“Can we camp now?” Junie asked. “I’m big enough.”
“Me camp!” Rosie chimed in. “Me big.”
Zeke winced. “Uh-oh. Sorry, but I can’t go tonight, girls. I meant another day.”
“Okay,” Junie said sadly. Then she turned pleading eyes on Leah. “Can we camp tonight?”
“It’s too cold to camp outside, but we can go when it’s warmer,” Leah said.
“I’ll wear a coat,” Junie begged.
“Please, Papa Tank?” Rosie pleaded.
Tank arched a brow at Rosie’s attempt to circumvent Leah’s decision. “That’s up to your mama, baby girl.”
“How about if we set up a blanket fort in our living room?” Leah suggested.
“That’s not a tent,” Junie said sullenly.
Tank leaned closer to Leah and whispered, “I can pitch a tent in my living room and build a campfire in the fireplace.”
Her heart skipped. “I love that idea. Are you sure?”
“Hell yeah. It’ll be a blast.”
“Let’s do it,” she whispered.
He gave her a quick kiss. “You tell them so Rosie doesn’t think she found a way around the boss.”
She chuckled. “Hey, girls, how about a slumber party at Tank’s house?”
The girls cheered and clapped.
Zeke sidled up to Leah. “They’ve got him wrapped around their little fingers.”
Almost as much as he’s got us wrapped around his.
Happy about their camping victory, the girls went back to exploring. Leah took loads of pictures, and the guys bantered back and forth, sharing stories about hikes they’d taken with their families. The girls were as fascinated by their stories as they were by their surroundings, reminding Leah of how they’d loved to listen to River’s stories.
Tank put his arm around Leah. “Hey, darlin’. Are you having fun?”
“I’m loving every second of this. Zeke knows so much about the outdoors.”
“Yeah, he’s a bit of a nature whisperer.” He kissed her neck. “We’re going to have to do more of this. The girls are really enjoying it.”
She put her arm around him, inching closer as they followed the girls. “That sounds great, but I go back to work in a couple of weeks, and your mom said she’ll give me daytime hours so I can be home when the girls go to bed. It might be tough finding time to take them on hikes when we’re both off work.”
“I’ll make it happen. This kind of stuff is important for their development.”
“You do realize those words are like mama porn, right?”
He laughed, and Zeke looked over with a grin.
“I didn’t think you’d hear that,” she said to Zeke.
“You’ve got to watch him,” Tank said. “He hears everything.”
“Speaking of mommy P-O-R-N,” Zeke said, eyeing the girls. “Be forewarned that ever since my mom heard that you’re making a memory blanket for Ginger and Con, she’s been gathering a bunch of stuff from when we were little. I think she’s going to hit you up for one.”
“Really? I’d be happy to make her one.”
“That’s because you’re a sweetheart.” Tank kissed her.
The woods gave way to grass, and up ahead to their right was a breathtaking view of a cranberry bog. Inky water surrounded a sea of cranberries, contained in a perfect circle.
“Papa Tank, look! The water’s bleeding!” Junie shouted.
“Surprise,” Tank whispered in Leah’s ear, and pressed a kiss beside it. “Those are cranberries, Twitch, and that’s a cranberry bog.”
“Yummy!” Rosie exclaimed. “Make pie!”
Zeke laughed. “Leah, how do you stand it? They’re so cute.”
“My dad used to say that kids were cute twice as often as they misbehaved, so one outweighed the other.” She had nearly forgotten about that until now.
The girls ran along the grass, and as they rounded a bend, music floated in the air, and a sea of white canopies and crowds of people milling about came into view.
“Zeke!” Tank nodded to Rosie as he swept Junie up in the air, plopping her onto his shoulders.
Zeke did the same to Rosie, and the girls giggled hysterically, shouting, “We high!” and “Look at me!” Rosie banged on Zeke’s head like a drum, and Junie hugged Tank’s head, pressing a kiss to it.
“Grandpa Leo used to carry me and River on his shoulders.” Happiness bubbled up inside Leah with the memories as she took pictures of them, the bog, and tents. “What is all this?”
“Cranfest. We used to come with our families every year. There are arts and crafts and games for the kids. Sack races, that sort of thing.” Tank pointed to the water. “See the people going in the water? We’re going to do that.”
Leah was touched that Tank had thought to bring them there.
“Me?” Rosie shouted.
“Yeah, you,” Zeke answered. “Even your mama is going in. That is, if you’re not afraid of spiders. There are spiders in bogs.”
“I no ’fwaid,” Rosie said.
Junie leaned over Tank’s head, peering down at him. “Can I stay on your shoulders?”
“Sure can.” Tank took her hand and pressed a kiss to it. “I think your sister will have to go in on Zeke’s shoulders, too.”
Rosie shook her head. “No, me not!”
“We’ll see, cheeky girl,” Tank said. “Maybe it won’t be too deep and you won’t mind the spiders.”
“Me no mind,” Rosie said emphatically.
Leah laughed softly. She had a feeling her little one would mind very much, but she kept that to herself. “This is amazing. I’ve never seen a cranberry bog up close.”
“They’re harvesting the cranberries. See the equipment by the water?” Zeke pointed to the trucks on the far side of the canopies.
“I see it!” Junie shouted. “What’s hawvestin’?”
Zeke went into an explanation about how cranberries grow. “When the cranberries are ripe, the bog is flooded, and that big machine reaches into the water and shakes the cranberries loose from the vines. Cranberries are empty inside, so they float up to the top.”
“They gwow in a circle?” Junie asked.
“It would be cool if they did, but they don’t,” Zeke said. “See the black thing around the berries? That’s called a rubber boon, and it keeps them in a circle. They’ll use a big hose to suck them out of the water and onto a conveyer belt, where they’ll be rinsed and loaded into a truck.”
“Then what?” Junie asked.
Zeke smiled at Leah, obviously not minding Junie’s questions. “Then they’re packed and sold in stores so you can make pies, sauces, preserves, muffins, and about a thousand other things.”
“I wanna make muffins!” Junie looked at Leah. “Can we? Please?”
Zeke chuckled. “Sorry, Leah.”
“Are you kidding?” Leah exclaimed. “I want to make muffins, too.”
They ate lunch by the bog and spent the rest of the afternoon checking out all the arts and crafts and tasting cranberry cookies, muffins, and candies. The bandstand was surrounded by hay bales, pumpkins, mums, and other fall decorations. They danced as a group, taking turns picking up the girls to dance with them. They took loads of pictures, and Zeke pulled both girls into his arms, allowing Tank to dance with Leah. The music was fast, but Tank held her close, and they danced slowly as they gazed into each other’s eyes.