set over the Cauldron family land.
He could see himself giving CJ piggyback rides and teaching her patience and new skills.
He could see them as a family.
“There you go.” Bobbi beamed up at him, holding her bobber. “Sorry about that. Maybe we should break for lunch?”
He cleared his throat and nodded in agreement. “Um…yeah.” But the thought wouldn’t leave him so easily.
He was still smiling when he joined them on the old horse blanket she’d spread in the shade of the largest oak. And he was still smiling as she passed around the sandwiches, and while CJ squealed over being allowed a soda “from a can!”
Yeah, just being with these two made him smile.
“So, Charlene Juniper, huh?” he asked, just as CJ took a big bite of her sandwich.
When she opened her mouth to respond, Bobbi cleared her throat in warning. CJ’s gaze darted to her, then the little girl sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes, before chewing and swallowing.
“I’m thinking tomorrow I’ll be Charlie June. That’s pretty.”
Deck nodded. “I like it better than Charlene Juniper, truthfully. But why not just CJ?”
“Because I’m CJ every day. Sometimes, I like to be someone different.”
Well, she was six, and it was hard to argue that reasoning. “Why not your real name?”
To his surprise, CJ shot a look toward her mom, which almost seemed…nervous?
When he met Bobbi’s eyes, she shrugged in apology, but didn’t explain.
It was CJ who reached for her soda, then said nonchalantly, “My real name is ugly. I’m either CJ, or another name I like.”
She said this with an emphatic nod, and Deck had to admit he liked how certain she was and how she seemed to know her own mind, even at her young age.
“Fair enough. You need any help coming up with suggestions?”
Her eyes lit up. “Yes!” And then a massive burp surprised her, and she broke down giggling.
When Deck saw Bobbi’s exasperation, he hid his own grin, but it was hard.
“Charlie June, manners!”
“Sorry, Mama, it was the soda. And I’m Charlie June tomorrow. Today I’m Charlene Juniper, remember?”
“Lord help us,” Bobbi muttered with an eye roll, and Deck distracted CJ with some name suggestions.
“Cordelia Jennifer? Christine Judith? Calliope Josephine?”
“I love them all! Thanks, Decker!”
And when she threw her little arms around his neck, Deck closed his eyes and splayed one hand across her back, inhaling her cottony scent.
Yeah, I could get used to this.
When he opened his eyes again, Bobbi was watching them both with such a look of longing, he wondered if she might want that too.
After lunch, CJ wasn’t interested in anymore fishing, but her mom had brought a collection of miniature horses in her big purse. Some of them were only as big as Decker’s thumb, and he liked how serious the little girl was when she explained each horse’s name and superpower.
“Why don’t you use those twigs over there to make a corral for them?” He pointed to a collection scattered under a nearby tree.
“Because,” she said, with a roll of her eyes, “these are magic horses. They don’t need corrals.”
“Okay.” He shrugged. “Then use the sticks, and those rocks, and the sand, and make them an epic mansion to live in.”
“Awesome!” the little girl cried, before jumping up and racing for the beach to begin collecting rocks.
Bobbi was grinning at him. “You’re pretty good at that.”
And he knew what she meant. Shrugging, he tried to explain. “I like kids. I like hanging out with them, although I don’t get the chance that often. I wanted to be a teacher once. Did I ever tell you that?” When she shook her head and began to walk toward him, he shrugged again. “I just think of what I would want to play with, and use it. I guess I have a child-like mind.”
She stopped in front of him and lifted her hand to his cheek. He hadn’t shaved today, and he wondered if she minded.
“I think you have a wonderful mind, Decker Cauldron,” she whispered.
And suddenly, his jeans were just a little too tight.
He wanted to squirm, or pull her closer, so she could feel exactly what she did to him. But when she stepped away, her hand dropping, he swallowed down his desire and tried to order his body to behave.
Doesn’t work that way, cowboy.
She took his hand and smiled. “Come on, help me fish!”
It took him a minute to get himself under control, and by that time, she was standing up on that wide boulder again, in those slippery sandals, doing her best