She laughed. “I haven’t thought about that in years. It was all of us girls, then you and Owen and Clay. How old were we then? About nine or ten?”
“I think so. And we spent weeks building that thing.”
“Yeah. And we borrowed—and I use the word ‘borrowed’ loosely—old pieces of wood from behind the barn.”
“The guys liberated tools from home, plus nails. We’d spend every day—”
“All day,” she added.
He laughed. “Yeah, all day working on it.”
“And Louise would bring lunch out to us, and we’d sit on the ground eating sandwiches and talk about how we were going to decorate on the inside.”
“No, you and Honor and Brenna would talk decorating. Clay and Owen and I would discuss various ways we’d defend it.”
“I beg to differ. I discussed having enough windows to overlook all defense points. Brenna was the one who wanted curtains.”
“Oh, right. And then Owen wanted to boot you off our team because you were a girl, and the two of you argued sexism for at least an hour.”
She grinned. “I believe I made my point clear. That was a fun day.”
His lips curved. “Not for Owen it wasn’t. If I remember right, as punishment, you made him go into the house with Honor to help her search for the plastic dishes and the curtains.”
“He was so miserable.”
“And you loved every minute of it.”
Thinking about Owen’s misery—even past misery—made her happy at the moment. “I did. I believe that was the day he became a feminist.”
Jason laughed. “He definitely believed in equal rights for women all his adult life. You obviously made him see the light.”
She leaned back in her chair and sipped her water. “See? If men and women could just build a fort in their backyards more often, there’d be less arguing over equal rights.”
“You think that’s the way to solve arguments?”
She shrugged. “It’s a start. Maybe a tree house could be the answer as well. Neutral ground, have a tea party.”
“Put up some curtains.”
“Develop common ground for enemy vantage points.”
He laughed. “I can see the benefits.”
“Defeating common enemies can bring about world peace. Or at least end an argument. Though nothing could beat our first fort.”
Jason nodded. “That one was the best.”
Erin could clearly visualize exactly what their fort had looked like—a serious disaster. But oh, how they’d loved the finished product. To their child imaginations, it was a castle. And they’d played in there the entire summer. Though they never had put drapes up in it. Their mother had balked when she’d found Brenna rooting through the linen closet, and had absolutely denied Brenna’s request for fort drapes.
Well, they couldn’t have everything. But they had managed to sneak out some rugs and pillows. And Louise always made them a big pitcher of lemonade, perfect for hot summer days.
“I guess I’ll have to build a fort or a tree house in my backyard. Next time you and I have a disagreement, we’ll take it to the fort.”
She looked up at him. “Or maybe we could keep our arguments to a minimum?”
“You’re ruining my fun, Erin. I was looking forward to building that tree house. You know I have that great big oak tree out back. It’s perfect for a tree house.”
She shook her head. “Fine. Build the tree house. I think you’re just a big old kid at heart and you want that tree house for yourself.”
He looked at her with that kind of direct, heated look that made her toes curl. “You could do all kinds of fun things in a tree house.”
She arched a brow. “Like?”
“I don’t know. Picnics. Read books. Defend yourself from invading zombies.”
“And here I thought you were going to say something entirely different.”
“Like what? Hot sex in a tree house?”
Her body flamed. “Yes.”
“You know I think about that. Not tree house sex. But sex. With you. All the damn time.”
She sighed, her body aching at the thought of being with him. “Then why the pull back the other night?”
“Because I’m at war with myself. I want you, Erin. I think you know that. But I don’t want to do anything to screw up our friendship.”
“And you think sex will do that.”
“It might.”
“And it might not.”
“I’m not sure I’m willing to risk that just for some revenge fling.”
His words stung. “So we won’t have a revenge fling.”
He looked confused. “Now you don’t want to have sex.”
“I do. I just don’t want it to be about revenge, if that makes sense. I just want it to be about you and me, and what we want with each other.”
He waited a beat before answering. “Okay.”
“Look, just think about it. And I’ll think about it. And we’ll press pause on this whole thing for a minute. Take a breath, you know?”
He nodded. “Sure. So what do you want to do tonight?”
She exhaled, happy that they were back on solid ground again. She’d hated having that distance between them. Now it felt good between them again. Better than good, actually.
“How about a movie?” she asked. “There’s that new romantic comedy that just came out.”
He grimaced. “Sounds great.”
Jason hated romantic movies. He was a horror-movie guy all the way.
He might have apologized, and they might have made some headway in their relationship, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t make him suffer a little.
CHAPTER
fourteen
EVEN THOUGH HONOR was the Bellini Weddings official planner, all the sisters typically pitched in to help on wedding days. Honor generally handled overall wedding planner duties, Brenna dealt with wine and the caterers, and Erin assisted Honor and otherwise went wherever she was needed.
This morning they all had a hearty breakfast, as was typical on wedding days.
“I forgot to ask you how your date went with Randall the other night?” Erin asked as she finished up her omelet.
“Oh, well, he’s very nice.”
“Code for they have nothing in common, Randall’s a horny bastard and he probably tried to grope her midway through dinner,” Brenna said.
“Brenna,” their mother said.
“What? It’s the truth, isn’t it?”
Honor scooped eggs onto her fork and didn’t answer.
Brenna gave a smug smile. “Thought so. Why do you always pick such losers, Honor?”
“That’s not true. He seemed very nice.”
“Oh, right. That’s why he’s always hitting on the bridesmaids at the weddings.”
“What? I’ve never noticed that.”
Brenna rolled her eyes.
Honor looked at Erin, who nodded. “He does.”
“Really? I didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I thought you already knew that. Everyone knows it.”