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.As far as I was concerned, the two of them deserved double scoops of ice cream for putting Jace in his place.Not many people had the audacity to do that.I opened the car door and let the two of them tumble into the backseat.* * *“I hope this is okay,” Eric said.“I think it’s kind of lame that I can’t leave.But I really wanted to see you.”“This is perfect,” I told him as I leaned against the kitchen counter.It was Friday afternoon.His weeklong grounding was almost over.Eric pulled the fridge open.“I’m just going to get some drinks to bring down to the lake with us.”The front door clicked opened…We both looked at each other with raised eyebrows…Then it clicked closed again.“Hello?” A woman’s voice called.“In the kitchen!” Eric called back.He closed the door, the drinks forgotten.Seconds later a well dressed woman appeared.She had her dark hair pinned back.She wore a lightweight gray pantsuit, dainty pearls in her ears, and a strand around her neck.The smile she wore was brilliant.“You must be EmLynn,” she said.“It would be kind of embarrassing if it wasn’t,” Eric muttered with a smile.“Oh stop,” she said as she lightly smacked his shoulder.She held her hand out to me and I shook it.“So, EmLynn, Eric said you just moved here, too?”“I did, last fall.”“He said that you met at the country club.”Eric stood behind her shaking his head, though judging by his expression he wasn’t nearly as irritated as he pretended to be.“Yes.My little sisters take lessons.I drive them there and I usually stay so I can watch them.”“How nice!” Her high voltage smile brightened even more.“Do you have any other siblings?”“Just the twins.”“I see.So, EmLynn, do you have a last name?”It was obvious she was going into “parent mode”.I didn’t mind.Too much.I just wished she would’ve steered clear of my family.I supposed that was a bit much to ask.“Hamilton,” I answered.Her eyebrows drew together.“Being in the business I’m in, I know a lot of people in town.You’re not Melissa and Jim Hamilton’s daughter are you?”“No,” I said with a little laugh.“I don’t know them.My dad was the Hamilton.He passed away.”Her smile instantly faded.She glanced at Eric.“I’m sorry.I didn’t realize.”“It’s fine,” I assured her.I realized she was still watching me, patiently waiting for me to elaborate.I knew what information she was waiting for.“My mom is Victoria Calhoun.She’s married to Phillip Calhoun.”I wasn’t prepared for her high voltage smile to flicker back into place.“Oh, yes! Phillip! I’ve closed a few business deals with him.He’s always a pleasure to work with! He’s such a charming man.”I nodded and forced a smile.“So I’ve heard.”She spun around to face Eric.“I suppose you’re wondering why I’m home this time of day.”“What? You mean it’s not because you wanted to check out the girl I’m dating?” he asked.His teasing tone took out any bite the sarcastic remark might have had.“He’s such a stinker!” she said to me.Eric’s expression went blank and the tips of his ears turned pink.I was pretty sure no one had ever called him a stinker before.I tried not to laugh but a giggle slipped out.Eric sent me a mock-death glare.“Anyhooo!” she trilled.“I came home to tell you that there’s plenty of pasta salad in the fridge.There’s also some cut up fruit.Croissants are in the cupboard and cold cuts are in the crisper.Help yourself to a picnic if you’d like.”“That sounds wonderful,” I said.Eric nodded.I was pretty sure he was thinking the same thing that I was: All of this could’ve been relayed via a phone call.“Thanks, Lisa.”“No problem, sweetie.”“Oh!” I said, “Thank you for the tickets to the play.We had a great time.”She patted my cheek.“I’m glad to hear it.” Then she glanced at her watch.“Oh, for heaven’s sake! Where did the time go? I have to run! It was nice meeting you, EmLynn,” she called over her shoulder as she headed for the door.“You too!” I called back.We waited a moment as she let herself out.“So, yeah, that was Lisa,” Eric said with a shake of his head.“I like her!” I said with a grin.“I know,” he agreed.“She’s just one of those people that’s really hard not to like.” He glanced around the kitchen.“So, what do you want to do? Eat? Swim? Neither of the above? Options are pretty limited since I can’t leave the yard.”“I don’t mind.I think it’s kind of nice.It was really nice that they cut two days off of your grounding.”“I guess.That was Tim’s idea.He was the one who came up with the compromise of letting you come over.Probably because I’ve been moping all week,” he said with a smile.“Have you?” I asked with a laugh.“I missed you.Haven’t you missed me?” A hint of a playful pout colored his words.“Oh, absolutely.”He closed the distance between us and I stepped into his arms.He pressed a quick kiss to my lips then backed up a bit to give me a questioning look.“Are you sure you don’t mind swimming in the lake? I mean, I saw the pool at your house.”“I told you I like being at the lake,” I reminded him.“No, you said you like to fish,” he corrected me.“You said you like to catch them.You never said anything about getting in the water with them.”“I don’t mind swimming in the lake,” I assured him.“Let’s go do that now,” he suggested.“Then we’ll come back up here in awhile and I’ll make you lunch.”I grabbed my beach bag and he grabbed his towel.I followed him through the house to a sliding back door.The lawn was sprawling, edged by a narrow sandy beach, and then the lake beyond.We traipsed across the grass and dropped our things onto a lawn chair.I glanced over my shoulder to get a look at the house.From here, I realized the backside was almost all windows overlooking the lake.There were decks on both the first and second levels.I had to assume the second level deck had an amazing view of the sunset.“I really love this house,” I said.“It’s nice, but it’s not too ostentatious.The view of the lake is incredible.I would love to live in a place like this someday.”I turned to Eric, surprised to see him frowning.“What’s wrong?”He shook his head and forced away the frown.“Nothing.But yeah, this is a nice house.”“What was your house like? Where you lived with your parents?” I asked.The frown returned and I instantly realized the source of his sour mood.“You don’t even want to know, trust me.”“Yes, I do,” I said quietly.He shook his head.“It was nothing like this.I only ever dreamed about living in a place like this.To be honest, I’m not really looking forward to going back to Piedmont when I turn eighteen
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