Page 31 of Something More

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 itthis 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 inthe 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.”

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