Beth unpacked her boxes and suitcases in her childhood bedroom. It was certainly going to be a change living under her parents roof again. If she had money to do so, she'd rent an apartment until September when she moved to the townhouse she and Faith would be taking possession of for the next year, at least.

Her phone buzzed. "Hey," she answered.

"Hey yourself. What are you doing?"

"I'm unpacking."

"Want some help?"

"Sure. How long before you are here?"

"Turn around."

She spun around. "Hi." She walked over and hugged him. "I'm glad you're here."

"I'm glad its summer again. I get to see you every day."

She bit her lip and stepped back. "I need to talk to you about that."

"Ok. I'm listening."

"Monday, I start my job."

"Job? Where?"

"Starbucks."

"But it's summer." Jack was really disappointed. He had dreams of spending the whole summer at the lake, tubing and swimming, stealing kisses, having barbecues. It was supposed to be perfect.

"It is and I need to save up about five hundred dollars for my part of the security deposit for the townhouse."

"Well, you're not working every day, are you?"

"No, just four days a week."

"So I'll get to see you three days a week? So much for a perfect summer." He stood up and walked out, disgusted with himself for acting like a child but too disappointed to do anything about it.

"Jack!" Beth yelled from her window as he walked to his old truck. "Can't we talk?"

"Let me know what day you can fit me in."

"Jack!"

Instead of finishing her unpacking she drove straight to the lake and walked up to the lookout, knowing that's where he would be.

He was. "Didn't figure it would take you too long to find me."

"Because I know the man I love like the back of my hand." She sat down next to him and dangled her legs over the edge.

"Then you knew I wouldn't like missing out on summer with you."

"True. But that unfortunately doesn't change the fact that I need this money."

"I had plans for us, Beth. We were supposed to see each other every day and have barbecues and go tubing and make out when no one's looking. You were supposed to be with me. This is our summer."

"This is our summer. We can do all those things. We can see each other every day. I'm only working from 6 to 12 those four days so in the afternoons, we can still be here tubing and barbecuing."

"And making out?" he asked, a hopeful look on his face.

"A little."

"I missed kissing you," he whispered, placing a featherlike kiss on her lips. "A lot."

She laughed. "You're a pretty good kisser now."

"Better than Bobby Palmer?"

"A thousand times better than Bobby Palmer."

"Woohoo!" he yelled, jumping up and removing his shirt. "I KISS BETTER THAN BOBBY PALMER! He yelled, his voice echoing over the water. "Jump with me, Beth."

"Uh, no. I've never done that and I never will."

"You don't know what you're missing. Falling is exhilarating."

"I prefer not to fall anywhere."

"You fell in love," he pointed out. "So did I. I think that was pretty exhilarating too."

"Jack, I'm sorry that I made you upset."

He turned around and smiled, looking down at her. "I'm not. I was irritated but it wasn't you really. It was just a reaction. I'm sorry I acted like a jerk."

"Its ok."

"You forgive me?" He gave her a long sweet kiss.

"Yes, but I'm still not jumping."

"Come on. Don't you trust me?"

"Trust has nothing to do with not wanting to break my neck."

"Ok, well, I'm going. See you down there?"

Later, Jack walked her to her Jeep to say goodbye. "Wanna go to a movie some night?"

"Yes."

"What do you want to see?"

"I don't care, I just want to be with you."

"In that case, Batman vs. Spiderman?"

She rolled her eyes and gave him a kiss. "Sure. Remind me to bring a book."

"You said you didn't care."

"I was hoping you'd want to see a romantic movie."

"When have I ever seen a chick flick with you, babe?"

"First time for everything."

"You jump off the lookout with me, I'll see a chick flick," he dared her.

"I'll think about it. See you tomorrow."

"See you."

…..

On Monday, Beth got up at five am, took a shower, and slipped into her uniform for her new job.

When her shift started and the manager unlocked the doors, Jack was the first one to walk in. "Hey," he said with a grin. Those dimples.

"Hey yourself. What are you doing here?"

"Getting coffee."

"You don't drink coffee."

"Tea then. Chai tea latte please, Miss Beth, is it?" he teased, reading her name tag.

"Yes, its Beth. And you are…?"

"Jack."

"Well, Jack, your latte will be ready in a moment if you'd like to step to the pickup counter."

"Yes, of course. Thank you, Beth."

He stayed at the table by the door for hours. When it was time for her break, she joined him. "You're still here."

"Very astute observation, babe. I can see why you get straight A's."

"Haha. Don't you have anything to do today?"

"Yes, I believe I'm picking up my girlfriend from her job and taking her back to my house for a dip in the lake."

"I have two more hours."

"I'll wait. Maybe I'll get another chai latte and a Danish this time."

She grabbed his hand across the table. "I'm glad you're here." She stood up and then bent down to kiss him. "Love you."

"Love you back."

….

Two hours later, Beth, exhausted and slightly grumpy, followed Jack back to his house for lunch.

"Jack, I just realized I don't have my suit. I can't go in the lake." Hope Valley was experiencing a heat wave and the lake sounded like perfection.

"Actually, you left a suit here one time," he told her, opening her Jeep door for her.

"When I was twelve? I'm pretty sure I won't fit in that suit."

"You could try. And I'll give you a t-shirt to wear over it."

"Ok." She didn't want to go home to grab one so she would use the suit she had left there.

"Hey, what's going on?" He could always tell when she wasn't feeling her best.

"I'm tired and I'm hungry and….I don't know."

"We could take a nap in the hammock."

"Let's eat and then ok, I'd love a nap."

After a meal of cold macaroni salad and a cheeseburger from the grill, Jack took Beth to his room, handed her the old swimsuit, that looked really small, a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

"Ok, I'm going to ask. Jack, why do you have my old swimsuit in your dresser?"

