Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Wow. You don’t mess around, do you?”
Huck crawled over to the edge of the platform he’d almost finished attaching to the base he’d secured between two thick branches and saw Cadee standing on the ground looking up at him.
His gaze immediately went to her lips and heat slammed into him like a runaway brahma bull.
He was thankful the lower half of his body was hidden from view.
After leaving Promise Springs, he’d been with a lot of women, but not one had consumed him with desire from a simple kiss. As soon as Cadee’s lips had touched his, all he’d wanted to do was claim her as his own.
Only one thing stopped him . . .
Poppy’s warning.
Even if the thought of Cadee being with another man destroyed him, she deserved someone who wasn’t carrying around a U-Haul truck filled with baggage from his screwed-up childhood.
She deserved a confident man who knew who he was and what he wanted.
A man who was strong, steady, and reliable.
Not a dreamer who never made one of his career schemes come to fruition.
As much as he wanted her, if he truly cared about her, he needed to let her go.
He pinned on a teasing smile. “Hey, Catydid. I knew you couldn’t stay away.”
A blush stained her cheeks. “So how did you get so much done so quickly?”
“I precut all the lumber in my daddy’s old workshop since I figured it would be hard to get power out here for my saw. Now all I need to do is put everything together.” He thought she’d be annoyed he’d been so confident he could talk her into a tree house, but instead her eyes softened.
“That’s why you didn’t show up last week.”
Had she missed him? Or had Camden? He couldn’t help wishing for both.
“Sorry, but between working on the tree house and work at Honky Tonk Heaven, I didn’t have much time left over.” He nodded at the basket she had hooked over her arm. “What’s in the basket? Did you go berry picking without me?”
“Berries are out of season. I brought you lunch. I figured you’d be starving since you never make it to noon before Henry the Hungry Bear starts grumbling.”
He didn’t know if it was her bringing him lunch or remembering the nickname she’d given his stomach that made his heart feel like it could rise up out of his chest and go sailing off into the sky. “So that’s why you always snuck me a granola bar during biology.”
“I didn’t want Henry disrupting the entire class and Mr. Pickett tossing your butt out.”
It was so Cadee. Always caring.
He smiled softly. “Thank you, Catydid. Not only for all those granola bars, but also for bringing me lunch. You want me to come down or do you want to come up?”
She glanced at the thick trunk of the solid oak tree he’d chosen. “And just how am I going to come up? Are there stairs I’m not seeing?”
“Not yet, but there is an elevator.” He stood and grabbed the rope he’d attached to a pulley. “Sit down on those two-by-fours and I’ll pull you up.”
She placed a hand on her hip. “You’re crazy as a loon, Huck Hennessy, if you think I’m going to climb onto loose boards and let you pull me up a good twenty feet in the air.”
“If I can pull up a load of heavy lumber and not drop a single board, I can pull you up.” He used a phrase he’d used a thousand times to get her to try something. “But if you’re too bawk-bawk . . .”
“I’m not a chicken!” She walked over to the bench he’d made of two-by-fours, ducked under the ropes, and sat cross-legged with the basket on her lap. “Pull away!”
She was much lighter than a load of lumber . . . and a lot more precious. When she was halfway up, he started thinking that maybe this was a bad idea. What if the rope broke? Or his suddenly sweaty hands slipped? Or she lost her balance?
“Huckleberry Hennessy! Stop trying to scare me!”
Her angry shouts snapped him out of his thoughts, and he realized he’d stopped pulling. He pushed down his fears and concentrated on getting her to the top and engaging the pulley lock so he could grab the basket and safely help her onto the platform.
Her scowl said she was madder than a wet hen. And he tried not to smile, but damned if he could keep from it when she looked so cute when she was angry. Her face got all scrunchy and her eyes snapped with blue fire. As kids, he’d loved to get her all riled up.
Obviously, he still did.
“You think you’re so funny!” She swatted him on the arm.
He might have laughed if a scent hadn’t surrounded him. It was Cadee’s normal scent of line-dried sheets and freshly baked cookies . . . but the cookies were much stronger. He filled his lungs with the cinnamon scent as he glanced down at the basket.
“Snickerdoodles? You made me snickerdoodles?”
“I didn’t make them for you. I made them for Cam. They’re his favorite too.”
He lifted his gaze and read the lie in her eyes. But he didn’t call her on it. Just like he didn’t call her on her lie of being willing to kiss any man with a mustache.
“Well, thanks for sharing some with me.”
“You’re welcome.” She glanced around. “So where are the stairs going to be?”
He set down the basket and pointed to the corner by the trunk.
“They’ll come up right there. I thought I’d make a spiral staircase that encircles the trunk and leads to the door.
I found this really pretty piece of maple that I thought I’d make the door out of and maybe some shutters for the windows so Cam can close them if he wants privacy.
I wasn’t going to put actual glass panes in, but I am going to leave a big space in the roof for a skylight so he can look at the sky and the stars.
The plans I got off the internet didn’t include a skylight, but I figure I can look up a YouTube video and figure out—” He cut off when he realized he was rambling like a fool.
“Sorry, I guess I get as excited about tree houses as Cam.”
“No, you get excited about building things. Which is why you’re so good at it.”
He laughed. “I’m not that good, Cadee. Anyone could build a kid’s tree house.”
She tipped her head. “So you still do it.”
“Do what?”
“Act like your talents aren’t special.”
If ever he was thankful for his loud stomach, it was that uncomfortable moment. The growling stopped those intense blue eyes from staring straight through him as she laughed.
