feeling light and carefree and younger than he’d ever been.

She gestured ahead. “See that turn off? I want to show you something.”

The side path cut down a steep incline and along a clear, sparkling stream. Insects buzzed around their heads, and the sun shone through tree branches into the sheltered ravine. The edge of the stream was marshy, and mud squelched underfoot, but Jake followed uncomplaining as branches whipped his face and brambles grabbed at his legs.

“We’re almost there,” Gretchen said.

They rounded a bend and the stream widened, moving faster over a low ledge of stone and curving past a mossy rock grotto. A huge, gnarled tree arched overhead, its branches casting shifting shadows on the brook and the soft green grass of the bank.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” She settled on a patch of grass. A breeze stirred the boughs of the old tree, making them creak.

Jake sat beside her, watching the dappled patches of light and shadows moving across Gretchen’s pale hair. There was an almost holy stillness in this secret glade. “It’s so quiet. I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere I couldn’t hear traffic.”

She sat with her elbows on her knees and gazed up at the leafy boughs overhead. “Growing up, I used to ride my bike out here with my friends or my sister. We’d hike and have picnics and build dams across the stream.” She reached over and patted his leg. “I can’t wait for you to meet my sister, Rebecca, and her family. You’ll like her husband, Dan. He’s laid back, like you.”

“I’m laid back?” He wondered how she’d gotten that impression. He felt a constant uproar of confusion inside his mind.

“If you were any more relaxed, you wouldn’t have a pulse.” Gretchen leaned toward him and kissed him. He captured the back of her head in his hand and made the kiss deeper, tasting the wine she’d had at lunch and the flavor that was Gretchen. Her silky hair was warm from the sun and shone like white gold.

“Mm.” She made a soft sound in her throat and moved closer.

They lay back on the soft carpet of grass. It was slightly damp and smelled earthy and clean. Jake studied the subtle shading of Gretchen’s irises, from the navy outer ring to the sapphire surrounding each pupil. He traced the shape of her soft lips with his finger and his heart swelled with emotion. This place, this moment, was like a fucking Hallmark card, too perfect to be real. If only they could stay here forever.

Jake wanted to tell her how much he loved her. The impulse that brought the words to the tip of his tongue scared the hell out of him. He pressed his lips tightly closed.

Gretchen smiled. “What? You look worried.”

“Nothing. I was just wishing we could blow off your family party and stay here all night.” He cupped her soft throat, feeling her pulse beating fast beneath his palm.

“Mm, me, too.” She stretched her arms over her head and closed her eyes. “I could fall asleep right here in the sunshine and not wake up ’til morning.”

Jake rested his head on her breast, his hand on her belly. Her fingers combed through his hair and massaged his scalp. He closed his eyes, lulled by the hot sun soaking into his skin, and Gretchen’s warm, vanilla smell. Seconds slipped away and Jake drifted into a doze.

He dreamed he lived in an elaborate tree house with Gretchen and some little monkeys for children. The pleasant, silly dream turned anxious when the monkeys scattered and Gretchen cried that it was his responsibility to find them and bring them home safely. He searched for the monkeys and got lost in the jungle. It was dark and he didn’t know how to find them or his way home.

Jake jerked awake. He was sweating and his mouth was dry. He waved away a cloud of gnats as he sat up and looked around the secluded clearing. Leaves still rustled overhead and the stream bubbled around rocks on its way to an unknown destination. But he no longer felt peaceful. He missed the city, the tall buildings, traffic noise and exhaust fumes. He didn’t belong here. A sharp pang of homesickness shot through him.

“What time is it?” Gretchen yawned and sat up, rubbing her eyes.

He checked his watch. “After five o’clock.”

She stretched. “We should get going.” When he started to rise, she tugged on his hand, pulling him back down to his knees. “But we can take a few minutes first.”

Her sultry smile and bedroom eyes dispelled the remnants of his disquieting dream as lust replaced anxiety. “What did you have in mind?”

