Billionaire Mountain Man

“Uh-oh,” my dad was saying. “Where’d it go?”

Declan was already taking off, running into Allie’s yard. I just stood there.

“It went next door,” I said.

My father started to go after him, but then stopped. “Do you want me to...?”

“Why don’t you let Cole do it,?

?? my mother said, giving me an encouraging look.

I followed Declan, really not looking forward to having another awkward interaction with Allie. I knew she wouldn’t be looking forward to it, either. I pushed past the blueberry bushes. Declan had retrieved his plane and was showing it to her. She was wearing a pair of cut-offs and a white tank top made of some very soft-looking material that conformed to her every curve.

“Sorry about that,” I said. She looked over at me, her mouth tightening.

“That’s all right,” she said, and her voice sounded a little too bright, a little too forced. “Declan just wanted to show me this airplane of his. It’s pretty great.”

“You want to come over and fly it with me?” Declan asked.

“I’m actually going to do some work in the garden right now.” Allie pointed to the plot where we could see some things growing. “Look. Those daisies are blooming. Aren’t they pretty?”

Declan walked over to the flowers, which were an array of whites and pinks. Allie and I both stood there, watching him.

“I’m sorry he came over here like this,” I said.

“You don’t have to be sorry.”

“He’s been asking about you a lot. In fact, he was just asking my parents earlier today if you would be able to go fishing with them next week.”

A tiny smile curved the corners of her mouth. I tried not to look at her mouth, because when I did, all I could think of was how badly I wanted to kiss her.

“That’s sweet of him.”

“It’s hard on him, you know. I haven’t really been quite sure what to say. I think he’s probably confused about it all, more than anything else. Which sucks.”

“It does,” she said. “But just be honest with him. You don’t have to go into every detail, but he deserves your honesty.”

There was no way she could be aware of the impact those words had on me, conveying an idea that I had struggled with ever since Declan was a baby.

“Of course I want to be honest with him,” I said. “But for a kid his age, understanding the whole logistics behind a breakup isn’t really something I think he’d grasp.”

I was aware suddenly that we were standing awfully close. We hadn’t started that way, had we? But Allie was now less than an arm’s length away from me, and it was almost as though I could feel the heat radiating off her body.

“Can I pick a flower?” Declan yelled over to us from the garden.

“Of course you can,” Allie said. “Thank you for asking, though.”

I took a big step to the side, widening the distance between us. “And then we better get back to our yard, Declan,” I said.

I watched as he looked at the different choices he had, finally selecting one, a big white daisy, which he plucked and then carefully carried over to us. He held it out to Allie. “This is for you,” he said.

“Why thank you, Declan.” She took the flower from him. “This one is really beautiful. I’m going to go put it in some water, okay? And then whenever I look at it, I’ll think of you.”

He smiled and looked deeply pleased.

And as we walked back over to our yard, he looked at me, that smile still on his face. “Hear that, Dad?” he said. “Miss Allie said she’s going to think of us.”

Chapter Thirty-One