CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
FRIDAY MORNING WHEN they headed over to the Love Family Orchard, located at the edge of town, Bodhi worried it might already be picked clean. They were greeted by several friendly, older dogs and a crowd of people milling around an old-fashioned pole-barn-turned-fruit-stand that reminded Bodhi of the orchards he’d visited as a kid. It was busy from the minute they arrived, but with acres of fruit trees, there were plenty of peaches to go around. They’d been there for almost two hours, and had spent more time playing with the dogs than picking peaches. But they’d picked enough for at least two pies.
“Bodhi?” Louie asked as Bodhi lifted him up to pick a peach from the top of a tree.
“Yeah, buddy?” He felt Bridgette’s hand on his back. They’d been sneaking touches all morning, and he almost hated to lower Louie to the ground after he picked a peach, wanting more of Bridgette. They’d gotten good at hiding their relationship, but Bodhi had caught himself reaching for Bridgette so many times, she felt like a natural extension of himself.
He lowered Louie to the ground and watched him inspect the peach. He rubbed it on his shirt, the way Bodhi had taught him, and held it up. His face and shirt were stained with sticky juice from the last two peaches he’d eaten. “Can I eat this one?”
Bodhi looked at Bridgette, wondering how many peaches one little boy could eat.
“You might get a bellyache,” she said. “How about if you eat half?”
Louie nodded and handed it to Bodhi. “Can you please break this in half?”
Bodhi pulled out his pocketknife and cut the peach in half. He took out the pit, tossed it to the ground, and handed half to Louie and half to Bridgette. She held his gaze. The heat between them had changed since he’d confessed his love for her. It burned hotter and deeper, like a lifeline. She looked beyond beautiful in a light-blue tank top that made her eyes look even bluer, a pair of denim shorts, and the sexy boots she’d been wearing the first time they’d met. She hadn’t taken off the bracelet he’d given her, and he was glad. He liked seeing it on her as much as he liked knowing she’d be wearing his T-shirt and sweatshirt after he was gone. She’d packed them in her bag at the cabin, and when he’d noticed, she’d shrugged in that adorable way she had and hugged them to her chest. If it were possible for a person’s insides to melt, his had, right then and there.
“Thanks.” Louie bit into the fruit, and juice dribbled down his chin and onto his shirt.
“Don’t you want a bite?” Bridgette asked Bodhi.
He wiped the blade of his knife on his pants and put it away as he stepped closer, inhaling the scent of jasmine, and lowered his voice so Louie couldn’t hear him. “I want much more than a bite.”
She flashed her sexy smile. She had so many different smiles—sweet, sassy, mommyish, seductive, and flat-out hot as sin—and he’d memorized every one of them.
“Bodhi?” Louie squinted up from beneath his Yankees cap. “When you go home, will I be able to call you on the walkie-talkie?”
Louie had been asking a lot of questions about when Bodhi was leaving, and Bodhi was careful not to make any promises he couldn’t keep. He crouched and looked Louie in the eyes. “You know what, little dude? The walkie-talkies won’t work that far apart.”
“Can I call you on Mommy’s phone?” He chomped into the peach, like he wasn’t ripping Bodhi’s heart out one question at a time.
“When I leave here, I’ll be going back to work. This has been a vacation for me. Like summer break from school. But I’m not allowed to bring my phone to work. So, if your mom says you can call, you can try, but I don’t want you wondering why I’m not calling you back. The only reason would be that I’m not able to. Okay?”
Louie nodded, chewing the last of his peach. “What work do you do?”
“I’m like an army guy.” He wiped Louie’s mouth with his hand.
Louie tipped his head up toward Bridgette. “When I grow up, maybe I’ll be an army guy, too.”
Bodhi was as touched as he was worried. As he prepared to leave the next evening, the repercussions of his not returning had taken root. He loved what he did for a living, but now that he knew what he was missing out on, he wouldn’t wish his life on Louie.
Bodhi took him by the shoulders and looked into his innocent eyes. “Listen, buddy. You focus on baseball, okay? That way one day your mom can go see you playing for the Yankees. Can you do that for me?”
Louie nodded. “Bodhi?”
“Yeah?”
“My belly hurts.”
Bodhi lifted him into his arms. “How about we take our peaches home, and you can lie down for a while. When you feel better, we’ll make the pies.”
Louie nodded and rested his head on Bodhi’s shoulder.
“Want me to hold him?” Bridgette asked as she picked up the basket of peaches.
“I’d really like to carry him, if you don’t mind.” He settled his hand on her lower back, wondering how a man prepared himself to leave behind everything he cared about.
BRIDGETTE’S KITCHEN LOOKED like it had been through a food fight, but she couldn’t have cared less. With her favorite country music playing in the background and her favorite big and little men preparing the dough for the peach pies on the counter, she wouldn’t trade this mess for anything in the world.
Bodhi stood behind Louie, with his hands over Louie’s on the rolling pin as they pressed the dough flat. Bodhi was not a skimper when it came to baking, any more than he was in any other part of his life. Where Bridgette would have sliced the peaches and left the skin on, Bodhi showed them his trick of putting the peaches in boiling water for sixty seconds, then immediately setting them in ice water. The skins had slipped right off.