“I think we need to feed Henry.” She sat down and started pulling out more food than he thought one basket could hold. Ham and cheese sandwiches, plastic containers of potato salad, pickles, carrots, and strawberries.
And a huge baggie of his favorite cookies.
Seeing her lay out the food with such care on a floral dishtowel brought back memories of her doing the same thing at school.
She’d bring him extra sandwiches and chips and apples and cookies and set them all out on the cafeteria table like it wasn’t a big deal.
But to a kid who had never had someone take such care to make sure he didn’t go hungry, it was a big deal.
Rosie Hennessy had never cared whether her kids got fed or not.
She bought groceries, usually frozen dinners or pizza, but it was up to them to prepare it.
If she forgot something at the store, they went without.
It wasn’t until Jaxon got old enough to take over the grocery shopping that they always had the main staples kids needed like cereal, bread, peanut butter, and milk.
Daddy was the complete opposite. He treated mealtimes like a performance with him as the main attraction. But he was rarely there to cook for them. He was like a celebrity chef that was entertaining but not someone you could count on to keep you from starving.
But Cadee was someone you could count on.
She always had been.
“Is something wrong?”
At her question, he realized he was standing there staring at her with a dopey look on his face. But who wouldn’t look dopey when they looked at Cadee?
A messy bun sat on top of her head, dark, loose tendrils framing a face he knew as well as his own.
Big blue eyes. Freckle-covered nose. Soft, rosebud mouth.
He’d missed the familiar features so much it had been like a dull toothache.
Being with her again, relieved that ache .
. . but now he had another more intense ache.
One he had to ignore.
It was too much food, but he put a big dent in it. After the fourth snickerdoodle, he had to call it quits. He stretched out on his back and placed his hands on his full belly.
“Well, you’ve finally done it, Cadee Stockton. You’ve shut Henry up for good.”
“Somehow I doubt that.”
He chuckled as he stared up at the branches overhead. “You’re probably right. You better leave a sandwich and the rest of those cookies in case he comes out of hibernation.”
“I’ll leave all the leftovers.” She started closing containers. “Just put the basket by the door when you go.”
He should let her go back to the house. He had never had good willpower when he came to things he really wanted. He wanted Cadee. Especially after the porch kiss. But that didn’t stop the words from spilling out of his mouth.
“Stay for a while.”
He waited for some excuse why she needed to get back to the house, but instead, once she finished closing the containers and putting them back in the basket, she stretched out next to him.
“Cam is going to love this. It’s not as cool as the treeboat, but a lot less dangerous.”
He smiled. “I knew you loved the treeboat.”
“What’s not to love about a boat in a tree? How has it held up over the years?”
“You should come see for yourself.” Once the invitation was out, he realized it was a mistake. He could survive a hot kiss on a porch and lunch in a new tree house, but he didn’t think he could survive being with Cadee in the treeboat.
The same treeboat where they’d made love for the first and only time.
Conceived a child.
Ruined a friendship.
Thankfully, she didn’t accept the offer. Or even acknowledge it. Instead, she completely changed the subject. Or possibly dove even deeper into it.
“I never meant to take away your dream, Huck.”
He glanced over to discover she’d rolled onto her side to face him. Her eyes were sad and heartbreaking. He could never stand Cadee being sad. The vow he’d made earlier about not touching her blew away in the stiff fall breeze.
He reached out and smoothed back a strand of her hair. “Hey. What dream are you talking about?”
“Your dream of leaving Promise Springs and never coming back.”
“You didn’t do anything, Cadee. Like you said before, what happened that night was a choice we both made.” He hesitated. “And I don’t regret it.”
She blinked. “You don’t?”
“How could I regret it when it gave us Camden?” He stroked her cheek. Nothing was as soft as Cadee’s skin. “He’s a great kid, Cadee. You did a great job of raising him.”
“Thanks, but you weren’t there for all the mistakes I made.”
“Now who is acting like their talents aren’t special?”
Her blue-eyed gaze cut right through him. “I don’t regret that night either, Huck. I’m just sorry it took away your dream of seeing the world.”
“That was just a kid’s pipe dream, Cadee. If I had really wanted to see the world, I would have seen it. I’ve had over eight years to do so. Instead, I didn’t even leave Texas.”
Her eyes widened. “You didn’t?”
“Nope. I made a lot of plans. Collected a lot of travel pamphlets. But when it came to buying a plane ticket to some exotic place, I bawk-bawked. It turns out I’m not much of a traveler. I’m more of a stay in one place kind of guy.”
“Even if the place holds bad memories?”
He smiled and tapped the end of her nose. “It holds a lot of good ones too.”
She smiled. “We did make a lot of good memories, didn’t we?”
They had. So many good memories . . . and one extremely hot memory of a night when they faced each other just like they were doing now and let things go a little too far.
Huck dropped his hand from her cheek and sat up. “Well, I guess I should get back to work. This tree house isn’t going to build itself.” He stood, then held out a hand to Cadee. Happiness burst inside him when she didn’t hesitate to take it and let him pull her to her feet.
“I need to get the sheets off the clothesline and go get Cam. He has soccer practice today.”
“I hope he’s better at sports than I was.”
“You should stop by the community fields on your way home and see for yourself.”
His heart swelled. Not just at the thought of seeing his son play soccer, but also because Cadee had offered him that chance. “I’d like that.”
She smiled. It had been a long time since he’d seen that smile. A smile just for him. “Then I guess I’ll see you there. That’s if you think you can safely get me down from this tree.”
Right then and there, he made a vow to always keep Cadee safe.
Even if that meant keeping her away from him.