Cherry Bomb (16 page)

I had promised to take the kids to The Falls
to cliff dive and swim. I had no idea why. I was horrified of
swimming, but it was something their dad did with them every summer
and they had been begging to go every week.
Lord knows their dad
didn’t have it on his schedule.

“Wow, Mommy, is this for me?”

Henry took off running toward the large box
that Drake had sent the night before. It was still sitting on the
edge of my bed.
Oh, no.

I raced and luckily beat him to the package.
“No, sweetheart, that’s mine. Now go get out of those wet britches
and meet me downstairs for some waffles.”

I set on the small sofa in the corner of the
room and pulled the box over next to my feet, inside were still
wrapped gifts. I lifted up the top one. It was pink with a small
white card on top with the word, Saturday, written across it. I
picked up the second one that clearly was marked Monday. Rummaging
through it, I realized it was a gift for each day of the following
week. I opened the card on my Saturday gift.

Some more of my favorite things

For my all-time favorite

Yours,

Drake

Damn, that man was good.
Unwrapping
it, I almost slipped off the cushion. It was the panties I had left
at his house after our first night together.

“Mom, Henry said you were making waffles. Get
a move on it. I have things to do,” Noah screamed from down the
hall.

I smiled, shoved the panties back in the box.
“Be there in a minute.”

I pulled the collar of the robe up to my
nose. His smell seeped into my lungs.
He has my clothes but I
still have his robe.
I was seriously screwed.

I made my way downstairs to the sounds of
little voices coming from the kitchen.

Noah was in the process of throwing a Froot
Loop into the air. The tile floor was covered in his already failed
attempts.

Henry who was already sporting a pair of
goggles saw me first and covered his smile but he was clearly
enjoying Noah’s show.

Noah got a glimpse of me out of his
peripheral vision, and flipped his head just in time for the yellow
piece of cereal to land right in his eye.

“Awe, Mom, you messed me up.”

“You are going to think messed up if you do
not clean up that floor,” I said and pointed down to the cereal
spewed all over the tile.

“I’ll clean it up. Just having fun.” Noah
said with a small smile playing on his lips.

Henry who was eating a stray Froot Loop off
the table said, “Noah called me a stinky pants and a baby.”

“Noah quit making fun of your brother. Henry
quit being a tattle-tale.” I crossed the kitchen to get a large mug
of coffee, knowing I was in for a long day. No Drake, the day was
set aside to what should be my number one focus, being a Mommy.

“Here, Mommy, someone has been texting you,”
Noah crawled out from under the table and handed me my cellphone. I
had totally forgot about dropping it the night before.

Drake: Good morning, Cherry

Hoping your day is as pleasurable

As your night.

Shit,
it was Drake. The text was sent
an hour ago.

Me: You never know, Sir

Drake: I know I’m not invited.

Me: Carrying the kids

to the Falls to swim.

Drake: Have fun with the kids.

Me: Oh yeah, thanks for the panties.

Drake: You are welcomed, ma’am

I would return the bra.

But it’s a little torn and

I’m using it to support

the tomatoes in my garden.

Later, Mrs. Webb

“Ruby, please quit arguing we are almost
there.”

Noah and Henry both had been up since five
a.m., and ready to leave by six. Ruby, on the other hand, was still
not ready at ten. I had promised the boys we would be there by
eleven, but thanks to Ruby, we were already running thirty minutes
late. I had even managed to leave the towels at home. They could
drip dry. At least, I grabbed the drinks and snacks.

“Damn, I didn’t want to go. I’m PMSing and so
over today,” Ruby said, pulling at the top of a bikini that was way
too small for her blooming bust line.

“Get over yourself. Today is for the boys.
Plus, isn’t Matt supposed to meet you there.”

“Mommy, is Daddy coming?” Henry said as I
pulled into the gravel road leading to the waterfalls.

“No, baby, Daddy couldn’t come today.”
He
is too busy screwing some random whore.
“But I’m sure he would
love to be here if he could.”

