“Your mother has loved you all your life. I’ve known her for much of mine and she never stopped thinking about you or your brother. Never. Believe me or not, but it’s true.”
He pushed as much honesty into his words as he could. She had to believe him. He knew he’d failed when he saw Tamsyn’s expression cloud over, saw anger make her eyes turn hard.
“Well, if she has, she sure has a funny way of showing it. I’ve been here, searching for her, for weeks with not a word from anyone to tell me where to find her. They kicked me out of their house. There’s no way they’re ever going to want to see me, is there?”
He couldn’t lie. “That’s something you might just have to come to terms with, Tamsyn. As hard as it is, as awful as it is, it’s out of both our hands.”
He let his hand slide down her arm, his fingers tangling with hers. She didn’t resist and he couldn’t help but feel a surge of triumph that she didn’t pull away.
“C’mon, let me show you where I’ve pegged out the chalets and main buildings. It’s not far from the jetty over there.” He pointed with his free arm. “My dad and I built it and it’s still solid. We used to have so much fun here at the lake. That’s what I want to give the families that come here. A chance to play together again. To create good memories.” He wanted desperately to give her good memories of her time in New Zealand—something to take away the sting of the situation with Ellen. But would she let him?
* * *
The sun beat down on them as they walked the perimeter of the proposed respite center and Tamsyn felt a trickle of perspiration run down her spine. Jeans had obviously been the practical choice for the quad bike ride and walking in the long grass but, oh boy, did they make a person hot. She lifted her hair off the back of her neck, allowing the breeze to cool her ever so slightly. The lake looked cool and inviting.
“Thirsty?” Finn asked, as if he could read her mind.
“Yeah, although I wouldn’t say no to a swim either. Shame we didn’t bring bathing suits.”
“We don’t need suits.”
She snapped her head around to look at him.
He gave her a nonchalant look in return. “It’s totally private here. I can’t even see this edge of the lake from my house, so if you want to take a dip, go for it.”
“But…”
Whatever she was going to say flew from her mind as he tugged his T-shirt loose from his jeans and yanked it up over his head. Her eyes were drawn like magnets to his naked torso, to the play of muscles across his chest and lower. He reached down to undo his trainers and slid them and his socks off before his hands went to the waistband of his jeans.
“What are you waiting for?” he asked, a cheeky gleam in his eyes. “Last one in is a rotten egg.”
The band of his boxer briefs was already showing. Not one to be left behind, Tamsyn slid her tank top off and toed off her runners while rapidly undoing her jeans. Jeans and socks came off in a smooth movement and she shoulder-barged him as she went past, putting him completely off balance and sending him to the ground in a tangle of jeans and limbs.
“Cheat!” he called after her.
He was only seconds behind on the wooden planks of the jetty and she squealed as she heard his rapid footsteps gaining. She was about a meter from the end when she felt his arms close around her waist, felt him lift her in the air, take another long step and twist to fall back backward into the lake.