Finally, she pushed herself up, and crawling over the parking brake and gearshift with great care, she slung one leg over mine and settled her body on my lap. Instinctively I brought my hands to her hips, keeping her steady.
“Flynn, I’ll go with you anywhere. To the ends of the earth and back again. As long as we’re together, I won’t ever need anything but you.”
She kissed me with abandon, and I held her against me, knowing I’d never need anything or anyone but this girl in my arms.
A car backfired on the street outside my mom’s house, jerking me back to the present. Had I dozed off? I wasn’t sure. What had happened a decade ago sometimes felt more like a dream than reality.
I sat up and pinched the bridge of my nose between my finger and thumb. It was late, and I knew I had to be up early to take Bridget to school. But talking to Ali had given me a hell of a hard-on, and remembering us together in the past hadn’t helped that condition. I stood up and grabbed my towel from the hook behind my door.
“Cold showers. And I thought I was beyond this shit.” I slung the towel over my shoulder and headed down the hall to the bathroom, muttering to myself the whole time.
“MOMMY, DID YOU TALK to Daddy about Maisie’s party yet?” Bridge dropped her drawing pad and pencil bag on the kitchen table with a clatter and climbed into a chair. “I have to tell her if I’m coming. I can go, right? All the other girls are going, and it’s going to be so much fun, and I don’t want to be the only one who misses out.”
Crud.I’d meant to mention the party to Flynn last week, but it had slipped my mind. Actually, most things slipped my mind when I was near him anymore, which annoyed the living crap out of me. I was trying to be a grown up, for criminey’s sake. But one look at those blue eyes and I was as gaga as I’d been at age fourteen.
“Pitiful,” I muttered under my breath as I drained the kitchen sink and wiped off my hands.
“What’d you say?” Bridge cocked her head at me.
“Sorry.” I cleared my throat. “I’ll ask him today when he comes to pick you up.”
“But you’re going to be at the stand. Remember? I’m staying so Aunt Meghan can give me my art lesson and Daddy’s getting me here.”
I turned around and leaned against the counter. “I’ll text him and ask if he can stop to see me on his way here.” I tugged my phone out of the pocket of my jeans and skimmed my fingers over the screen.
I need to talk to you about something before you get Bridge. Can you stop at the stand on your way to the farm?
His answer came back quickly.Sure. Everything okay?
I paused.Yeah, just parenting stuff.
Okay. See you in an hour or so.
I stared down at the screen for a few minutes more. I could’ve just called Flynn and asked him about the party, but, I reasoned, it would be easier to do it in person. Plus we could catch up on Bridget’s still-rocky relationship with her cousin Graham, who apparently had not taken well the news of his expected sibling. He continued to harass Bridge, though he’d toned down his behavior at school.
Meghan sailed into the kitchen, glowing from every portal in her body. She ruffled Bridget’s curls and grinned at me. “Miss B and I are heading to the peach orchard for her lesson. Are you off to the stand?”
“Yeah, I was just about to head there.” I tucked my phone back into my pocket. “I’ll walk with y’all.”
Bridge gathered her supplies, and Meghan stopped at her car to retrieve her portable stool, easel and paints. We trudged down the path that led through the orchard to the stand as Bridget skipped ahead.
“Something up?” Meghan nudged my arm as we walked.
“Hmmm? With me? Nah.”
“You’re quiet. And you have that look on your face.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, Mom, what look is that, specifically?”
Meghan smirked. “I call it the Flynn Evans is back in town expression.”
“Bite me.”
“No, thanks. I’ve had a better offer. Is there any reason you might be wearing the Flynn look today?”
I shrugged. “He’s stopping by the stand on the way to get Bridge. Which, by the way, thanks for doing her lesson this morning so she can still go with her father. I appreciate it.”
“Not a problem. Don’t change the subject. Flynn’s stopping to see you at the stand? Hmmmm.”