Henry scoured the parking pad, turning back
into the little boy that was forever searching for a dad that will
never be there for him.

“Maybe, he didn’t know, Mommy,” Henry said
and started to unbuckle his booster seat. I opened the door to help
him out and smiled.

Noah got out on the passenger side. He was
the one I worried about the most. He never asked about their
father. He simply accepted what was. Almost as if he knew who his
father really was.

It was only one of the million reasons why I
couldn’t get involved with Drake. Noah didn’t need another man to
let him down.

“Drake,” Noah scream in pure delight then
took off running. I raised my head to see Drake’s strong, athletic
form coming our way with a little girl no more than five thrown
over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and two little boys about
my sons age close on his heels.

Drake started jogging in our direction while
the little girl giggled with each bump to his step. She was
adorable with red, bouncing curls. The two boys right behind him
were with an older version of Drake, who was carrying two chairs
and a bag of towels.

Henry wiggled out of the car, his face was
one big smile. “I want to see Drake, Mommy.”

I hadn’t even noticed that Ruby had climbed
out of the car until she whistled and said, “Who the hell is he?”
She never took her eyes off Drake.

Hell, we could just reuse the towels they
brought. After all we could wash them on the washboard he calls abs
and then wring them out with the extra strength tummy control I was
wearing. One of us didn’t belong, and the way my boys were running
to him and my daughter was drooling, I was beginning to believe it
was me.

“Damn,” Ruby whispered. “Again, who the hell
is he?”

“No cussing, Ruby,” I said and rolled my
eyes. She really was getting on my last nerves.

“He’s Mommy's friend that will play with me,”
Henry said before leaping right up to Drake’s side. Drake ran his
fingers through his hair.

“Hey, buddy, care if me and my girl join
you?” Drake said and knelt down between Henry and Noah and let the
little girl he was carrying slip to her feet.

“Gracie,” Drake said and gave Gracie, I
presumed, a kiss on the cheek. “These are my buddies, Noah and
Henry.”

As soon as Drake got the words out the two
boys following behind him ran up and each nudged one of Drake’s
shoulders.

“Noah and Henry these two knuckleheads are
Thomas and Jeff and the old man there,” Drake pointed to the guy
overloaded with supplies, “Is my brother Billy.”

I slowly walked up to them, enjoying the view
of the man who was so forceful in the bedroom be so at ease
surrounded by a small army of children. Drake stood up in front of
me, grinning like a kid himself.

“Hey, beautiful,” Drake said and rubbed his
fingers back through Henry’s hair. “Well, hey, you must be the
lovely Ruby.” Drake reached past me to shake Ruby’s hand. She stood
a step behind me at that point with her mouth slightly gapped open
and basically dumbfounded. I wished she could have seen how she
looked, she sure would have pointed out if I had that look on my
face.

“Hey. What are you doing here?” I asked,
pretty stumped at what he was doing there myself.

“Some cutie told me about a great swimming
hole and I’d promise this cutie,” Drake paused to boost Gracie back
up into his arms. “A fun day. Meet my niece Grace and nephews
Thomas and Jeff.”

It was instant relief when he clarified they
were not his kids.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Grace,” I said and
held out my hand, trying my hardest to look like nothing about this
situation was unexpected and definitely that his presence did not
send every cell in my body on alert.
What the hell was this man
doing and why did I like it so much?
“Thomas, Jeff.” I greeted
the boys with a nod of my head.

“Again who the hell is he?” Ruby leaned in
and whispered in my ear.

Drake instantly grabbed Ruby’s wrist. “Drake,
I’m friends with your mom, and I think I might need to get you a
cussing jar. I would appreciate if you would watch your language
around the kids and your mom.”

Drake’s eyes held the same intense stare he
wore in the bedroom. It worked outside the bedroom too because Ruby
stood up straight and slightly lowered her head before whispering,
“I’m sorry.”

“Cherry, right,” Billy said and held out his
hand to shake mine. “I’m Billy and you must be the reason Drake
wanted to come swimming.”

