Chapter 16
Hank
I felt bad about leaving her this morning, but I also didn’t want Jack to wonder why I was there so early. Neither Codie nor I have really talked to him about what’s going on. He’s ten. He has to see that something’s happening, and I really don’t feel right about keeping all of it from him.
The heat was oppressive today, and when we finally finished, I began the trek back to the bunkhouse. A cold shower was in order, and then I needed to see my girl. I planned to spend the rest of the afternoon doing whatever she wanted to do as long as we did it together.
When I stepped out of the barn, I glanced up at the guesthouse. I didn’t expect her to be there, but I caught her staring. The curtains fluttered from the window over the kitchen sink. I grinned as I shook my head and changed course. I’d go see her now, and then clean up. When I reached the door, I knocked softly.
“Come in,” her soft voice called from the other side. When I pushed open the door, she was standing there with a mischievous smile.
“Where’s Jack?” I looked around.
“Off playing. I told him to check in at lunch time, but he’s old enough to be out and about. I was all over these fields at his age.” She turned and walked toward the fridge. “Want something to drink? I have cold lemonade.” She turned with a pitcher in her hand.
“That sounds great.” I kicked off my boots as I stepped farther inside. I was dusty and dirty, and her place was so neat and tidy. I watched as she moved about, grabbing a glass. She filled it with ice before pouring the lemonade and coming my way.
“I missed you this morning.” She looked away after handing me the glass. There was a bit of shyness about her. “I thought maybe I did something wrong.”
“Wrong? Of course not. I’d move in here and never leave, but I want to make sure you want that first, and we need to talk to Jack about all of this. I don’t want him to think I’m trying to replace his dad.” I set the glass down and stepped closer, gently grabbing her arm at the elbow. “Leaving this morning was harder than you think. Seeing you all curled up and knowing you were naked under those sheets… I’m getting hard just thinking about it.” I lowered my voice. “I’m absolutely obsessed with you, Codie.” I lifted my other hand and placed it under her chin, forcing her to look me in the eye. “I don’t think you truly understand how infatuated I am with all of you. Every part of you owns me.” I leaned down and placed a kiss to her lips. “Do you get it?”
“I do. I was just having a moment.” She cupped my jaw. “I’m crazy about you, too. Why don’t you come for dinner tonight and we’ll talk to Jack?”
“I can do that.” I stepped back, finished the lemonade, and set the glass down. “I need to go get cleaned up. It’s hot out there today.” I moved toward the door. “I’ll see you later.”
“Bye.” She waved as I stepped back outside into the sweltering heat.
I needed to calm myself and then go take a shower. One thing was for certain, my nights at the bunkhouse were limited. After last night, I knew being away from her would just be too hard.
*****
Dakota
I was never going to get anything done today. I had been sitting at my kitchen table going through an expense report for the previous month. Dad had asked me to come down and grab it this afternoon. After chatting with him for a bit, I brought the file back to my place. There was a small amount of money that was unaccounted for, and he had me combing through the expenses to try and find what it was allocated to.
Every time I’d start to look through the papers, I’d start daydreaming about Hank. My skin tingled from thoughts of his touch. I shivered as I attempted to shake it away, but I found myself staring out the window more than I should. I placed the folder to the side before texting my sister. Looking forward to tomorrow. ? She replied with a thumbs up. I needed to plan a girl’s day with her so we could talk about boys like we used to. Maybe we could all get together, that is if Gia could think of someone other than herself.
“Hey, Mom.” Jack waved as he came inside, causing me to jump out of my wandering thoughts.
“Hey, buddy. Hank’s coming for dinner, so I’d really appreciate some help.” Jack has always been a good helper for as long as he’s been able to help me. When he was younger, he’d push a chair up against the counter so he could climb up. I’ve never really had to ask, but I always do just to show him that I don’t expect it and it’s appreciated.
“Can we make cookies?” He grinned.
I glanced at the clock. “Sure. Go wash up.” He clapped happily as he rushed toward the bathroom. When I heard the water in the sink come on, I went into the kitchen to start pulling out all the ingredients. I didn’t even need to ask what kind he wanted. Jack was a chocolate chip cookie connoisseur. I grabbed the mixer out of the pantry and set the ingredients beside it. “Ready?” I waved him over.
He went about placing all the wet ingredients in, and then added the dry. We had a good laugh when a plume of flour went into the air because he added too much too fast. After stirring in the chips, I set two cookie sheets on the counter. “Once you get them scooped, I’ll get them in the oven.”
“We gotta taste them first.” He giggled as he grabbed a spoon and dipped it in the dough. His eyes widened as he spooned a hunk of dough into his mouth. “That’s good.” He nodded in approval. “Maybe we can skip the baking.”
“I think if you ate all of that, you might get a belly ache,” I teased. He agreed and went to work putting dollops on the sheets.
“It takes ten minutes,” he reminded me as I placed the cookie sheets in the oven.
Jack stood, watching the cookies bake as I cleaned up our mess. “You know, watching them makes it take longer.”
“It sure feels like it,” he grumbled. “I’m going to play in my room. Call me when the timer goes off.” He shuffled away as if ten minutes was an eternity.
