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"It's a short paddle up river and a day at camp before we paddle back. All he really needs is a sleeping bag and spare set of clothes if he ends up in the water. I got extra everything if he forgot something."
"I just want to make sure he's got everything he needs," I protest, "you already do so much for him. I don't want him to be burden."
"Sage--"
My thighs quiver every time this man calls me by my first name. It took months to get him to stop calling me "Doctor Everett." Sometimes I think I should have let him keep addressing me professionally, something about the way my name sounds coming from those full lips always makes me imagine what it would sound like if he said it when we were--
"-- I have three younger brothers and I've been leading youth outings since I was sixteen. This is not my first rodeo. I'm a certified lifeguard with swift water rescue training and I'm certified in CPR.
"We'll be fine. And I promised Jax I'd take him on an overnight if he aced that summer reading challenge. I owe the kid."
"I just appreciate all you've done for Jackson," I tell him, "He's really getting attached to you and your family and I don't want him wearing out his welcome is all."
Rapid gives me a look that I'm not sure I've ever seen on him before. For a second, he looks like a man on the verge of making a confession. Then the expression passes and his face is stretched in that wide grin that shines from under the beard that covers his face.
"Not a chance in hell of that happening," he assures me. "You get the weekend off, right?"
"As much as a small-town doctor with no relief ever gets a weekend off." I laugh.
"Well, the biggest trouble-makers on the ridge are going to be on a weekend canoe trip, so things should be quiet enough around here for the next few days. Oughta give you a chance to take a bubble bath. Have a glass of wine-- or three. Read one of those sappy romance books with all the filthy parts left in."
Is that fire I see in those blue eyes?
He's probably just getting a kick out of making me blush.
"How do you know what I have planned for my weekend?" I duck out from under his gaze, making busy work for myself by rearranging the stems of late season wild flowers in the bouquet on the table.
Rapid's smile become a light laugh as he shakes his head, "I know what Mom did whenever she got us boys out of the house."
"Rapid! Are we going?" Jackson's voice is all eagerness and impatience as he yells from the driveway.
"On it, bud!" Rapid yells back. "I'll have him back on Sunday afternoon," he says, turning back to me.
"You boys have fun." I follow him to the front door so I can wave goodbye. I've already extorted two hugs and a kiss from Jax and I know how far I'll get if I expect another one in front Rapid.
Rapid lingers on the porch for a moment and I think how I wouldn't mind a goodbye kiss from him too. With those deep blue eyes surrounded by sandy lashes and the crinkles at the corner of his eyes that tell the tale of his life outdoors; the cropped, blonde hair with the playful cowlick hanging over his eyes and that bushy mountain man beard that looks like it would be so soft against my face with his lips on mine.
"See ya later, Doc." My fantasy winks and bounces out to the driver's side of the truck at a jog.
"Bye Mom!" Jackson's tiny hand waves frantically through the open passenger side window as they pull out of the drive and disappear up the main road, into the mountains that surround the populated area of Moonshine Ridge.
Rapid Jones is quickly turning into more than just a passing fantasy for me. I've officially developed a crush.
* * *
Rapid
As expected, Jax didn't even make it to s'mores our first night. Paddling up-river is hard work, even after thirty years since my own first up-river trip with Grandpa Don when I was six.
After a few hours of doing my best to let Jax hold his own against the current, I dug in and got us to camp when I saw the kid was losing steam. He caught his second wind when we pulled the boat on shore and set up the tent but by the time I had supper cooked on the camp stove, I had to wake him up to eat, then he promptly crawled into the tent and crashed hard.
That leaves me alone in front of the fire, toasting marshmallows for one and leaving my mind free to wander.
It's easy to love Jackson. The kid is all the best things I remember about being that age myself, curious, strong-willed, and determined to establish his own identity.
But what I really want is his mom.
Letting the marshmallow on the end of my whittled stick catch on fire, I feel my features set in a thoughtful scowl as I watch the sugary torch flare for a few seconds.
