Laurel pinched his cheek. "You act as if you've done this before." She scooted away before he could retaliate.

After the gifts had been opened, Colton took the kids outside for another game while they waited for their parents to arrive. Jackson and Taryn helped Laurel restore some semblance of normalcy to the dining room and kitchen before they drifted outside to the deck. With a secret smile, Laurel invited the other two to sit down and quickly found an excuse to leave them alone.

Recognizing an old tactic, Taryn turned to Jackson. "Are any of those little darlings down there yours?"

He laughed and shook his head. "No. Amanda and I sort of ran into each other last weekend, and she invited me to her party."

"She's something else, isn't she? A perfect combination of Laurel's sweetness and Colton's charm."

"How long have you known them?"

"I guess it's been about eight years now. They're the most genuine people I've ever met."

"I only met them a few days ago, but I see what you mean. Colton said you had to work today. What do you do?"

"I'm a nurse at St. Francis Hospital."

"That's just down the street from Hollis Clinic, isn't it? I started at Hollis this week."

"So you know Colton works there. I did, too, for a short time before I went to nursing school."

"Is Laurel something in the medical field, too?"

"No, she used to teach high school. She stopped working after Amanda was born."

While they were talking, a steady stream of moms and dads arrived to take their children home. A smiling, but definitely tired, Amanda came up the stairs with Laurel and Colton.

"Aunt Taryn, look at my new bracelet. Mommy and Daddy gave it to me yesterday so I could wear it today."

Taryn dutifully examined each of the charms fastened to the tiny circle of silver. "It's lovely, Amanda."

Amanda looked at Jackson. "Do you want to see my bracelet?"

"Of course I do."

To his surprise, she climbed onto his lap and lifted her hand to his face. "There are four b.u.t.terflies because I'm four years old."

Jackson smiled. "That's how old Freya is."

"Is her birthday today, too?"

"No, her birthday was a few months ago."

She scrambled off his lap and went to stand by Colton. "Did you hear that, Daddy? Freya is four like me."

"Yes, sweet pea, I heard." Colton ruffled the silky dark hair and exchanged a glance with Laurel. "I think it would be a good idea if you tell Mr. Jackson 'thank you' for coming to your party. Then we'll go inside and watch one of your new movies."

Amanda wrapped her arms around Colton's leg. "Okay, Daddy." She turned to Jackson. "Thank you, Mr. Jackson."

"You're welcome, Amanda."

After Colton and Amanda went inside, Jackson rose to his feet. "I appreciate you letting me come to Amanda's party, Laurel."

"We enjoyed having you." She started down the stairs leading to the sidewalk. "Come this way; I'll let you out through the gate."

Jackson held out his hand to Taryn. "It was nice meeting you, Taryn."

As she took his hand, she smiled. "You'll probably run into me again. I practically live here."

Laurel returned to the deck after seeing Jackson to his truck and slipped her arm around Taryn's shoulders. "He seems nice."

Taryn laughed. "He's very nice, but a bit young for me. I wonder what happened to his face."

"He told Amanda he was in an accident."

Taryn nodded. "Probably a fire. He has a limp, too."

"Wow, you were paying attention."

"In case you didn't notice, he was the only other man here besides Colton. Enough about Jackson. I've got some news for you."

"I'm almost afraid to hear it."

"David called me yesterday."

Laurel's eyebrows rose. "Is this the same David who shared an apartment with Colton?"

"Yep, same one. He's living in Valdosta now."

"I hope he stays there. I don't want him anywhere near you."

"He apologized for how he treated me."

"I'm glad he did the right thing."

Taryn opened the door to the house. "I never expected him to do it."

Laurel followed her into the kitchen. "And that was it?"

Taryn shook her head. "He wants to take me out."

"What did you say?"

"I told him I'd have to think about it." She stopped and shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know what to do about it."

"Pray about it, Taryn. G.o.d will show you what to do."

"That's what I've been doing." Childish laughter broke out followed by the deeper tones of Colton. "Let's go find out what's so funny."

Chapter Three.

The breeze coming off the ocean toppled the beach umbrella Hannah had planted in the sand. Mitch.e.l.l caught it before it could blow away. After making sure it was secure, he tugged on the book in her hand.

"I didn't come here to watch you read."

