Chapter Twelve
Naomi held Stone’s hand as she got off the bike, steadying herself. They’d ridden to Coldwater Lake, then wrapped around Bluff Creek to end up on the road where one of the Nelson cousins had made a rest stop where he’d found his love.
She’d enjoyed every minute of it, but she didn’t want it to end.
When she’d dated men before—not that she and Stone were dating—she’d been worried she’d say the wrong thing.
Living with Jared had only increased the stress and worry.
With Stone, she didn’t think before she spoke. It was a magnificent, freeing feeling.
Standing there was a little awkward because she didn’t know if she should say thanks for the ride and head back to Locks, but Stone hadn’t parked near Locks’ house. He’d parked under an overhang by the clubhouse.
He got off the bike and turned to her.
“I walk at night. Would you like to join me?” he asked.
Naomi stared at Stone, wondering if he was asking out of obligation or if he wanted to spend more time with her. Maybe she needed to be a big girl, quit wondering, and ask.
“I’d love to. I don’t want you to feel you need to entertain me, though,” she said.
Stone stepped closer until she could feel the heat of him and breathe in the scent of the outdoors from their ride.
“Naomi, I don’t do anything I don’t want to do. I walk some nights because it helps me sleep. I enjoy spending time with you and thought you could join me,” he reassured her, his low voice vibrating in the quiet air.
“I’d like that,” she admitted softly.
He tilted his head toward the orchard, and she followed. Walking with Stone was comfortable, but not in an I’m-tired-of-this-person way; instead, in a the-silence-doesn’t-have-to-be-filled-with-meaningless-chatter way.
They passed the snowplow barn and, if she was correct, were making their way over to where the dirt track was.
Stone unhooked the gate so she could go through, then walked through, latching it behind him. He pointed over toward a tree and something behind it.
“There’s a den of foxes that have moved in there. If we’re quiet, we might see them out,” he said, standing still. She stared, trying to see the foxes but couldn’t. He leaned closer, “Look on the right side of the tree, about three feet where the ground makes that natural mound. They’re in there.”
She finally saw them. “Oh,” she whispered.
“They’re cute, aren’t they?” he murmured.
“Yes,” she said.
They watched for a little bit, then Stone took her hand and led her away from them and past the dirt track. The warm May wind blew through the trees.
“What was something you wish you could have done when you were married but weren’t able to?” he asked.
She thought through all the different things she hadn’t been allowed to do. She could have done them, but after the first time that Jared corrected her, she had to make choices.
“Jared thought books were useless, so I didn’t get to read much. I’ve been catching up on that. Karaoke at a bar. I’ve always wanted to because it sounds so fun, but it wasn’t appropriate. What about you? What is something you wish you could have done while you were away?” she countered.
“Away,” Stone echoed, chuckling.
“I was trying to be nice. What would you prefer?” Naomi teased gently.
“Call it what it was. I was in prison. I loved movies. Being able to choose what movie to watch and also what I wanted to eat. I had a horrible sweet tooth after I got out and gorged myself on all the sweets,” he said, shrugging as they walked.
“I find that hard to believe. You don’t look like you overindulge in sweets,” Naomi observed, blushing a little. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything about how he looked.
“I’ve started to control myself, though I never turn down Regina’s cinnamon rolls, Beth’s chocolate chip cookies, and Sarah’s pumpkin bread. Since I have trouble sleeping, I go to the gym and work out. It burns a lot of calories,” Stone explained.
Naomi listened to the sound of Stone’s voice as they walked the compound. When it was quiet, the lullaby of the prairie enveloped her in a peace she hadn’t experienced.
Naomi’s phone beeped. She glanced at the text.
“Whoops! Uncle Locks is checking in to make sure I’m okay,” she said.
“He’s a good man. He’s probably wondering why you aren’t home at three in the morning,” Stone teased.
“No, it’s not three. We haven’t been walking and talking that long,” she protested.
Stone chuckled, turning his watch.
