Chapter Twenty-Eight
Duncan
Putting up a tent wasn't as easy as it looked on YouTube.
"This is the largest tent I've ever been in," Riley exclaimed.
I cocked a brow. "Really? I was furious that they didn't have anything bigger."
She laughed. "Duncan, this has separate rooms. That’s amazing!"
She'd been a pro, instructing me on where everything went. I'd basically just provided the muscle, and Jeremy hung on to her every word. He was standing in my way more than helping, but I knew how important it was for him to be useful, so I gave him small tasks.
I was happy that we'd managed to put up the tent. For a while there, I’d thought about bailing on this whole thing and returning to San Diego. But these two had been so enthusiastic that I didn't have the heart to suggest it.
Powering through was worth it. The campsite was decent, and the toilets and showers looked fine.
"All right. How about starting on dinner?" Riley asked.
“Good idea.” I might have been clueless at putting up the tent, but I was good at starting a fire. I had one going in less than five minutes.
Riley came to me with a package of sausages, and I looked around.
"Where's Jeremy?" I asked.
"He's gathering some twigs. Don't worry, I told him not to go far."
I kept looking around.
"Want me to go get him?" she asked softly.
"No. I mean, he's ten, and you told him to stay close. I have to learn to give him a bit more leeway."
"Thank you for doing this," she said. Her smile was huge. "I've been wanting to come out to camp here for ages."
"I'm glad I could do this for you."
"And for Jeremy," she said.
I winked at her, then, taking advantage that he wasn't here, leaned in and kissed her cheek. She smelled so good that it took all my willpower not to dig my nose in her neck and inhale, then kiss her all over. I'd move even farther down, and that would be slippery slope.
"Duncan," she murmured.
"I just need a few seconds. Fuck, I've wanted to do this since I saw you this afternoon."
I straightened up reluctantly, and she flashed me a shy smile, then looked around for Jeremy.
"Listen, I think we should talk about some things Jeremy said today."
"Sure. What did he say?" I asked.
She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything else, Jeremy ran back to us.
"Look, Dad. I got a whole lot of twigs. Oh. The fire is already going." His smile dropped.
"That's fine. Just put the pile there. We're going to need them to keep the fire going, and to start a new one tomorrow."
"Okay," he said, but his voice lacked enthusiasm.
"Jeremy, do you want to make s'mores?" Riley asked him.
I fucking loved this woman—the way she instinctively knew how to put him at ease. She made him happy. She made both of us happy. I didn't know it was even possible to feel this way. And I was supposed to let her go? No way in hell.
“Oh, I forgot,” Jeremy said, shoving a hand in his pocket and pulling out some crumpled flowers. “These are for you.”
“You got me poppies!” Riley exclaimed.
“Yes, they’re your favorites.”
“Thank you, Jeremy.” She took the flowers and carefully carried them inside the tent.
Once she returned, she asked, "Who wants to compete and see who cooks the best marshmallows?"
"I do!" Jeremy exclaimed.
"So do I,” Riley replied.
I had absolutely zero desire to participate in this. She flashed me a warning look as if to say, "Don't be a grump."
"Yeah, me too," I said, and Riley winked at me.
She was the first one to finish her s'more. I was still assembling the marshmallow between graham crackers by the time she’d started eating it. Jeremy came in second.
"Be careful not to burn yourself," I said as he took it away from the fire.
He nodded, then bit into and said, "Mm, this is good."
I usually had a rule about no sweets before dinner, but who the hell cared? It was Friday evening. Tomorrow was the weekend, and we were camping. The usual rules didn't apply.
The marshmallow was decent enough, but I was more of a meat man, so I ate two of the sausages.
Jeremy and Riley each ate one. As the sun set, I could start to see the beauty of camping, with the fire crackling and the silence surrounding us.
The nearest tent was quite some distance away. That suited me just fine.
An hour after dinner, Jeremy went out like a light.
Riley and I stayed outside in the camping chairs I’d bought.
They adjusted into a half-sitting, half-lying position.
I'd questioned the function when I bought them, but watching Riley sit back in it, pointing to the sky and saying, "The stars are so easy to see here," everything fell into place.
"What is it?" she murmured when she caught me looking at her.
"I like watching you. You look so happy."
"I am happy. This is the best evening ever."
Fucking hell, really? I'd come camping with her every night if it made her this happy.
I sat down next to her, putting my chair in the same position.
"Jeremy's asleep?" she asked. When I nodded, she sighed and said, "Then we should probably talk about today."
“Is something wrong?"
"Not exactly. We had a delicate situation. I wasn't sure why he brought it up or if something triggered it, so I figured it's best to discuss it together."
I took her hand. "Sure. What is it?"
She hesitated. I interlaced our fingers, squeezing them together. "You can tell me anything."
"Earlier today, when Jeremy and I were out for ice cream, he asked me if I'd like to be his mom."
I stilled. "What? He actually said that?"
"I mean, in that cute way of his, you know? He was like 'Yes, because we do so many mom things together.' I just… I don't know. I told him that I love spending time with him. Which is true, of course, and you know that. But obviously I didn't answer his question."
But I wanted to know. Did she want to?
My heart was in my throat. Never in my life did I have a problem expressing what I wanted and needed, but I couldn't just outright ask her. What if she said no? There would be no coming back from that.
“I’m going to talk to him and figure out where that came from,” I said. “Don’t worry about it.”
“That’s great.”
I leaned in and nudged the tip of my nose against her jaw before descending to her neck. I moved my lips toward her and then stopped.
"Duncan," she chastised, “we can’t do this here. What if Jeremy wakes up?”
"I know." Being surrounded by nature made my own natural instincts kick into overdrive. I needed this woman.
"Thank you for bringing us here tonight. It's exactly what I needed before being cooped up in an office all day long."
I felt as if she'd thrown a bucket of ice over me.
That's right. Come Monday, this is all going to change.
"Are you excited about it?" I asked.
"Honestly, yes."
I took her legs, putting them in my lap and running my hands over her calves.
"I love it when you do that," she said. "I've been pursuing this career for so long. I can’t believe I’m finally going to be a lawyer, and all my hard work will have paid off. I mean, they’re going to work us like dogs. I’ve already found some of my coworkers on Facebook, and they always post evening shots of themselves at the office, but I’m looking forward to that. ”
I swallowed hard. Good thing I didn’t ask her for her answer to Jeremy’s question. It wasn’t fair to put her on the spot like that. She was young. She was starting her career. She couldn’t commit to my life.
And yet I knew things had to change, one way or another.
I moved my chair, changing the angle. “We need to buy some sort of camping couch.”
“Does that mean you want us to come camping again?”
“Of course. It makes you and Jeremy happy.”
“So, that means you want to continue… this between us?”
I put my hand on her jaw, turning her head so we made eye contact. "What kind of question is that?"
"I don't know. I figured that maybe this was… a goodbye trip. We never spoke about us and what we're going to do once my employment comes to an end."
"I'm going to tell you how this will go. You tell me if any part of it is wrong. You'll go kick ass as a lawyer and work long hours. I'm going to pick you up, spoil you rotten, and make you rest. How does that sound?"
"I can get on board with that," she murmured.
"Good.” I struggled in my chair. “Damn it, I want to be able to sit next to you."
"Oh, I have an idea about that," she said, getting up and straddling me.
I smiled as I brought my mouth to her lips. "This works too."