Four Years Earlier
“You’re not throwing that little minnow back?” Bobbie asked with a laugh as she looked at the small trout Cade was cutting off his line.
He rolled his eyes. “If I throw it back, what’ll we eat for dinner? It’s not looking like you’re going to contribute.”
They were fishing in the river; it was their second night of camping out and then it would be back to reality in the morning. Cade loved these weekends that he and Bobbie spent deep in the heart of the mountains, just the two of them. They fished and when it was hunting season, they hunted, and they talked about everything. Cade had never been a big talker, but with Bobbie it was just so easy and natural that sometimes she even asked him to stop talking and give her a break.
“The sun ain’t gone down yet. I’ll have us a fish here in a minute that’ll make that one look like an anchovy. Too bad we couldn’t just order a pizza and chop it up.”
Cade laughed. “Okay.”
He and Bobbie had been fishing together since they were fourteen years old. He could remember the first time he saw her and her twin sister, Becky. He’d never seen identical twins before so it was a shock looking at two tall, leggy blondes standing side by side with the same face. His adolescent hormones had raged at first. The girls weren’t well dressed or even well-kempt by most people’s standards, but even in their simple denim dresses and boots, it was hard to miss how pretty they were. Cade realized that first day of school that they were also very different. They’d been kept at home with their four siblings and parents high up on the mountain and although they seemed to be somewhat crudely educated about things like reading and spelling and math, it was obvious they hadn’t spent much time, if any, socializing with other people. The girls communicated just by looking at each other which, at the time, Cade had found a little creepy. The other kids at school did too, and because of that, their backwards ways, the way they talked and dressed, and multiple other things, they were the target of every bully in the class. The first time Cade walked up on a group of girls giving the twins a hard time, he stepped in and told them all to get lost and that he better not catch them antagonizing the girls again. He didn’t know what he’d do if he did; he’d never hit a girl. But he was much bigger than your average fourteen-year-old and a little different himself. The girls had been shocked when the quietest boy in their class was suddenly vocally defending another student.
After that day, Cade couldn’t get rid of Bobbie at school if he had wanted to. She stuck to him like glue and he made sure no one else picked on her. Becky stuck with them for a while, but she quickly discovered boys and managed to befriend some of the more popular girls. The loss of her twin constantly at her side only made Bobbie cling to Cade more. They started hanging out together after school too and a strong friendship was born. Cade never stopped noticing how pretty she was, but he tried not to let himself think about it most of the time. She was much more immature than most of the kids, thanks to her raising, and Cade came to think of her like a little sister. He liked that she was as tough as nails and that she could shoot and fish and liked to hike and camp. As they grew older, she even got better at some of those things than him. He wasn’t intimidated by that, however; he was proud of her every accomplishment.
“Look! I got one!” Bobbie reeled in her line with some difficulty and Cade’s jaw dropped when he saw her haul the fish out of the water. It was huge, the biggest fish he’d seen come out of the Medina River in his lifetime.
“Damn, that must be the Papa fish.”
She looked at his tiny fish with a glint in her pretty blue eyes and said, “I’d go with Old Grandpappy.”
Cade had said something sarcastic, but again, he was proud of her. She made her own bait and when she told him what was in it, he’d laughed at her. He wasn’t laughing as he ate in the fried fish that night while they sat in front of the campfire. Cade had opened a bottle of whiskey and although neither of them were big drinkers, they were taking turns taking shots. By the time they both finished eating their fish and a can of pork and beans that Bobbie heated up, the bottle was half empty.
After they cleaned up their dinner mess Cade had said, “We should play truth or drink.”
“What’s that?”
Cade had learned the game while he was in the army. “I ask you a question and you have to either tell me the truth or take a shot.”
“Like truth or dare but for drunks?” she asked with a giggle.
He smiled. “Pretty much.”
“Okay, shoot.” There wasn’t much about Bobbie that Cade didn’t know, but he had done two overseas tours in the army and when he was stateside, he only came home for short leaves. For the better part of four years from ages 24 to 28, he was away from Blossom Hill and while he was gone, Bobbie had grown into a beautiful woman. Cade knew men had to be asking her out. Anytime he asked her about her love life, however, she pretended like she didn’t have one. He didn’t know why he was so curious, but he desperately wanted to know how experienced she had become with men.
