Dinner with Rose and the twins was an exercise in self-restraint. It was all Jackson could do not to reach across the table and take Rose's hand. He wanted to kick his brothers out and continue the conversation he and Rose had begun upstairs, when he'd held her hand and felt her pulse in her palm. He burned for her with a fervor that stunned him. The desire to be close to her, to touch her, to say with his body what he couldn't seem to say in words, was gripping.

But Rose and the twins were carrying on gregariously, and it wasn't the time. Jackson mostly fell silent, taking small bites on a nervous stomach and joining in on the laughter where it was appropriate. Rose fit right in with his brothers in a way that pleased him, cracking jokes with Denny and meeting Dally intellect-to-intellect.

"Rose," Dally mused as they finished their dinner, "I wonder why we never did this back in the day, all four of us. We rarely saw you, even though you lived just down the hill."

Denny punched Jackson in the shoulder teasingly. "I think Jackson kept you from us. We hardly saw him, either, unless you count the back of his head when he was on his way out the door."

Jackson made a face at Denny. Across the table, Rose caught Jackson's eye.

She smiled. "I think we were basically feral."

Jackson laughed gently. "It's true."

Dally rested his forearms on the table and pushed up his glasses. "Well, the nannies were only so effective with any of us. I think we all ran a little wild. We needed a firmer hand."

Jackson scoffed. "You? Wild? Hard to imagine when your nose was always in a book."

Dally looked affronted. "That's not true. Denny and I got into all kinds of trouble. You just don't remember because you were always off doing your own thing." He glanced at Rose. "I settled down in college. I had to. Law school takes a concerted effort."

Denny laughed. "Yeah, those were your lost years."

"Denman, on the other hand," said Dally with a grin, "is as wild as ever."

"Don't act so innocent." Denny tossed down an empty skewer onto his plate. "You have your moments."

"Within the bounds of the law."

The twins laughed, and Rose joined them. Jackson watched helplessly as she lifted her chin, her head tilting back and her hair cascading over her shoulders. He hadn't heard her laugh like this since they were sixteen years old. The sound made his heart swell almost painfully.

Denny pushed back from the table, still chuckling. "Well, I'm stuffed."

Dally mirrored him. "Denman and I can do the dishes."

Denny nodded and looked out the window. "Would you look at that. There's still a little sun. Time enough for a walk around the grounds."

He looked at Jackson pointedly. Jackson blushed. Keeping his feelings for Rose a secret seemed to be a lost cause with the twins around. He would have to talk to them later.

Rose interjected with a hint of humour in her voice. "Actually, it's getting late. I should probably get home."

Jackson stood and murmured, "I'll walk you out."

Rose's cheeks were faintly pink. Jackson suppressed a smirk. At least he wasn't the only one turning red thanks to the twins' clumsy matchmaking skills. He nodded toward the door. She pushed back her chair and followed him, thanking Denny and Dally for their hospitality.

***

When they got outside, the night air held a hint of crispness and the promise of more rain. Rose ambled alongside Jackson quietly, lost in thought. They neared the Bronco and slowed.

Jackson brushed her fingers with his. "I'm glad you came, today. I wasn't sure you would."

She looked at him obliquely. In the light from the McBride house, his hair was highlighted in streaks of gold.

"Will I see you again?" he asked.

She hesitated, unsure how to respond. This thing between them felt so ephemeral. At any moment, he could be gone. She wasn't sure whether their sudden truce was borne of courage or madness. And yet... Jackson was like a flame drawing her closer. She couldn't look away from his light.

She bit her lip. "There were some weeds in the back yard. I could come back tomorrow."

He nodded vigorously. "Right. Weeds. I could help."

"If you want to—"

"I do."

He stepped closer to her, his hand finding her cheek. He stroked her face with his thumb as his gaze burned. Her pulse raced at his nearness. His breath hitched as though he would speak, but then he simply nodded and opened the Bronco's door for her.

"Until tomorrow," he said, his voice serious.

"Goodbye, Jackson," she whispered.

His eyes were indigo-dark in the moonlight. "No goodbyes, Rosie."

She got into the truck and started the engine with hands that shook. As she pulled away, she looked in her rear-view mirror, watching Jackson recede. He held up his hand.

When she got home, she shut off the Bronco and sat in the driveway, staring at her house as adrenaline seared her veins. The kitchen light was on, the soft yellow glow the only indication that anyone might be up. She hoped it wasn't her mother.

As she got out of the truck, she shook her head in wonderment. Over the years, she'd dreamed up a few different scenarios, playing them in her head over and over as she'd imagined what she would do if she ever saw Jackson again, but falling for him wasn't one of them. She wasn't sure what to do.

Inside her house, she kicked off her mud-caked shoes and tiptoed into the kitchen where she found Lily at the sink up to her elbows in soapy water.

"Well, well." Lily turned toward her and grinned. "If it isn't my big sister sneaking in late. The déjà vu is strong today."

Rose made a face at her. "Hush. You'll wake Mom."

"She went out." Lily dried her hands on a tea towel. "I think she had a date with that biology teacher from the Trib."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Here comes the bride."

Her sister laughed and looked Rose up and down. "I was going to say the same thing to you."

"Hardly."

Lily sank into a chair at the table and tossed the towel aside. "Dish. You're falling for a boy. Look at you. You're all flushed."

Rose glanced in the pewter mirror by the door. It was true. Her cheeks were pink.

"It's complicated."

"Not really," Lily scoffed. "You see, when a boy and a girl like each other—"

"Ha, ha." Rose turned away from the mirror to regard her sister. "I don't need a talk about the birds and the bees, thanks."

Lily leaned back in her chair and grinned. "I'm just saying. In case you forgot how it works."

Rose made a face as she took a seat, then she sighed. "I don't know what to do, Lil."

"About Jackson?"

Rose nodded.

Lily rubbed her upper arms, bared by her thin, short-sleeved blouse. "Well, he did break your heart. But you were teenagers, Rose. It was a long time ago. Don't you think you can give him a second chance? Have you ever asked him why he left?"

"No. I can't seem to get the words out."

"Why not?"

Rose looked down at her hands. "I don't know."

"Maybe you're afraid of what he might say."

She mulled over Lily's words. "Maybe."

"You should talk to Mom."

The abrupt change of subject made Rose look up sharply. "About what?"

Lily shrugged. "About a lot of things. She misses you, you know."

Rose frowned. "I'm right here."

Lily leaned back and drew her finger across the table's surface, leaving a damp streak. "Are you? You're so closed off. I'm not saying you don't have a right to be. She did leave us. What I'm saying is that she is as deserving of forgiveness as you or me—and Jackson, too." She sighed heavily. "Sometimes good people make bad decisions, Rose. You can't hold that against them forever. You've got to give people a little grace."

Rose furrowed her brow, studying her sister.

"Or you might end up alone," Lily finished.

Rose huffed. "You sound like Mom."

"Well, maybe that's not always a bad thing." Lily stood and returned to the sink, plunging her hands into the soapy water. "Here, help me dry these, would you?"

Rose got up and grabbed the tea towel off the table. As she joined her sister by the sink, her thoughts drifted. Maybe Lily was right. Maybe Jackson did deserve a second chance.