“You splash us, Cal!” Matilda slapped at the water to get me back.
Laughing, I shook the water out of my hair. “Sorry, girls.”
“That okay. Watch!” Matilda flapped her arms and paddled over to me in the water. “Watch!” She paddled about, shrieking with laughter as she flipped onto her back and kicked water at me.
“Hey! Who said you could splash the pirate captain? I’ve got just the thing for cheeky little buccaneers.” I caught her by the belly and lifted her out of the water, soaring her above the ripples bobbing to the riverbank. “Whoosh!”
Matilda’s tiny legs kicked in the air. “Higher, Cal!”
“I dunno…” I swooped her close to the water. “You sure you’re brave enough to go higher?”
Goggled eyes turned to me, her mouth set in a determined line. “Matilda brave!”
“If you say so…” I lifted her up, up, up, until she was soaring above my head. “Oh no… My hands… They’re slipping…” I shot Erin a grin as I lowered Matilda to a safer distance. “Oh no!” I let go. Matilda plummeted into the water with a splash, and when she popped to the surface, her floaty vest not letting her sink far, I grinned. “Oops.”
Matilda giggled. “Oops!” She shoved the wet curls off her goggles and grabbed my arm. “Again!”
I must have tossed Matilda into the water a dozen times before Erin swam over to rescue me. Her palm settled on my cheek, and she pulled me down for a kiss. I couldn’t help sliding a hand over her gorgeous rump and giving it an appreciative squeeze.That ass… The stuff dreams were made from. Even my fantasies hadn’t imagined she’d bethatgorgeous under all those clothes.
“Get on with you,” I whispered before I got myself into a hard spot again.
Grinning, Erin paddled to Matilda. The two of them drifted away to the rock pools, and Erin pointed at all the secret spots in the shallows, their excited voices hushed so they didn’t scare away any critters.
I hauled myself out of the water and shook out my hair, the sandstone bank hot under my toes, and the sun baking my shoulders. My gaze flicked back to the silhouette of Erin by the rocks. That was when I felt it.Thatfeeling. This wasn’t just the hope of love. The heavy warmth settling in my chest was the real deal. I’d waited so long, and finally, Erin was here with me.
We might really work out.
18
Those Meaningful Moments in Spring
Erin
“Til!” I called. “Wait!”
“No wait! Bath time!”
The front door was forgotten. The heavy oak stayed wide open, and it wouldn’t be long before tiny moths found their way inside the house to dance around the chandelier hanging over the entryway. My hand flailed for the banister. I was already out of breath. How were Matilda’s tiny legs so fast?
She skidded to a stop at the top of the stairs.
“T-Til?” I wheezed.
What had caught her attention? I edged around the corner. Her head tilted, she stood stock-still, round belly jutting out of her ruffled swimsuit, staring at the open door at the end of the hallway.
“What there?” She pointed at Lila and Cole’s old bedroom. “Matilda not been there.”
No one went in there.
Matilda had stuck her little nose into almost every room—except the attic—and she loved stealing Callan’s bed for afternoon naps, but this door was usually locked. I never went searching for the key.
I crouched beside her. “No one’s been in there for a long time.”
“Matilda go first.”
“No—wait—”
She bolted down the hallway but skidded to a stop at the door. She squealed, “It aprincessbedroom!” and disappeared inside.
