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She felt the whipped cream spray into her hair from the can and she shrieked, realizing that Porter was definitely getting her back for her pie trick. She bumped him away with her hip and heard a noise behind her. Snaking around, she saw the teenagers were back again. They’d returned with water guns and more ammo. One of them held a bottle of Hershey syrup.
One of the girls stepped back in horror when she saw what the adults had become. Cadence and Porter now resembled evil sprites. Porter twisted around to face them. Henry had come back to life to take their eyes!
She preferred Porter’s eyes the way they were, of course.
Letting out a battle cry, Porter shot the whipped cream at the intruders.
That same girl cried out in horror, but the barrel racer that Porter had identified went after them with the Hershey syrup. Porter shot their pursuers with the whipped cream and the battle commenced while Cadence ran for cover.
“Get the food,” Porter shouted after her.
He acted like they really were in a war, but Cadence understood. There was no way their food was ending up the casualties to a food fight. She was hungry! That pie had only awakened her appetite. She grabbed up the basket and the quilt and dashed through the tall grass, away from the fight.
Porter easily caught up to her. He grabbed her hand. “This way! This way!” He led her back to the bank, and she saw that he’d stashed a raft against the stream. “We’re still having this picnic,” he promised.
He threw the basket into the old wooden boat and picked her up with the quilt and tossed her in next to it. He put his shoulder against the edge of the logs and shoved the raft further out into the water where the current was stronger. The wood scraped against the rocks.
The teenagers were hot on their tail. The barrel racer and the boy with streams of silly string still caught in his long hair were almost on them.
Porter shot the last of the whipped cream at them and jumped in beside her. “Keep low,” he said. Water, chocolate syrup, and silly string flew over their heads as they floated down the river. The teenagers tried to follow, but the vegetation at the side of the banks grew too tangled, and they couldn’t get through.
“Whoa!” she cried out. “This town is rough!” Two water fights in one day. Porter was hardcore.
He chuckled low beside her. “We need some kids like those someday,” he muttered under his breath.
Shock sliced through her at his words. People weren’t supposed to admit that so early in a relationship, but Porter just did. Instead of taking it back, he dunked his face into the water, cleaning off the rest of the mud pie. Turning to her, he tried to help her out too.
Cadence laughed, shoving him away. “I think I’ve got this.” She was almost afraid of what he’d do next.
She reached over the side of the boat and scooped up cold water from the stream, realizing how refreshing it actually felt in this heat as it dribbled down her cheeks. She did her best to catch every patch of stickiness she felt on her face, and then on her arms.
“You’ve got some… here…” Porter pointed to her chin. She tried to get that. “And here,” he pointed to her hair.
She groaned. She’d forgotten about that. She sighed out in surrender. “Get it done.”
Biting down on his amused lips and maybe realizing that he shouldn’t gloat right now, he worked on cleaning her off. He definitely took his time. His touch was soft on her, almost a caress. This adventure was turning out to be even more interesting than the one on Saturday.
“We’re right on schedule,” he said.
At her confused look, he lifted a shoulder as his thumb rubbed against her forehead to get her clean. “This stream will take us to the Southern Run River. There are four docks where they’re shooting off the fireworks. We’ll be right in the line of fire.”
She let out a breath. “Wait… you said this would give us a good view, not that we’re getting shot at.”
“We’re fine,” he reassured her. “I promise no tricks this time. Lots of people float on the river to watch the show… not just me. It’ll be pretty.”
Cadence could get used to that. His hand slid down her hair. She could get used to that, too. He was having a lot of fun with her springy curls. She doubted that they were coated with whipped cream anymore, but she let him play with her hair anyway.
Why not enjoy this beautiful afternoon? A soft breeze broke up the heat, and the musical notes of the stream serenaded them as they peacefully floated over the water. Chirping birds hanging out on the branches of the willows and sequoias called sassily out to them.
Unable to keep back from the food anymore, Cadence dragged the picnic basket close. A few chunky bees came to investigate while she pulled out the Fresca and handed off a tuna sandwich. Porter’s hand broke from her hair, which she was sad about, but once he had the tuna sandwich, he immediately stretched out his legs so that their knees brushed as he faced her.
She didn’t move away.
The companionable silence was comfortable, though it was occasionally broken with an exclamation of how good the food was. She’d been touched with how much thought that Porter had put into what to bring, even down to the tuna fish sandwiches. For some reason, she was craving those more than anything.
Junior must like seafood.
Cadence bit down a smile. Why didn’t Porter care that she was pregnant? She’d never met anyone like him. She finished off the sandwich and set the bag of Oreos between them. Leaning back against the side of the boat, she stared over at the beautiful green banks as the current swept them along. He leaned against the opposite end, his bare feet brushing against her arm. She realized that he must’ve lost his sandals in that epic battle up at the falls. Their hands ran into each other as they lazily plucked out the cookies and watched the world go by.
