“What do you mean before you met me?”
He stops, dropping his gaze to mine. Eyes thinned and voice low, he says, “I should really put you over my knees and spank you.”
“You could always just…” I get up on my toes, put my mouth to his ear. “… fuck me.”
He pushes me away and brings me back just as fast. Then, arm around my shoulders, he leads us toward the Eastwood Nursery stall.
“I’m just saying… you haven’t really touched—”
“Hey, Maggie!” Holden cuts in. “How’s it going?”
I stifle my giggle because I don’t know what else to do. I’ve been here for a week now, and Holden seems to be avoiding any and all sexual contact. We sleep in the same bed every night, he threatens me with the things he wants to do to me, and yet… I’ve given him every opportunity, and he won’t so much as touch me inappropriately. Or, appropriately, in my case.
“…think they’re so cool with their fancy signs and their double space,” Maggie spits, glaring at nothing in particular.
“Who?” I ask.
“That bullshit franchise garden center in Justice. They stole half our business and think they can just show up here like… like…” She throws her hands in the air. “I should go kick over their plants.”
“Want me to?” I offer. It would be an excellent way to release all my pent-up sexual frustration. It’s either that or tie Holden down and sit on his face. Mmm…
“No, but thank you,” Maggie says, her shoulders deflating. “You know what we should do?” We should just set the whole place on fire.”
“I should not be hearing this,” Leo says from behind me, his arms full of snow cones in all different flavors.
“Ha ha!” Maggie exaggerates, shifting her eyes from side to side. “We’re kidding, Leo!”
“Leo’s a police officer,” Mia informs me.
“Really?”
I look up at Leo, and he nods, lifting his arms to offer me a snow cone. Mia and I help him unload the rest, and before he’s even had a taste of his, he shouts, “Ooh! Funnel cake!” And then he’s off again.
“My daddy likes food,” Benny tells me.
I look down at him. “He does, huh?”
Big, light brown eyes just like his mother’s blink, blink, blink up at me. “He says it’s because he has five brothers, and they all had to fight for food even though they always had plenty.”
“Five brothers? That sounds like a lot…”
Mia settles a hand on her son’s shoulder. “Imagine his excitement when he found out he had five other Uncle Holdens.”
We sit at a picnic table beneath some fairy lights and down snow cones and funnel cakes and whatever else Leo scored. “You know what I just realized?” Holden says around a mouthful of food. “Mia and Leo had their first date here.”
“We did?” Mia asks, her eyebrows bunched. Benny sits between his parents, living his best life with an array of sugar at his beck and call. He bounces in his seat, his head bopping to a song that’s playing only in his head.
Holden slips his hand beneath the table, settles it on my bare thigh.
Leo says, “First fake date, but yeah.”
“Oh yeah,” Mia responds. “That was the night Brianna—” She breaks off when Leo smashes the entire snow cone on her forehead, then slides it down to her shocked, wide-open mouth.
“Oh my god,” I whisper, laughing.
“Cock block,” Leo murmurs, his eyes finding Holden sitting across from him. “I got you, bro,” he tells him, and they chuckle, fist-bump like bros.
Mia’s shaking her head, wiping her face with napkins, and Benny sings, “Cock block!”
“See what you did?” Mia hisses, backhanding her husband’s shoulder.
For a minute or two, we eat in silence, and every time I glance up, I catch light brown eyes watching me, smiling at me.
I smile back.
Benny says, leaning his forearms on the table, “My uncle Holden said you live in a car.”
I nod, dropping my fork on my paper plate. “I used to live in an RV, which is a tiny house on wheels, so yeah. I guess I did live in a car.”
“You live there all the time?” Benny asks.
“I did. I’m staying with your uncle Holden now.” Beneath the table, Holden squeezes my leg.
Benny asks, “How long did you live there?”
“The past few years.”
“So, you just travel around?” Leo asks.
I nod again. “Yeah. I can work remotely, so I just kind of went wherever my heart took me.”
“So, you wake up somewhere new whenever you want?” Benny asks.
“It’s not as amazing as it sounds,” I admit. Then add, “There are many mornings I woke up in a Walmart parking lot.”
“Maybe we should get an RV,” Leo ponders.
Holdens scoffs. “You have a private jet.”
“No,” Mia’s quick to say. “My dad has a private jet for business. We do not.”
“An RV would be cool,” Leo murmurs, more to himself than anyone else. “We could take Benny around the country.”
“And Princess,” Benny shouts.
“Princess could come,” Leo agrees.
I look between them. “Princess is your… dog?”
“No,” Leo laughs. “Princess is Katie, my niece. The first time Benny saw her was Halloween, and she was dressed as a princess, so…”
“Right.”
“Which reminds me…” Leo’s on his feet, tapping his pockets. “I’ll be back.”
None of us question where he’s going or what he’s doing; we just watch him leave.
“Don’t you miss your mama when you’re gone?” Benny asks, and my eyes snap to his.
I look between Mia and him, wondering how much a five-year-old should know. Or how much Mia knows. After pushing down the sudden ache in my chest, I say, “My mom’s not around anymore. But I have other people I’m close with, and I make sure to visit them often.”
Benny doesn’t seem to take in my response, which is probably a good thing. “One time, Daddy and Holden took me camping, and I cried because I missed my mama.” Mia pouts as she smooths down his hair.
“That’s incredibly sweet,” I tell him, amazed that two teenagers could raise such an amazing kid, even apart, and my mom… I push away the thought. “I’m sure she missed you too.”
Benny cocks his head to the side, his eyes squinting. “Where’s your mama?”
Oh. We’re back here again. “Um… she’s…” I nudge Holden, urging him to help. He doesn’t.
“Buddy,” Mia coos. “Jamie’s mom died.”
“Oh. So, she’s in heaven with Daddy’s mama and your papa,” Benny says simply, focusing on me again. “Do you think they know each other?”
“I’m not sure.”
“I hope they do!” Benny says, sitting back in his seat and bringing his snow cone closer. “That way, they could all take care of each other. Like family.”