“What do I tell him?” she wondered aloud.
“You can tell him we’re headed back if you want to stay there, or tell him you’ll be out all night if you want to sleep on my outside swing tonight. Nothing more than us talking and sleeping outside,” Stone said.
She stared at Stone. Was he asking as a friend, or was he indicating he wanted something more? She wasn’t prepared to ask the question, but she wanted to spend more time with him.
She typed a text to Locks, then stared at Stone.
He grinned. “Are you going to tell me what you decided?” he asked.
She nodded. “I want to talk some more and sleep outside on the porch.”
He nodded and grasped her hand, leading her toward his house.
Stone’s nose itched, like something soft was touching it.
“Why does he have his arm around Mom?” a voice questioned.
“They have their clothes on,” another voice pointed out.
“I didn’t know Stone had this on his porch. It’s hidden on the side of the house. I wonder if he’d let us host a sleepover here,” Phoebe’s voice, which he recognized, said.
“Touch his nose again. I want to talk to him before Mom wakes,” another voice whispered.
Stone cracked open his eyes. Beck, Regan, Taylor, Blake, Phoebe, and Deborah were standing by his swing. The triplets were bent over as close to his face as possible without touching their mom.
Regan, at least he thought it was Regan, motioned her finger between the two of them and held her hands up.
He mouthed, “We talked and then fell asleep outside.”
He held his hand up to the girls and then slowly maneuvered himself off the bed without waking Naomi. He motioned for the girls to go around to the front of his house to the front door.
“How about I fix us all breakfast, or I take all of us out to breakfast at Broken Hearts Brewing or the diner?” he asked.
“Are you trying to bribe us?” Taylor asked.
“No, I’d like to get to know you better and thought everyone might like breakfast,” Stone reassured them.
“Okay. Are you going to wake Mom up?” Beck whispered.
“Yes. Which do you want?” Stone asked.
“Out to eat,” Taylor declared.
“Okay. Let me wake up your mom, and we’ll get changed so we can go,” Stone agreed.
The girls nodded and stood waiting.
Stone walked around to the swing bed. Naomi was sleeping peacefully. He hated to wake her because they hadn’t gone to sleep until close to five. It was eight a.m., and three hours wasn’t much sleep for her.
He bent down by the bed, pausing to blow his breath into his hand. Ugh! Morning breath. He wasn’t going to get too close to her face, or he’d knock her over.
“Naomi, your girls want breakfast,” he said.
Her eyes popped open, and she sat up. “What?”
“Your girls plus Phoebe, Blake, and Deborah found us asleep. I told them we’d talked and fell asleep and offered them breakfast. They chose to go out to eat. What do you need to do to be ready?” he asked.
She held her hand in front of her mouth. “Brush my teeth because my breath smells awful, and then I'd love to change clothes.”
“All right. Do you want me to walk you over to Locks’?” he offered.
“Nope, you get ready. I’ll run home, freshen up, and then we can go. Should I take the girls with me?” she wondered.
Stone stared at the woman he was coming to care entirely too much about. He’d told himself he’d stay away, but each second he spent with her pulled him in deeper.
“Whatever you’re most comfortable with,” he said.
“We’ll run over to my house and Blake’s to let our moms know we’re going with you!” Phoebe called from around the corner.
They were listening? Naomi mouthed.
“Guess so,” he chuckled, shrugging. He wouldn’t really expect anything less after what he’d seen since coming to Bluff Creek.
“Sounds good!” he called back. He held his hand out so Naomi could use it to get off the swing bed. Since it moved when you did, it was tricky the first couple of times.
Stone dropped a kiss on her forehead, grinning at the blush on her cheeks.
“See you in a minute for breakfast. My treat,” he said.
She nodded and waved as she put on her shoes before walking off.
Stone was happy to see the triplets were settling in with the other kids, but when he thought about Bluff Creek when those girls were adults, he shuddered. Who knows what they would get up to.