“Look, Mom! We made the crust!” Louie grinned, a toothy bundle of pride.
She took out her phone and snapped a picture, wishing Bodhi had come with a warning sign or wearing big red flags. A man this irresistible shouldn’t be allowed to roam the streets.
“How about we give Mama a chance to learn?” Bodhi suggested.
Louie scooted off the chair and pressed his flour-drenched hands on Bridgette’s butt, pushing her in front of Bodhi. He picked up her phone and climbed onto the chair next to them.
“Honey, you’ll get—” She swallowed her words. She didn’t care if her phone got gunky and sticky. She wanted those pictures.
Bodhi hammed it up, pressing his cheek to hers, then giving her bunny ears, and making a flour handprint on her stomach. Louie giggled up a storm as he took pictures that probably cut their heads off. Bodhi’s deep laugher filled the air, and she hoped her house might soak up their love the same way her parents’ home did. When Bodhi scooped Louie into his arms and tickled him silly, Bridgette thought she might liquefy.
“Okay, little dude, now I get to take a picture.” He touched Louie’s nose, leaving a dab of flour, and pulled Bridgette against his stomach. He took out his own phone and snapped a picture of the three of them. Louie pressed a kiss to Bodhi’s cheek as he took another.
Knowing Louie would think it was a game, Bridgette touched her lips to Bodhi’s cheek, and felt his entire body sigh as he took another picture.
“Can we enter a pie in the contest tomorrow?” Louie asked.
“How about if we donate one pie to the pie-eating contest instead?” Bridgette suggested. “Auntie Willow is tough competition in the baking contest.”
“Yeah!” Louie wiggled free. “I’m gonna go play!”
He headed for the playroom, and Bodhi lifted him off his feet. “I think you’d better wash up first.”
He tucked him under his arm like a football, earning another round of laughter from Louie, who put his arms out to his sides, his legs sticking straight out behind him. “Look, Mom! I’m flying!”
“How about you fly right up to the bathtub?”
Bodhi carried him up and left Bridgette bathing Louie while he finished making the pies. Half an hour later, while Louie played, Bridgette went to help Bodhi clean the kitchen. She found him gazing down at his phone. He shoved it in his back pocket and reached for her.
“Is the little guy all clean?” He backed her up against the counter.
“Yes. He’s in the playroom.”
“Perfect.”
He kissed her deeply, his hands moving along her sides in a mesmerizing pattern, brushing against her breasts, then squeezing her hips. He kissed his way to her ear, slicking his tongue over the shell, and pressed his body against hers, holding her tight as he took her in another toe-curling kiss. He lifted her onto the counter, sliding her forward and kissing her so tenderly it made her ache for more.
“I’m going to miss you, baby,” he said softly. “Every second of every day.”
She closed her eyes against the sting of already missing him. He kissed her lids, and she felt his prickly whiskers against her cheek again.
“Was it worth letting me in?”
She nodded, unable to speak, and clung to him. He cradled her face in his hands, the lump in her throat expanding to a painful throb as she met his gaze.
“No regrets?” he asked.
She shook her head, afraid to try to speak.
“I never knew I could care about two people so much.” He brushed his thumb over her lips, a smile lifting his. “Don’t be sad, Bridge. Real love never dies, remember?”
Louie’s fast footsteps sounded in the hall, and she pushed from the counter, working hard to contain her emotions.
“I made you a present.” Louie thrust a piece of yellow construction paper toward Bodhi.
“Thanks, buddy.” Bodhi knelt beside him, and Bridgette peered over his shoulder.
Louie pointed to one of the three smiling stick figures he’d drawn. It had a thick blue body, brown hair scribbled straight across the top of its head, the longest fingers of all the figures, and a big scribble of black beneath one hand. “This is you.”
Bridgette moved to Bodhi’s side just in time to see the love and admiration in his eyes, bringing new life to the lump in her throat.
“It looks just like me,” Bodhi said.
Louie beamed with pride. He pointed to the biggest of the three figures, standing between Bodhi and a dog. The figure’s head was twice as large as the others and had a full head of brown hair. He’d drawn circles for feet that were angled up, as if he were jumping spread-eagle. “This is me.” He pointed to the third stick figure, with yellow-and-brown hair and long brown eyelashes. “This is Mom, and this is Dahlia.” Dahlia had a huge oblong head and body, and five legs. Bridgette wondered if one was the tail.
Bodhi put an arm around him and pressed a hard kiss to his cheek. “Thanks, buddy. I’ll hang this up at home.”
“It’s us at the park. See?” Louie pointed to the scribble of black beneath Bodhi’s hand. “That’s Dahlia’s poop.”
Bridgette covered her mouth to keep her laughter from escaping, because her little boy’s and Bodhi’s faces were so darn serious.
Louie raced to the back door. “Can we go outside and play?”
“Sure.” She watched him run outside and returned willingly to Bodhi’s arms.
“I’m framing this,” he said sternly.
“As well you should.”
He was still so serious she wondered what was going through his mind. “I never thought poop could stir up so much emotion.”
Laughter fell from her lips before she could stop it. “Oh my gosh. I’m in love with a pooper scooper.”
Bodhi grabbed her ribs and she shrieked, laughing as he chased her out the back door.