“Who was your first kiss?” he asked her curiously.
She rolled her eyes and reached for the whiskey bottle.
He raised his eyebrows. “Really? That’s an easy one.”
She smiled at him and then put the whiskey bottle to her lips and took a long pull off it. When she sat it down she asked, “Who was your first kiss?”
“Amy Brower.”
Bobby wrinkled her nose. “That girl that moved here for like two minutes, kissed every boy in our junior class and then some, and then moved to Florida?”
“That’s the one. All that kissing experience was nice.”
She rolled her eyes and said, “TMI. Your turn.”
“Are you a virgin?”
“Cade Travers!”
He was laughing at the shocked look on her face. Shadows from the fire were dancing across it, but he thought he might be able to see her blushing. “It’s a legitimate question.”
“Why do you want to know that?”
He didn’t know, so he shrugged. “I’m just having fun. It’s just you and me, come on.” Bobbie picked up the bottle again. “Aw, come on,” he protested as she raised it to her lips.
She smiled right before it got there and winked at him as she said, “I don’t kiss and tell.”
The game continued like that until the bottle was drained of whiskey and night was slowly turning into morning. Bobbie yawned and with speech that was slightly slurred she said, “I think I’m going to hit the sack.”
“Yeah, me too,” Cade said, rubbing his eyes. “I don’t want to go back tomorrow.”
She smiled at him and he didn’t know if it was the alcohol or the fact that he hadn’t been with a woman in weeks, but he’d never seen her look so beautiful. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her face was freshly scrubbed. Her big blue eyes reflected the moonlight and even in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, at that moment he thought she was the sexiest woman he’d ever seen.
“Me either,” she said. “This has been great. I missed you while you were away so much. I’m so glad you’re back for good.”
Alcohol, moonlight, or just pure lust had infected him, and without thinking, he took a step toward her. She gave him a surprised look when he cupped her face in his hand, but she didn’t pull away. He leaned down and pressed his lips into her full pink ones and he’d never tasted anything so sweet. Bobbie let out a little moan and parted her lips and every solid organ in Cade’s body turned into liquid steel. He could feel the heat of it as it passed through his veins and when it hit his heart, he thought it might explode. She brought her tongue out to meet his and the two tangled up in a kiss unlike anything Cade had experienced, and he had kissed a lot of women. He let his hand run up the side of her face and into her hair, sliding out the band that held her ponytail and tangling his fingers up in all that golden silk. They kissed passionately, exploring every inch of the other’s mouths until neither of them could breathe. When Cade pulled back and looked down at her, Bobbie was gasping for breath and her lips and cheeks were bright with color. If she’d been any other woman, he would have scooped her up and carried her to his tent already…but this was Bobbie. This was his best friend. You don’t have sex with your best friend…do you?
“Cade, what…I mean…?” She was breathless and obviously confused.
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “I just…I don’t know what came over me. I just wanted to do that so badly that I didn’t even try and stop myself.”
She reached up and put her hand on the side of his face. “I wanted you to do it too. And I want to do it again.”
“Are you sure? I mean, we had a lot to drink. Maybe it’s the alcohol. I don’t want you to feel like I took advantage of you.”
She smiled and said the words he’d held onto from that moment on. “I’ve wanted you to kiss me since we were fourteen years old.”
That was all he needed to hear. He took her back into his arms and kissed her again, this time leading her backwards into his tent as they kissed. Once inside, they both dropped to their knees and began tearing at each other’s clothes like wild animals. If Cade thought the kiss was extraordinary, he hadn’t been prepared at all for what making love to her was like. Everything about her was incredible and he couldn’t believe it had taken him almost fifteen years to realize it.
Cade always wondered how he remembered that night since he was so drunk…but he did remember it, every single detail. It was still the best night of his life and running, four years later. He sighed and tucked those memories away. Those were much simpler times and some days he wished that he had a time machine and he could go back and fix the mistakes he’d made…the mistakes that they both had made.