Judging by the few pages she'd read, she hadn't come there to read. The book had been a form of defense, and it had failed miserably. No printed words were going to keep her from being aware of Mitch.e.l.l, and he hadn't even touched her yet. "You must have come to sleep because that's what you've been doing ever since we finished breakfast."

"I wasn't actually sleeping. I was resting."

"Really? You didn't move a muscle when I tickled your feet."

He laughed. "I'm sorry. I've been in long meetings every day this week. I think it finally caught up with me."

"I wish I could nap. I never could, not even when I was a little girl."

His eyes shifted to the water. "The meetings aren't the only reason I'm tired. I haven't slept well since you left."

"I wouldn't have guessed that," she said softly.

Mitch.e.l.l slid the strap of her bathing suit off her shoulder and kissed her warm skin, sending ripples of feeling through her.

"I was giving you time to cool off," he whispered in her ear. His lips moved to her neck and would have gone all the way to her mouth if she hadn't turned her head.

Hannah felt her hold on the situation slipping away. "Mitch.e.l.l, please. There are children next to us not to mention an older couple."

He skimmed her lips with a lazy finger. "Tell me that you've missed me, and I'll leave you alone for now."

She put some distance between them, much to his obvious amus.e.m.e.nt. "I've stayed away from you for two months."

"It's actually been nine weeks and two days. Does that tell you anything?"

"What should it tell me?"

"That I love you, among other things. Isn't that enough?"

"Not anymore," she replied on a sigh.

"I'm not saying I don't ever want to get married. I just don't feel the same urgency you do. We're good together; why do we need to complicate things?"

Hannah grabbed a handful of sand and let it run slowly through her fingers. "I don't see marriage as a complication. It's an extension of what we already feel for each other."

"A marriage license isn't going to make me love you any more than I do right now."

"That's not what I meant. We've done the living together thing. I want to be your wife, Mitch.e.l.l, and I thought you wanted to be my husband."

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be here."

She turned to look at him, her eyes searching his face. "I don't know how to believe you."

He leaned closer and kissed her. "You can start by letting me take you to dinner."

"Do you have time for that? I thought you were driving back to Atlanta tonight."

"Only if you insist."

Jackson spent the afternoon mowing the gra.s.s. He was glad to have something to occupy the long hours between church and Hannah's arrival. Even so, he couldn't quite contain the antic.i.p.ation building inside him.

"This isn't a date or anything close to it," he told his reflection in the bathroom mirror. "What part of that don't you understand? You're just helping a friend." Shaking his head, he went to clear off the dining room table. He was putting batteries into an old Texas Instruments calculator when he heard the doorbell.

"Hi, there," Hannah said with a strained smile. "How's your day been so far?"

"Very productive." After closing the door, he relieved her of the backpack slung over her shoulder. "Can I fix you something to eat or drink before we get started?"

"No, thanks."

"I thought we'd use the dining room table."

"Okay," she said, following him into the room. After they sat down, she unzipped the backpack and pulled out a book, a wad of paper and a few pencils. "We're in chapter 5, section 1.1."

Jackson flipped through the pages until he found the right place. "Let me look through some of this to refresh my memory. I haven't done algebra in a while." He looked up after a few minutes. "Now, let me see what you've been doing. That will tell me where to start."

She handed him a crumpled sheet of paper, a sheepish expression on her face. "I got frustrated the other day."

He laughed as he took it from her and straightened it using the edge of the table. "One thing I see right off is you're skipping steps. There isn't a fast way to do this."

"I hate writing out all that stuff. It takes forever."

"It's the only way." Jackson grabbed a pencil and a clean sheet of paper. "No use in trying to save yours; it's been erased so much there's almost a hole in it."

Hannah slapped at his arm. "Are you making fun of me?"

He smiled widely. "Do you mind?"

"I guess not."

She reached across him to get a pencil. This action brought her so close to Jackson that he instinctively moved back. Clearing his throat, he said, "In the first one, you did fine until the third line. Then you started getting creative. Here's what I want you to do instead." He rewrote the problem and went through it line by line, making sure she understood.

Jackson found it easier to stay focused on math if he didn't look at Hannah too often. It was bad enough that he could smell her perfume and feel the occasional touch of her fingers. He was more than ready for a break when she finally sat back and closed the book. His pulse rate hadn't slowed down yet.

"Don't take this wrong, but I'm glad that's over," she admitted. "My head is splitting."