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He set out a long row of the tiny pots and poured a bunch of dirt into a bucket that he scooped into the pots as he walked along the row.
“I’ll put some soil in first, then you’ll put a seed in each little pot, and then I’ll cover them and you get to finish off by watering. Little plants like lots of water, it helps them grow.”
“Maybe I’m a little plant and that’s why I like to be in the bath so much.”
He laughed and tugged gently on her ponytail before kissing her forehead. “Maybe, little miss, maybe.”
Jethro poured some seeds into her hand and she went down the row, dropping a little seed into each one. It was hard to believe that anything pretty would come out of these dried out little specks but if Jethro said it would work, she believed him.
They finished up that batch and Jethro gave her another handful of seeds. These ones looked different than the last batch.
“You’re going to do the same thing with these except after I put the top layer of soil on, you’re going to pat it down before you water them, like this.” Jethro demonstrated on one of the tiny pots, his big hands looking kind of silly as he did. “These little guys kinda like to be tucked in.”
“Me too!”
“You’re the silliest little girl, baby,” he said with a pat to her diapered bottom and a kiss to her cheek.
They went through the row again and when it was time for Sable to tamp down the dirt, she hesitated.
“Go on, you know what to do,” Jethro said.
And she did. It was a simple task and she could even visualize herself doing it. The problem was that that meant she could see the result too: she’d get dirty. She wasn’t supposed to get dirty. Always clean, always tidy—she had to be spotless. And if she did this…
“I can’t. I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad.”
His thick brows creased in concern. “Is your shoulder hurting? Are you tired?”
“No, but…I’m going to get dirty. I’m going to make a mess.”
Jethro tilted his head. “So what? I come home from work all gritty and sweaty half the days of the week. A little dirt under your nails isn’t going to scare me. Didn’t you ever play in sandboxes when you were a kid? Make sandcastles at the beach? Go outside and make mud pies and splash in puddles when it was raining?”
“No.”
She could see the beat of shock that hit him. But because he was him, Jethro, her daddy, who always knew the right things to say, it passed through him in a second and he grinned at her.
Then he reached over onto the table where some loose soil and water had mixed to make a little mud puddle. He dipped his finger in it and then—
Wiped it on her. On her cheek. Then on her other cheek. Scooped a little more and made a line down her nose.
She made a little squeak in indignation, but he just smiled at her again.
“Come on, baby. Play with me. It’ll be fun. Promise. And then I’ll get you all scrubbed up and clean and no one will have to know little miss Sable Hollingsford ever touched a speck of dirt. Come on. I know you want to get me back. What would it feel like to smear a little mud right…here?”
He drew a finger across his forehead and because he was feeling playful, he’d used the finger that already had mud on it. Not a lot, but still enough to leave a streak across his handsome face.
“What?” he asked, looking around as if he didn’t know what she was laughing at, as if he hadn’t done it on purpose. “What’s so funny?”
“You, um, have something…”
Sable held her breath and drew a finger through the mud slick. It felt weird, but not entirely unpleasant. Then she took a step toward Jethro and stood on her tippy-toes so she could make a line right above the one already there.
“Right here.”
“That’s funny. You’ve got a little something…there,” he replied as he tapped her chin and then drew a filthy finger down her neck until it reached the collar of his shirt.
Okay, this was fun. And it would be more fun if he had fewer clothes on. And if she did. She stripped off the thermal she had on and then reached for his and he let her tug it up as far as she could and then he finished it off, tossing his shirt aside as his gaze got greedy and hungry. It hadn’t been that long since they’d had lunch so she was pretty sure he was hungry for her.
