Leo felt a surprising rush of pleasure at the teen's compliment. The appreciation he saw in Calista's gaze gave him an even bigger boost. Watching her interact with her sisters tugged at a long forgotten place inside him. Their teasing camaraderie reminded him of nights he'd spent wishing for a different family. He'd thought he'd buried those longings years ago. He couldn't help admiring the way the three of them had retained their sense of family even after all their losses and living apart.
"It does look fun," Calista said.
"You wanna go?" he asked, watching as her hair whipped around in the wind.
"Oh, no, that's okay," she said.
"You should try it," Tina said. "It's way easier than skiing."
Calista shook her head. "No-"
"Oh, don't be a wuss, Cal," Tina said.
"More than one can ride at a time," he said, remembering Calista's traumatic experience.
"I'll go with you," Tina offered.
"For some reason, that doesn't make me feel more secure, daredevil," Calista said and bumped her hip against her sister.
"It would work," Leo said, because he could tell Calista wanted to go. "Tina could go with you and Tami could watch."
"Come on," Tina said.
"Okay," Calista said. "But you better make sure Tami isn't texting instead of watching."
Minutes later, Calista took the plunge with Tina. He watched her younger sister coach her on the location of the grips. He wondered how often the girls switched roles, becoming the teacher instead of the student. Despite Tina's bold personality, she was gentle with Calista.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Tami lifting her cell phone. "No texting when you're the lookout," he said.
"Who's texting? I'm taking pictures," she said. "Are you ready?" she called to Tina and Calista.
"Yes," Tina said.
"No," Calista said. "Okay," she amended when Tina rolled her eyes. "Just go very slowly."
Leo eased forward, escalating slowly. Hearing yelling voices, he glanced at Tami. "Tina wants you to go faster," she said.
"What about Calista?" he asked, focusing on piloting the boat.
"She's okay," Tami said.
Leo revved up the speed and took a few easy turns. He heard a scream during the last one and immediately slowed, glancing over his shoulder. "Is Calista okay?"
Tami was busy snickering and taking pictures with her cell phone. "They both got thrown."
"What?" he asked, searching the water for them.
"It happened during that last turn," Tami said, still snickering.
Leo spotted Tina screaming with glee then saw Calista yelling at the top of her lungs. Although she was wearing a life jacket, he was certain she was frightened. Stripping off his shirt, he jumped in the water and swam to her. She seemed to be struggling for breath.
"Are you okay?" he asked, pulling her to him.
She gasped then laughed. "Yes, I'm just going to kill my little sister. She did some sort of spinning thing with the tube during that last turn."
"So you really are okay?"
She met his gaze and her laugh faded. "Were you really worried?"
"I remembered about the time you fell off the boat," he said, feeling foolish.
"And you thought I was panicking," she concluded in a wry voice. "Reasonable assumption, but no, this time Tina distracted me. Thanks for jumping in for me, though," she said and smiled. "Had enough of my sisters?"
"The three of you have an interesting relationship," he said, pulling her toward the boat. "Tami is busy laughing at you, while Tina is goading you into taking a spin."
"That's sisters for you. I'm guessing you didn't have any," she said.
He met her gaze and felt a strange twist in his gut. "None that I can remember."
She hesitated, looking at him and biting her lip. "That must be awful. Not being able to remember," she said.
He couldn't bear her sympathy or her empathy. It caused an ache inside him that no pain medication would salve. "Maybe it wasn't worth remembering," he said and before she could respond, he added, "Go ahead and climb on board. You need to dry off. Here comes Tina."
Leo piloted the boat back to the dock in silence, thrown back in time to all those nights when he wondered what kind of family he'd had, what his parents had been like, if he'd had siblings and if they'd died instantly in the car crash that had left him with no memory and a foster father who had abused him. He pulled into the dock, lost in thought.
"Thanks," Tami said and hugged him.
He saw Calista watching them over Tami's shoulder and hugged the teenager. "My pleasure. I want copies of those pictures," he said.
Tami pulled back and smiled at him. "Deal," she said.
"What pictures?" Calista demanded.
"Just a few of you and Tina in the water," Tami said innocently. "I thought I'd post them on Facebook tonight."
Calista cringed. "Don't tag me. I don't want my boss seeing those."
"Why? Because he'll be jealous you were having such a good time with two hot almost-college girls?" Tami said.
Calista groaned. "Just don't. And maybe I should send both of you to a convent instead of a university."
Hours later, after eating dinner and viewing a chick flick in Leo's screening room, Calista climbed the stairs to Leo's bedroom and washed her face and brushed her teeth in the adjoining bathroom. Then she crept into his bed, carefully sliding underneath the covers."Did you have fun?" he asked, startling her.
She froze for two seconds then took a breath. "Yes. My sisters had fun, too. Thank you so much for making this happen. I can't tell you how much this means to me."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was fun seeing you with your sisters. It's impressive that the three of you put things back together."
Her pleasure in the day dimmed a little. Leo would be all too well acquainted with how her family had imploded, especially her father. "My father wasn't perfect, but he was affectionate and he made us laugh. He tried to teach me to play golf."
"Tried?" he said.
"Not my forte. He was one of the most encouraging people I've known. I would hit a ball all wrong and he would say things like 'You almost got it.' 'That's a good start.'" She shook her head, her heart squeezing tight with the memories. "For the most part, he was extremely optimistic. Maybe a little too optimistic at times, but I miss him. I miss his smile and his laugh and his bear hugs."
Silence followed and Leo covered her hand with his. "You're lucky to have those memories."
She glanced up at him. "You must have some memories of your parents."
His jaw tightened. "None I want to remember."
Calista studied him, wondering what was really going on inside him. He clearly had no fondness for his father. She prodded him with memories of her own father. "When my father died, I couldn't believe it. How could someone so vital and positive be gone in an instant?"
He met her gaze. "That must have been hard," he said.
She gave a humorless laugh. "Hard doesn't describe it. Nothing prepared me for hearing that my loving father could have died so quickly. It wasn't possible."
Leo remained silent and she felt the dark tension coiling between them.
"There was a man who tricked him into investing a lot of money. He lost it all," she said. "He went from being the most optimistic man in the world to hopeless."
A long silence followed. "People, even good people, can get into bad situations," he said. "At some point, everyone wants a break. An easy way out."
She searched his face. "You sound as if you have some experience with this."
He narrowed his eyes for a sliver of a moment and shrugged. "Must have been all that time in the egg."
"What was your father like? After the accident?" she asked.
"As you said, I was hatched," he said and she felt him pull away from her emotionally.
"But you had a father, didn't you?" she asked.
"No," he said, removing his hand from hers. The gulf between them suddenly felt like miles instead of inches, or heartbeats. "I didn't. You should get some rest. Your sisters will try to wear you out tomorrow."
She sank into her pillow and watched him turn away from her. She'd tried to get her digs in about her father and she'd succeeded. She'd pushed him away. He wouldn't make love to her tonight. He wouldn't hold her. That was what she'd wanted. Right? So, why did she feel so lonely?