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My eyes go to Enzo, and he’s watching me with an intense expression. His mouth is turned up in a slight smile and the look in his eyes has me trembling. I want him to meet Hudson, but I also don’t want to push it if that’s not something he wants. I don’t think he’ll be against meeting him, so I take the chance.
“Come on, I want you to meet my friend.”
I take Hudson’s hand, smiling as I watch Faye, Alice and Chev all hugging their kids and talking so much, I can’t discern one voice from another. Linda is with her kids, too, a big smile on her face. I can’t help but watch them all with an aching heart, because I know just how good it feels and even though we’ve been having the time of our lives, we’ve missed our kids.
“Hudson,” I say when I reach Enzo. “This is my friend Lorenzo, but you can call him Enzo. He lives here at the ranch.”
Hudson looks up at Enzo, and then presents a big, toothy grin. “You live here?”
Enzo nods. “I sure do.”
“You’re so lucky! Do you have horses?”
“I’ve got a lot of horses. Do you want to see?”
Hudson nods, looking at me. “Can we? Please?”
“Of course.”
I smile, because Enzo is putting himself in the picture and that makes me happy. I know he’s probably overwhelmed and a little unsure, but you can’t see it in his face.
We all make our way down to the barn, where Enzo shows Hudson all the horses. Of course, he likes Red the most. I can’t say I blame him, that horse is my favorite, too. Red laps up the attention, letting Hudson snuggle him and feed him hay.
“Do you like riding in cars, Hudson?” Enzo asks him.
Hudson nods.
Enzo grins. “Then you’ll love this.”
He uncovers the buggy and Hudson’s eyes get big. “That’s so cool! Can we go for a ride?”
“If your mom says we can.”
I laugh. “Of course.”
Enzo gives us both a helmet and we climb into the buggy, Hudson squished between us.
“Hang on, this thing is fast,” Enzo says, looking down at Hudson. “Are you ready?”
Hudson nods. “Go fast, go fast!”
Enzo laughs. “As you wish.”
He speeds out of the barn at a rapid speed, and Hudson’s squeal of delight fills the air as we bounce down the paddocks, through the trails and come to a stop at the river. We climb out, and Hudson begs to swim. I tell him he can, but it’s freezing. He’s not worried and quickly dives into the water, splashing around, the smile on his face contagious.
“Gotta say,” Enzo murmurs. “He’s a fuckin’ great kid.”
My heart swells. “He’s the best.”
“You’re lucky to have him.”
I glance at Enzo. “Yeah, I know.”
His eyes scan my face and for a moment, I can see the desire to kiss me, but he holds back. I wanted so much to see how he would be with Hudson, before having a conversation with him about what might happen after the retreat, and now I’ve seen him with my son, I only want that to work so much more. I don’t want us to end, I want to see where this goes, but I don’t know how that’s going to work.
We finish up with the swim and Enzo takes us back to the ranch where Hudson joins in with all the other kids at the lake, swimming and kayaking. I sit down beside Faye and Alice, exhaling happily. “Best surprise ever,” I say, watching the kids.
“It really was,” Faye smiles. “Your son is adorable.”
“Your kids are, too. All of them are.”
Alice leans back on her elbows. “I’m starting to get sad about going home, though. When you see your kids, you see reality and it has been such a good time away.”
I nod. “I get that.”
“Have you spoken to Enzo yet?” Faye asks me. “He looked like he was getting along well with Hudson.”
“He was, but I haven’t spoken to him yet. To be honest, I’m not sure how to approach it. It seems almost impossible to try and do some sort of long-distance relationship...especially in its infancy. Like, this is the time when you should be spending most of your time with that person.”
“I think you should talk to him and see what he suggests,” Alice throws in. “He might have a suggestion you haven’t considered.”
“You two need to stop being so good at all this advice stuff,” I laugh.
They both grin and we chill out in the sun while lunch is being prepared. Then, we call all the kids in, and they gather around the table for the best lunch you could want as a child. They’ve got pizza, except they get to make their own. Happily, they take a base and start putting toppings on before taking it to the chef who puts it in a large oven.
