As five O'clock approached, she was beginning to wish she hadn't told Keaton that she would go with him. How could she have let him talk her into swimming in a creek where snakes slithering around in the nearby bushes?
The little blue car pulled up in her drive at exactly five and she didn't have her swimming suit on. She met Keaton at the door, scratching at a new spot under the band of her bra in the back.
His smile was disarming. "Ready?"
She made a face. "Not really."
He sobered, his amber gaze expressing concern. "What's wrong?"
She grimaced, scratching along her waistband. "I think I've got poison ivy. I don't understand it. I've been around poison ivy before and I didn't break out. I didn't even see any poison ivy today."
He frowned. "Are you sure it's poison ivy?"
She frowned up at him. "What else?"
He shrugged. "Let me see."
She modestly lifted her shirt a little and gently pulled the waistband down far enough to reveal the angry red bumps.
He examined the bumps and smiled. "That's not poison ivy. It's chiggers."
"Chiggers?" she said. "What are chiggers?"
"Well, they're little red..." He hesitated. "Never mind. You don't want to know. Do you have any clear fingernail polish?"
"Fingernail polish?" she parroted again. "What for?"
He leaned against the door jam, smiling down at her in a tolerant way. "Put a dab of it on each bump and it'll kill...I mean, it'll make the bumps go away after a few days, and it'll stop itching right now."
What would it kill? He was probably right. More than likely she didn't want to know. She shrugged. "Yes, I have some. I'll go put it on now."
In the bathroom she painted the little bumps, wincing as the sting burned the itch away. Donning her bathing suit, she emerged from the bathroom and handed the bottle of fingernail polish to Keaton.
"Would you put some on the one on my back?"
"Sure." He gently painted the bump, apologizing when she winced at the pain.
"It's all right. Anyone stupid enough to go wandering in the woods deserves this." She turned around and took the bottle from his hand.
He frowned. "You went into the woods alone?"
She screwed the cap tight and scowled back at him. "Don't start in on me. I don't need a lecture. I've learned my lesson. I've been scratching all day."
He smiled. "I hate to tell you this, but you probably got the chiggers while you were cutting the grass. I should have warned you to wear some kind of repellent."