I knew they’d need to cool a little first, so I waited to let Jack know the cookies were out. When he discovered me placing them on a plate, he reached up to grab one. “Ooh, hot!” He blew on it to cool it off.
“Don’t eat too many. We’re going to have dinner soon,” I warned as I placed the plate on the counter. He agreed as he shoved another into his mouth while I put a pot of water on to boil. Tonight was going to be a pasta night. It was easy and I knew Hank loved it. I’d surprised him once when we were young with a picnic in the hayloft. I’d cooked pasta and brought it out with garlic bread. He’d devoured it all the while telling me it was his favorite dish. Nothing like a little nostalgia to add to the day.
There was a knock at the door just as the water started boiling. “I’ll get it!” Jack yelled as he jumped up from where he was sitting. I dumped the pasta into the pot, and then stirred the sauce I’d put on to warm.
“It smells delicious in here.” Hank rubbed his stomach as he stepped inside.
“I made cookies!” Jack puffed out his chest in pride. “You can have some after we eat.”
“I can, can I?” He smiled as he ruffled Jack’s hair. “What else do we have to eat?”
“Spaghetti!” Jack bounced with excitement. “Mom’s making garlic bread, too.”
“Jack? Why don’t you set the table?” I called with my back to the two of them.
“Ok, Mom.” He began pulling plates from the cabinets and gathering silverware.
Hank came into the kitchen and walked up right behind me. I couldn’t see him, but I could feel his presence. “It looks really good,” he mumbled in my ear as he wrapped his arms around me from behind. He leaned down and rested his chin on my shoulder. “I think we could get really creative with those cookies later if you have some ice cream.” He pressed a kiss to the side of my neck as if what he said was nothing and then released me.
“What about Jack?” I hissed.
“He’ll be asleep.” Hank chuckled.
“Eww!” Jack made a gagging noise. “Are you and my mom like boyfriend and girlfriend?” Hank laughed as I spun around. Jack was staring at us with this blank look.
“What would you think about that?” I stammered. I sounded like a kid who just got caught by their parents, not the confident adult that I was.
Jack shrugged as he set the last plate down. “I think it’d be kinda cool. I miss having Dad around. It’d be nice to do the things we used to.” He started to come over to us. “That’s ok, right Mom? Like Hank could help me with things like Dad did.” He seemed so unsure of himself as he rocked on his heels in front of us.
“Sure, buddy. I think Dad would like that you found someone to help you with things,” I offered.
“We can do all sorts of things like fishing and talking about girls,” Hank tossed out.
“Girls. Yuck.” Jack’s nose wrinkled as his face twisted in disgust.
“You won’t feel like that in a few years.” Hank laughed.
“Not a chance.” Jack shivered as if it were the worst thing he’d ever heard.
“So, it’s ok if I hang out here more? I like spending time with your mom.” Hank leaned against the counter and watched Jack. “Like come over for meals, and to watch movies and stuff.”
“Can we have a sleepover?” Jack clapped in excitement.
Hank started coughing and I burst into laughter. “Why don’t we concentrate on dinner for now?” I changed the subject.
“Ok.” Jack bounced away into the living room and went back to watching the TV while Hank attempted to catch his breath.
“You ok?” I giggled as I pulled the pot of water off the stove and attempted to drain the pasta in the sink.
“Yeah.” He pounded on his chest. “I just wasn’t expecting that.”
“Expect the unexpected. That’s the motto of kids, and it could have been worse is the motto of little boys.”
“I have my own motto,” he mumbled as steam from the boiling water surrounded us. “I’ll tell you about it later.”
I shook my head as I dumped the pasta into a bowl and carried it over to the table. “Help yourself. I’m going to get the sauce.” I turned the heat off under the pot of sauce and carried it to the table. Once the bread came out of the oven, we sat down and served our plates. It was nice having this makeshift family dinner. Hank had settled right in, and you’d never know by the conversations between him and Jack that they weren’t father and son. The evening was filled with playful teasing and happy conversation, and the time just seemed to fly by.
After we finished, Hank helped clean up while Jack showered and got ready for bed. After I told him goodnight, Hank and I grabbed some cookies and went onto the back porch.
“This was nice.” I sighed as I leaned against the railing and looked out into the woods. It was almost dark, and the crickets were already chirping.
“It was.” Hank leaned against the railing munching on a cookie. I could feel him staring at me.
“What is it?” I glanced in his direction. He had this look as if he was deep in thought.
“This could have been our life. You and me in this house, with a kid.” He sighed. “We were supposed to be forever… remember?” He rolled his arm to the side, exposing his wrist. “We said this was forever.” I looked down at the faded ink.
“I know, and I’m sorry. I can’t change any of that. I can tell you I’m here now, and I’m all in.” I looked up at him. “All of me is all in.” I reached up and cupped his jaw. “I’m sorry we had to go through that, but it made me who I am. Our past will make us stronger.” I rose up on my tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I love you,” I murmured before deepening the kiss. “All of me loves you.” He wrapped his arms around me before lifting me off the ground. As if I weighed nothing, he carried me inside and down the hall to my room. The kiss continued as we fell into bed, reaffirming this was it for both of us.