Mad About You

semi-free hand.
    "Yeah." She pulled herself to her feet and took the life jackets. "I don't know where Chad's run off to, though."
    Bailey put two fingers in his mouth and whistled shrilly. Chad burst out of a grove of trees, carrying his slingshot.
    "Can we go now?" he yelled, running toward them, making it perfectly clear the adults had been the holdup all along.
    "If you carry your weight." Bailey tossed him the quilt.
    The walk to Milton Creek, the Kallihans' west property line, took about thirty minutes, but it was well worth it. They were lucky enough to have a family of persistent beavers on their land who'd dammed up a portion of the creek, just enough to form a deep swimming hole.
    Virginia's cheeks warmed when she saw the shady blue-green pool. She and Bailey had skinny-dipped there on more than one occasion when they'd dated. She caught his eye, and from his smile knew he, too, was remembering. In fact, she suspected that Chad might have been conceived on this very bank.
    Chad's expression was dubious. "It looks deep."
    "It is in some places," Bailey said. "Can you swim?"
    Chin jutting, Chad said, "Sure… a little."
    Immediately, Virginia said, "Then you should wear your life jacket."
    "No," Chad whined. "That's for sissies!"
    "Hey," Bailey said, raising an eyebrow. "You heard Ginny."
    "All right," he grumbled, frowning.
    They spread the large quilt on a mossy stretch of bank, the weeping willow above them providing dappled sun and shade as its spindly branches swung to and fro. Within minutes Bailey had stripped off his shirt and shoes and waded into the water. Virginia watched the muscles in his back ripple as he made a series of shallow dives to stake out the depth of the water.
    He surfaced to their far right and threw his head back. "It's deepest here—more than fifteen feet—everywhere else it seems to be running from five to eight feet." He swam back to the bank using powerful strokes, then stood up and waded out.
    Virginia was unable to tear her eyes from his dripping body. The water found every rippling valley as it rushed down. The hem of his nylon trunks dragged, pulling the waistband a half inch beneath his tan line, and outlining his manhood in jarring clarity. He walked over to them and shook like a shaggy dog, laughing when she squealed and Chad jumped up to run out of range.
    Bailey lowered himself to the quilt with a sigh, stretching out his long legs in front of him. "Feels good, doesn't it?" he asked her. "Coming back here, I mean."
    "Yes," she agreed, glad it felt special to him too. She pulled her T-shirt over her head a bit self-consciously. His gaze roved over her body as eagerly as hers had taken in his. To her embarrassment, her nipples hardened, plain to see in the pale pink swimsuit.
    "What's for lunch?" he asked with one eyebrow cocked.
    She reached over and gave his shoulder a playful shove, then he grabbed her hand and kissed the fleshy area between her index finger and thumb. The contact from his tongue triggered head-to-toe responses. Remembering Chad's accusation, she glanced around nervously, then said, "I'll get out the food."
    "I'll take him in before he eats." Bailey grabbed two life jackets as he stood up.
    While she unpacked sandwiches and opened bowls of coleslaw and baked beans, Virginia kept an eye on her men. Chad looked pale and thin in his baggy trunks, but his shoulders were wide and his legs were long, both guarantees that his father's good build would be his destiny. They spent several minutes collecting smooth stones for Chad's slingshot ammunition, tying them up in Bailey's bandanna, then they both waded out into the deeper water. Chad seemed tentative at first, his eyes widening in fright when his feet couldn't touch bottom. But he soon learned to trust the life jacket, and Bailey showed him some basic strokes and kicks he could do while wearing the flotation device.
    "Hey, Ginny!" Bailey called after a few minutes. "Aren't you coming in?"
    "I don't know..."
    He began to make chicken noises and flap his arms, Chad readily joining in.
    Laughing, she stood up. "Okay, okay." She slid her shorts down her legs, a move that earned her a catcall from Bailey. She waded in, strapping on her jacket.
    The water felt wonderfully cool and invigorating to her warm skin, the rocks smooth to her bare feet. She swam out to them in a few strokes, then rolled over on her back to wet her hair. Bailey's fingers grazed her toes, which triggered a tickling match, which