“When did you do all this?” she whispered, taking a step forward as her heart threatened to crush her soul. He’d done this for her?
“I got off work early and spent the afternoon hauling everything down here.” He reached for her. “Do you like it?”
“I love it.” She nestled her head against his chest and bit her bottom lip as doubts began to crowd her mind. If only her mother hadn’t started in about Boone and his playboy father and how the apple never fell far from the tree. “Have you…” Mouth dry, she exhaled and cleared her throat.
“Have I what?” he murmured, kissing the side of her neck, there where he knew she liked it.
Poppy pushed at him because she needed to see his face.
“Hey, are you okay?” Boone asked slowly.
She saw the confusion in his eyes. “Have you ever brought another girl here?”
His features softened as Boone reached for her. “No. Never. Only you.”
Poppy melted into him, and their fevered kisses led to the tent, where they quickly undressed and made love. It felt different somehow. Urgent and hot. It was as if she was filled with a need only he could satisfy.
And later, as he held her trembling in his arms, she whispered, “I love you.”
Boone heard her. It was in the way his breathing stopped and his arms tightened for a few moments before they relaxed. He pulled them underneath the blankets, and the silence pressed in.
Boone heard her, but he didn’t answer.
And the next day, he was gone.
Chapter Nineteen
“Are you sure we have to give her back?” Benji sniffled and buried his face in Mabel’s neck.
“She’s not ours, Benji.”
“But I want her.” His son pouted and glanced up at Boone over his glasses. Boone’s heart turned over, but he had to steel himself not to fall for it. It was a look Benji had used many times in the past—a look that usually got him what he wanted. His kid was so damn adorable, he was hard to resist.
But not this time.
He shook his head and slid out of the truck. “Come on. We’ve got to take her back to Poppy.”
Defeated, Benji followed him out and insisted on holding the leash, which was quite a feat considering the dog was as antsy as a fox in a henhouse . “I brought my gargoyle. I been looking after him real good. Maybe Poppy will let us keep Mabel when she sees how good I did.” He shot a look up at Boone. “I didn’t even get Harry dirty.”
“Who is Harry?”
“My gargoyle, see?”
Boone ruffled the top of Benji’s head and gazed out at the scene before him. The entire downtown park was awash with colorful tents and booths filled to the brim with arts and crafts. He was pretty sure a lot of it was crap, or at least the kind of thing you bought and then forgot about, but some of it had to be decent.
“Daddy, look at the kites!” Benji took off with Mabel, and with a sigh, Boone followed in their wake and was about to give his kid proper hell for running off when he realized the man selling kites was none other than his old hockey coach, Pete Balfour. While Benji got busy picking out a kite of his own, Boone caught up with the man who’d been something of a second father to him growing up. Balfour knew more than most how toxic Boone’s home life had been, and in a world of darkness, he and his wife had provided a sanctuary.
Boone was sad to hear that Balfour’s wife has passed a few years earlier, and even sadder to find out that Pete was battling prostate cancer.
“The prognosis is good,” Pete admitted with a grimace, “but the damned operation will set me back a bit.”
“If you need anything, I’m here.”
Pete slowly nodded. “It’s good you’re home. I didn’t think you’d last much longer playing ball when you never loved it the way you liked hockey.”
Throat tight, Boone shrugged. “Hockey was his dream, and no way was I giving him what he wanted.”
“A damn shame,” Pete murmured. “You were the best, most naturally gifted player I ever coached. But I get it. I know how complicated your relationship with your old man was.” He pointed to Benji. “Your boy reminds me a lot of you.”
“Yeah?”
Pete nodded. “Inquisitive, bright, ready to smile.” He raised an eyebrow and scratched at the beard that covered his chin. “He interested in the game?”
Boone nodded. “Signed him up for the fall. You still coaching?”
“Damned right I am. This cancer isn’t holding me back from the only thing that gets me through our tough Michigan winters.” He cracked a smile. “I could use some help out there.”
“That so.” Pleased, Boone called Benji over and introduced him to Coach Balfour. They spent a few more minutes discussing the game and possible coaching position, and just as Boone was about to leave, Benji pointed toward the river at the same time Mabel took off at a run.
“There’s Poppy.” Benji followed the dog, and, with a quick wave to Pete, Boone headed toward them.
The sight of Poppy hugging her dog made him smile, though it faded when she glanced up at him. Her eyes were swollen and red, as if she’d been crying.
“Everything okay?” he asked, more than a little concerned.
“No,” she whispered, gaze moving past him toward the park. “My mom…” Her voice broke, and she exhaled. “She can be hard.”
Boone knew that all too well. Back in the day, the woman had busted his balls every chance she got and made no effort to hide her dislike for him.
“Do you want to get out of here?” he asked, stepping forward and slipping his hand against her cheek.
“Are you Daddy’s girlfriend?”
Startled, he glanced over to his son, who stood a few feet away, hands buried in the fur at Mabel’s neck, eyes as big as saucers. Poppy said nothing, and Boone knew it was time to address this.
“She is,” he answered slowly. “I was just asking Poppy if she wanted to come back to our place for a barbecue and maybe a swim.”
Benji’s face lit up. “And we can bring Mabel back with us?”
Boone turned back to Poppy. Her expression was unreadable, and he thought that maybe he’d just made a huge mistake.
“Poppy?” he asked softly. He held out his hand, and thank God she took it, because he had no idea what he would have done if she hadn’t.
As they made their way back toward the craft fair and cut through to the parking lot, Boone was aware that a lot of folks were following their progress, including Molly and Nate Jacobs, who waved as they passed by the shelter adoption booth, and Mrs. Davidson, who’d been his Sunday School teacher.
Luckily, they didn’t run into Heather Fairbanks and made it to the parking lot unscathed. They piled into his truck, Benji hopping in the back with Mabel, and the sounds of Zac Brown kept them company on the way back to the lake. He’d barely parked in his driveway when Benji bolted from the truck with Mabel at his feet and disappeared down the side of the house.
“Don’t go near the water until I get there,” he shouted after his son.
“We won’t.”
With a half grin, he waited for Poppy to join him. She’d never been out to his home, and he watched as she slowly turned in a full circle and took all of it in.