The Butterfly Effect (Boggy Creek Valley 1)

Hunter paused for the briefest moment before he lifted his hand in a goodbye wave. “Later, Aiden.”

“Later, Hunter.”

When he drove off, I heard the door behind me open. I felt her there before I even turned to see her.

“That went better than I thought it would,” Willa mused.

I turned—and my breath caught in my throat. She was standing with her shoulder against the doorjamb, her blonde hair up in a ponytail as she watched her brother drive away. I let my eyes move over her body, taking in everything. She wore black leggings and had my SEAL T-shirt on. It looked so fucking adorable on her, I swear I almost dropped to my knees.

“That’s my T-shirt,” I stated, pointing at it.

She glanced down at the shirt and then back at me. With a smile, she replied, “I like it. It’s comfy.”

“Then you can have it.”

When she winked at me, I nearly felt my heart leap from my chest. “Truth be told, I wasn’t planning on giving it back. Except, it doesn’t smell like you anymore.”

I moved closer to her, causing her to push off the doorframe and quickly look around to see who might be watching us. Small towns and all.

“I bet I can fix that if you want.”

Her teeth dug into her lower lip before she replied, “I think I would like that very much.”

I felt my face ease into a wide grin as I whispered, “You might want to let me in before the neighbors drag out chairs and start to watch.”

With a giggle, Willa motioned for me to come in as she stepped out of the way. I quickly took in the little house she was renting. It wasn’t far off of Main and was one of the older historical homes in town. One that my great-grandfather had built.

“How in the world did you score this place?” I asked, giving it a good once-over. My gaze stared at the wide plank hardwood floors and went up her light blue walls to the ceilings that were framed in crown molding that would put any new shit to shame. Her style was simple, with a few pieces of artwork on the walls, and just enough furniture so as to not make the house feel crowed.

After she shut the door, she walked over and plucked Ben out of the little saucer thing she had him in. “A friend of my father owns it. He moved to Boston and before he put it up for rent, he asked Dad if he knew anyone looking for a rental. It happened to be the day after I left Brian. So, I told him I’d take it. I signed a two-year lease, but my dream is to someday build a house on my folks’ land. I’d like to ultimately be near the orchard.”

I nodded. “That makes sense. Is that one spot still open, the one on the back hill?”

Willa’s eyes lit up. “Yes! That’s exactly where I want to build a house. Know any good builders?”

I chuckled. “I may.” With another glance around, I sighed. “I remember walking into this house when my father was doing some work on it. He walked me around and showed me all the woodwork and told me how they didn’t make houses like this anymore, and how it was one of his favorite houses in Boggy Creek.”

With a tilt of her head, Willa let her eyes go up to the impressive wood molding in the room. “It is a beautiful house.” After a few more moments of looking around her little rental house, she said, “You’re just in time for dinner. Ben here was getting hungry.”

I held up the flowers. “Want to point me to a vase, and I’ll take care of these for you?”

She smiled and handed me Ben. “How about you get him into his high chair and start feeding him. His food is on the table already. I’ll put these in some water.”

I exchanged the flowers for Ben. “I think I got the better end of the deal.”

Willa laughed. “I think you did. Are you comfortable feeding him?”

“Hell yeah, I am. We guys have to take care of one another, isn’t that right, Ben?”

Ben laughed as if he knew his mother’s question was insane.

“I forgot you spent a lot of time at your friend’s house who had a kid,” she called out as I slipped Ben into the high chair and buckled him in.

I sat down at the table, looked at the jar of baby food, and snarled my lip. “What in the hell is this, buddy?”

Ben slapped his hands onto the high chair and muttered something incoherent, but if I had to guess, he was telling me it was food that tasted like horse shit.

“That is fresh baby food made by me. I pureed some veggies for him earlier.”