"Do you remember when you spent the night? Yes, we were twelve and honestly, I'm surprised your parents and mine agreed, but this was the suit you had on and I lent you clothes to change into, much like I am now. Once you left the next day, we realized you left it and we washed it. I just never remembered to give it back."

"Good grief you were cute back then."

"You thought I was cute?"

"Yeah. It was no secret that my best friend was adorable and my girlfriends were all jealous of me." He grinned, apparently happy that all the girls were crushing on him. "Stop," she said with a kiss to the corner of his mouth. "I'm going to go change."

When she came back out of the bathroom, he had to fight not to kiss her silly right there. She looked so sexy in his clothes he could barely stand it. "What? Do I look ok?" She looked down at her clothes and back up at him.

"Uh….yeah. Very ok." She blushed and he let his eyes roam from the top of her head to her long beautiful legs and cute toes with pink and blue polish. "How does the suit fit?"

"Well, pretty much like I thought. Let's just say this t-shirt isn't coming off." She yawned making her eyes water.

"Ok, babe. Nap time."

They wandered out to the two shade trees by the beach and expertly made themselves comfortable in the hammock. Both of them had spent countless hours right there but this time it was different. Before, they had laid side by side, claiming their friendship was only that. Now, they didn't pretend anymore.

Jack slipped his arm around her and sighed when she rested her head on his chest, their legs intertwined, her arm across his stomach. This was a perfect moment.

"I love you, Beth."

"Mmm." She had already started dozing off.

"I'll take that to mean you love me too."

"Shh," she said quietly.

"Sorry."

About an hour later, they woke up. Beth first. She smiled when she realized where she was. It felt good to lay in his arms. Even in his sleep he cherished her, his arms around her in love and protection. She stretched her neck up and kissed his chin. "Love you, Jack," she whispered.

"Only took an hour," he mumbled.

"Whatever." She laughed and decided she didn't want to move.

"Wanna go for a swim?"

It was hot and their bodies sleeping so close had created more heat so going in the cool water sounded amazing. "Yes, let's go."

She took off her shorts but left her t-shirt on as planned. They waded out into the cool water until it was as high as their thighs and then they dove underwater.

When they popped back up, they were treading water about a foot from each other. "Much better."

"I'm curious," he told her, moving closer.

"About what?"

"How small is that suit?" Now he was right in front of her, a grin on his face.

"Its small. I was twelve with a twelve year old body. I am not twelve anymore."

"No, you certainly are not." She felt one of his arms slip behind her back.

"Jack, what are you doing?" He didn't answer, he just kissed her slowly and deliberately.

"Kissing you. It's different in the water," he told her a moment later.

She slipped her arms around his neck, letting him tread water for both of them. "How?"

He kissed her again, holding her as close as he could. "It just is. I can't explain it."

She smiled and before he knew what was happening, she pushed her whole body weight on his shoulders and dunked him and then swam away.

"Hey!" She laughed as he sputtered, clearing the water out of his mouth. "What was that?"

"I dunked you," she said with a shrug.

"Mmhm. But why? We were having such a nice moment."

"It was fun. You were so serious."

"I take kissing you very seriously."

She splashed water at him, almost a taunt or a dare. "Marco!" She yelled, diving beneath the water.

…..

That evening, Beth went home and Jack stayed at his. He wanted to chat with his parents.

"Ok, dear. Go sit in the living room and we will be right in."

He did as he was told and waited for them. About five minutes later, they joined him.

"What's on your mind, Jack?" Charlotte asked.

"I think I need to find a job."

"Ok. But its summer. Don't you want to relax?"

"Yes, but I need to save up some money."

"For what?"

"I want to be able to live on my own with my own vehicle. I appreciate you letting me stay here without paying rent but at some point I am going to get married. I need to be able to provide for myself before I can do that."

His dad sat forward and looked Jack in the eyes. "I'm proud of you, son. But I think that you are rushing into things you don't need to worry about right now. Are you and Beth planning on getting married this year?"

"No. I want to wait until I'm out of the Police Academy."

"So about eighteen months from now."

"Yeah."

"I have an idea."

"Ok."

"I agree that you should get a job and save every penny. So eighteen months from now you will have a good savings. You can use it to pay for a down payment on a house or a condo. But, stay here while you save. You can move to the basement apartment so you have privacy, even though I still maintain the no girls rule."

"Ok. That's a good idea. Now I just need to find a good paying job that will work with my school schedule in the Fall."

….

Later, Jack was looking online for local jobs when someone knocked on his door.

"Come in."

"Hey, son. Can I talk with you?"

"Sure, Ma." He closed his laptop and set it aside.

"Ok, so your father didn't want me to bring this up. He said it's your business and all but…can I ask you a question?"

"Ok."

"I know you love Beth. You have for a long time. I'm assuming your conversation earlier was in reference to her."

"That's not a question."

"Alright, sassy. Are you planning on proposing soon?"

"I don't have a ring and she certainly deserves one. So as soon as I get one, I'll ask her father and then we will go from there."

She put a small gray box on his leg. "You have one now."

Jack looked at the box and then up at his mom. "Ma?"

"Open it." He slowly opened the lid. "It was my grandmother's."

"You want me to have this?"

"Yes. It was always my plan to give it to a daughter if I had one, or my oldest son. That's you."

"Ma, that's very sweet."

"Don't you like it?"

"Its really nice."

"Look at it this way. You wont have to buy one now or scrimp and save for that along with an apartment and school and everything else. I think Beth will love this."

"She will. Thank you." He stood up and hugged his mom. "I really appreciate it."

"I'm so proud of you and I love you. You know that."

"Yes, I know."

"I love that lovely woman you're going to marry too."

"So do I."