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He hung up and I let out a dreamy sigh. That guy was just—
Hours. I jumped up. I was still in pajamas and the kids were packed for their dad’s house.
I rushed into the living room. Four faces peered at me. Landon was driving race cars over the carpet while Riley watched and probably plotted to grab one. Avery was muscling Afton out of her dollhouse, but Afton had hoarded all the dolls on her side.
“After we eat,” I announced, “we’re going to get ready to go camping.”
Avery jumped up and cheered, the doll war with her sister forgotten. Afton grinned and raced for her room, probably to start packing. Landon roared and raced for his bedroom. Riley paused to make sure the noise was happy sounds, then grinned and clapped.
I wished Holden was here right now. I could kiss him for this.
* * *
Holden
I was at the cabin before Stetson arrived. This place was little more than a hunting shack—a nice one—on two acres with a decent amount of shoreline. He hadn’t taken his boat dock out of the water yet, so the kids had a safe place to fish. It was shallow, thanks to the dry summer, but it’d be fine for shore fishing. We’d all catch a lot of weeds.
The property had a firepit, and the outdoor patio furniture was still out. Next month, Stetson would call me and we’d come here to winterize the place. A shed nearly the size of the cabin functioned as a garage when there was bad weather, but it was mostly storage for the winter.
There were enough trees surrounding his place to give him some privacy, and he’d tilled a neat garden for Nora to grow her vegetables without Mom bitching at her.
Mom wasn’t a gardener, and I had no clue why it irritated her that Nora grew more than the standard cucumbers and tomatoes that everyone planted. She grew a variety of cucumbers and tomatoes, but also all kinds of squashes, peppers, leafy greens, herbs, and anything she thought would taste good.
I suspected Nora asked Stetson for a little corner because she was afraid Mom would hit her produce with harsh chemicals when Nora was trying to keep everything organic.
Yeah, I could see Mom doing that.
Stetson pulled in with kayaks strapped to the bed of his pickup.
The perk of the summer drought was that it was a warm September with the temperature close to seventy. I’d put my sweats from the morning back on but left my hoodie in the truck.
Stetson got out and opened the back door of his pickup. He was wearing black sweats like me, but he had on an old Coal Haven Drillers shirt with the sleeves ripped off. His ball cap was on backward. “When’s your girlfriend get here?”
I had yet to unload everything I’d brought, but I’d help Stetson first. “She’ll be here in an hour. And maybe don’t call her my girlfriend.”
He snorted. “Right. Forgot who I was talking to.”
“Jackass.” I said it with more heat than I intended.
“Wait.” He inspected me. “It’s her you don’t want to hear that?”
“She’s got a lot going on.”
Folding his arms, his biceps bulging, he faced me. A guy who hadn’t grown up with him his entire life might be intimidated. “You want to be serious?”
“I am serious. But she’s taking it slowish.”
His eyes narrowed. “How do you take something slowish? Ohhh.” He nodded. “Because you two already fucked and she hasn’t opened the invitation again.”
I didn’t correct him about the best sex I’d ever had. “She’s gun-shy. Her ex is a complete dick to her.”
“They all say that.” Stetson didn’t avoid relationships like me. He dated everyone until they figured out he’d never ask them to marry him. We avoided two different types of commitment.
“I saw it. He flaked out on his weekend with the kids and was yelling at her and—”
“Holy shit.” Stetson’s deep laughter rang across his property. “You two are having sex, but it’s the rest you want, and she won’t give it.”
I scowled. He could empty his own damn truck. I spun to my pickup. “It’s new. For both of us.”