She went on hands and knees, looking over her shoulder at him and lifting her ass provocatively, swaying it slightly from side to side. “It’s safe here. No one will see. Do me!”

The brazen request coming from her pouting lips made him rock hard in seconds. He knelt behind her and grabbed handfuls of her generous ass through her shorts. He gave a squeeze, then pulled both shorts and panties down. God, she looked hot with her T-shirt riding halfway up her back and her bare butt thrust into the air.

Jake caressed her smooth ass, tracing his thumb down the crease between the round globes. His cock pressed against the zipper of his jeans with aching insistence. He freed it and it sprang forth, swollen and already dripping pre-come. Taking hold of the shaft, he rubbed the engorged head down her crack. The sight of her anus clenching in response sent lust surging through him. Gretchen made a mewling sound that drove him wild.

He teased her moist pussy with the tip of his cock, fighting the need to thrust inside like a rutting animal, to grip her hips and pump uncontrollably. Instead, he eased into her hot depths until he was enveloped by fiery heat and a molten lava of wetness. He drove the rest of the way in with a hard thrust.

Moaning louder, Gretchen pushed back against him. The sight of her braced on hands and knees, head dropped forward and her hair curtaining her face, awoke a primal urge to dominate. He cupped the back of her neck, gripping lightly as he withdrew his cock. A stray breeze cooled it before he thrust into her once more. He reached beneath her T-shirt to push up her bra and toy with her breasts, pulling and twisting her nipples until she whined with pleasure. His excitement grew so hot and sweet, Jake knew he’d better stop soon before he came.

Gretchen moaned when he pulled out of her to put on the condom. He fished in his pocket until he found a packet, ripped it open and covered his straining cock. Guiding himself back to her opening, he entered her and reached around her hip to massage her clit. She arched into his circling finger.

The hot sun beat down on their half-naked bodies. The flowing stream, the loamy scent of mud and the breeze brushing his naked ass like fingertips all added to the erotic experience. Sweat trickled down Jake’s body and he wished he’d taken off all his clothes before they started. He wanted to feel the sunlight and wind caressing every part of him. His lust swelled and he stopped rubbing Gretchen’s clit in order to grab both of her hips. He pumped harder, driving her forward a little with each push.

Her pussy clenched around him, and her soft whines grew louder as she reached to tease her clit. He could tell she was near coming, and the sounds of her growing climax drove him over the edge. He drove inside her, a powerful force rushing through him like a strong wind, and with a final groan, he buried himself deep and released.

Gretchen cried out with her orgasm and pushed back hard against him.

They remained locked together while the last tremors of bliss died away, and then Jake pulled out. He lay back on the ground, breathing heavily, and gazing at the leafy branches that still swayed above. Nature had a way of making human desires seem small and insignificant. While people lusted and craved, found and then lost one another, the world would continue relentlessly on.

Gretchen flopped on her stomach beside him, her bottom still naked and her shirt pulled up. She regarded him with laughing blue eyes. “Whew! If somebody had wandered by, I wouldn’t even have noticed. That was hot!”

Jake reached over and smoothed her T-shirt down her back, then covered the shining moon of her ass with her shorts.

She grinned. “So, are you ready to meet my relatives now?”

Jake thought maybe he was. Perhaps the evening wouldn’t be as awkward as he’d anticipated. “Sure. Let’s do it.”

Meeting Gretchen’s extended family turned out to be every bit as bad as he’d feared. There were so damn many of them, and they were so loud. Their friendliness overwhelmed him, and their assessing glances whittled away his confidence. Jake knew these people were all measuring him, deciding whether or not he was worthy of their girl. He was a shiftless musician with no career goals beyond his next gig, no grand plan for his life—it was a no-brainer that he wasn’t the kind of man Gretchen’s family would choose for her.

Everyone gushed about how proud they were of her. She was clearly the darling, the sweetheart, the light of their lives. And who could blame them? Gretchen really was special. Watching her laugh and joke with her siblings and cousins, seeing the easy camaraderie and caring between the family members, Jake felt his outsider status. He might watch but could never join in such family unity.