Cherish Hard
Page 63

Though Ísa elbowed him for his teasing, she was laughing. So he stole another kiss, tasted her happiness. And felt things in him settle, become firm again. As if he’d been on quicksand and then, there it was, solid ground.
“Off to my lair we go,” he said afterward, his exhaustion from the grueling week having disappeared as if it didn’t exist.
Catie got into the back seat with a grin while Sailor lifted the luggage into the bed of the truck. “You can choose the radio station,” he told Ísa after they were in the truck.
“Oooh,” Catie announced from the back, “that’s a sign of love, twue love.”
Sailor saw Ísa’s fingers freeze for a single millisecond on the buttons of the radio before she threw Catie a smiling look, then continued on as if everything was normal. But Sailor had caught that pause, and he felt it like a punch to the jaw. Did Ísa not know exactly how much she meant to him? Had he fucked up that badly?
Running his knuckles over her cheek, he clenched his gut and made a silent vow that he’d fix the fuckup before the weekend was over. A single moment of privacy with Ísa and he’d lay his heart at her feet. And hope she wouldn’t kick it.
“Hey, Issie,” Catie said from the back, “did the Dragon breathe fire on you for taking off early?”
Sailor had meant to ask Ísa the same thing. “Yeah, spitfire, did Jacqueline give you any flak?”
Ísa shook her head just as her phone rang. “I swear, if you two have summoned her by speaking her name,” she muttered while digging into her handbag, “I’ll put a hex on you.” Having located her phone, she looked at the screen. “You’re safe. It’s my father.”
“Hi, Dad,” she said in English before switching to what he guessed must be Icelandic.
After she hung up, she checked something on her phone. “Dad’s fiancée just sent me her ‘visual concept’ for the bridesmaids dresses. Because—according to Dad—she’ll be ‘devastated, honey, just devastated’ if I’m not part of the bridal party.”
Catie, whom Sailor had thought was listening to her iPod, said, “Uh-oh. How bad?”
“Purple. Make-your-eyes-bleed purple.”
Even Sailor knew to wince at that. “It’s the thought that counts?” he suggested.
Ísa shot him a speaking look… before bursting out into giggles, laughing too hard to say anything. Catie fell victim to the same moments later.
And that set the tone for the rest of the drive. Having grown up with three brothers, Sailor hadn’t realized how different it would be to make the drive with two females who were sisters. They laughed, argued over music, teased Sailor, and filled the car with cheerful noise.
When Ísa went looking in his glovebox for a charging cable and found his marked-up copy of Poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, she shot him a smile so luminous it stole his breath. “I didn’t know you were into poetry.”
“My brothers caught me reading that book,” Sailor muttered, his voice husky from the impact of Ísa. “I hope you know what I’ve suffered for you.”
She blew him a kiss.
And Sailor decided he’d take any ragging his brothers cared to throw his way. Ísa’s delight was worth everything.
38
Never Trust a Cute Redhead
THE CAMPGROUND WAS BUSY THAT time of year, but Sailor knew exactly where to find his family. The Bishop-Esera crew always booked the same spot.
“No vehicles on the grass,” he told Ísa and Catie after bringing the truck to a halt in the paved parking lot. “We’ll have to schlep our stuff to the tents.”
Catie flung open the door and sniffed suspiciously. “It smells green and salty.” Despite her disdain, the teen put away her earbuds and phone, then came around to help Ísa and Sailor carry their gear.
Sailor wasn’t sure what she could handle since she’d already be navigating uneven ground. Instead of asking Ísa, he asked Catie directly.
The teenager put her hands on her hips and checked out the grassy area they’d crossing. “Better give me something that won’t break if I drop it.”
He handed her his small duffel.
She could sling it over her shoulder, and since he mostly just wore shorts and tees out here, it wasn’t too heavy. To Ísa he handed the lightweight backpack that held her clothing, then piled her arms with bedding. He put on Catie’s heavier pack. “You want your crutches, Cat?” She’d left them in the back of the truck. “Probably safer to take them and just leave them in your tent if it turns out you’re stable enough without the help.”
Catie made a face but didn’t argue.
Lastly, Sailor grabbed the cooler he’d packed with all the snacks and drinks, then hefted a large outdoor umbrella.
The two females flanked him as he walked into the campground—there was definitely something to be said for being accompanied by a cute redhead and her smart-aleck miniature sidekick.
“It’s more spread out than I expected,” Ísa commented. “The sites aren’t right next to one another.”
“It’s more expensive than usual, that’s why. My parents insist on paying—they say it’s their version of a summer house.” The last time he and Gabe had tried to chip in, the money had been quietly deposited back into their accounts.
Leaves rustled in the wind, the campground surrounded by rich native forest. Ponga ferns grew out plush and silvery-green from treelike trunks, while Phutukawa trees bloomed a stunning scarlet along the waterline. Those trees also provided shade in that part of the campground, dappling the area in a leafy pattern that meant it was possible to sit outside without being fried to a crisp.
“Hmm,” Catie said in a sage tone. “That’s actually supersmart. Your mom and dad don’t have the hassle and expense of insurance and upkeep but still get to come hang out at the beach.”
Startled at the deeply mature statement, Sailor glanced at Ísa. She shook her head subtly and mouthed, Clive.
Right. A kid with a father like Catie’s had probably had to become money-smart at a young age. “You make sure you tell my dad that,” he said to Catie with a wink. “You’ll be his new favorite person.”
A dimpled smile. “We’re getting closer to the beach.”
“See that large dark green tent right before the sand? That’s my folks. It has a separate living room, so if it rains or whatever, we can hang out in there.”
“Are those your brothers putting up the blue tent?”
Sailor nodded at Catie’s question. “Jake and Danny get to have their own tent—then they can hooligan around all they want, listen to their music, stay up late.” It wasn’t like the boys could get into any trouble this far out from civilization. The worst they might do was sneak a cigarette with friends in the campground, but Sailor and Gabriel had both done that and survived.
“We’ll put you two there.” He pointed to a spot to the left and slightly in front of the main family tent. “Gabe and I will share one between you and the boys.” It’d create a small square with the entrances all facing the center, where his father would set up the mobile barbeque and where they’d kick back in the evening.
“Sailor!” Danny came running over, skidding to a stop when he saw that his brother wasn’t alone. His eyes went to Ísa, then to Catie. And though Catie was dressed in three-quarter-length capris that exposed her articulated metal legs, that wasn’t what caught Danny’s attention.