I looked over at Drake who was raising an
eyebrow. Gracie wrapped her small hand around Drake’s chin and
pulled his face to look at her, demanding his attention. “Who is
she, Drakie?”

“These guys are my special friends.”

“Special like me?” she asked with the most
angelic voice.

He kissed her forehead. “No one will ever be
special like you, Soda pop.”

Drake held out his hand for mine and guided
me down the rocky path to the Falls. He was strong and gentle, and
I would’ve almost forgotten about the kids if they were not loud
and on my heels the whole way down. My boys and Drake’s nephews
were hitting it off almost as well as we did.

I hated myself for being so damn happy he
was there.

But I had never wanted someone with me more.
If I didn’t guard myself, Drake Hart could easily become the most
important person in the world to me.

It took a good five minutes to trudge through
the rocks and paths to finally get to the bottom of The Falls. It
was beautiful, and I loved the feel of the water spraying off the
waterfalls. Billy had stayed quiet except for the occasional
reprimand of the boys. Drake took a chair from him and placed it on
a flat rock, sat Grace in it, and told her he would be right back
then pulled me behind a large formation of rocks.

“Talk to me?”

“About what?”

“About what’s wrong. Are you mad I came this
morning, that I corrected your daughter?”

I held my head down. I couldn’t look at him
and think straight.
Is there something wrong with me? Am I mad?
Hell no, I love having him here. But I shouldn’t. I should keep him
away from my kids. I can’t let them get hurt because I am turning
into a bag of hormones.

“Why do you think I’m mad?”

“You haven’t said more than three words to
me.” He cupped the side of my face in his hands. “You won’t even
look at me.”

I finally looked up and our eyes met and
seemed to mesh. His eyes spoke more than his words. They were
burning with a look I had never seen before. A mixture of
determination, yearning, desire, and devotion. He tucked a strand
of hair behind my ear.

“I’m not going to hurt you or those kids.
You’re my curve ball.”

“You’re what?” I asked and bit down on my
bottom lip.

“My curve ball, my chance to finally do the
right thing, my Cherry bomb.”

“Mom, where did you go?” Noah came running
around the corner.

Thank God too, because I was two seconds from
kissing that smug look off his face.

“Come on, we have some kids that I am sure my
brother doesn’t want to babysit alone.”

We had already been there for well over three
hours, on what was one of the most humid days we had so far that
Summer, but the mist coming off the waterfalls made it comfortable.
There were a few people father down on the rocks, but it was
largely deserted. Most people spent their weekends at the river,
missing out on one of the town’s most hidden treasures.

I lay back on one of the towels Drake had
brought and looked over at Ruby and Matt. Matt was Ruby’s
boyfriend, and had showed up an hour after we did.

They had wandered down the rocks, almost out
of eyeshot. As much as the boys loved swimming, Ruby hated it. At
times, I had the misgiving that my irrational fears of so many
things where rubbing off on Ruby. And I knew, no matter how much I
tried to hide my inner demons, Ruby had a way of seeking them out
and exploring them.

Matt was searching the many piles of pebbles
and rocks the current had washed up from the nearby river. Ruby had
found a piece right away. She had always spent her time finding
unusual stone formations, and Matt was intent on finding her a
piece of petrified wood. He was absorbed on the task, and Ruby was
engrossed in him.

Ruby was growing into an astonishing young
lady whose insight and charm amazed me on a daily basis. But it
broke my heart that she was growing so quickly. Still when I looked
at her no matter how much she drove me crazy, she was the little
girl with brown curls that had captured me in a way no one else
ever had. She was my first baby and little girl.

I closed my eyes, just intending to rest and
ponder the day.

“Daydreaming,” Drake asked and sat down
beside me close enough for a few drops of water to fall off the
tips of his hair and down my shoulder. I sat up and instinctively
took his hand in mine.
Shit, it felt right.

Drake had been the perfect gentleman. He had
not even touched me since he pulled me behind the rocks when we
first arrived.