803 Wishing Lane by Shaw Hart

Five

Caroline

“I wish we could go camping,”Charlotte says glumly as she stares out the window at the rain pouring down outside.

She’s said this at least ten times this morning and I’m worried that she’s annoying Heath. He went outside about fifteen minutes ago and hasn’t come back in.

“I know, bunny. I do, too, but it’s still storming out there. We’ll have to try to go a different weekend,” I tell her.

“Or…” Heath says as he comes in through the back door. “I could set up my tent in here and we could go camping inside.”

“Yeah!” Charlotte yells excitedly as she scrambles over to help Heath with the supplies.

I sit on the couch, sipping the coffee Heath made before I even got up this morning and watch them. I’d offer to give him a hand but I know nothing about tents and I’m sure that I would only get in the way.

Charlotte grins over at me as Heath puts the final rod in the tent and I smile back at her. It would have taken me at least four times as long to set up the tent.

“Can we make hot dogs over the fire?” Charlotte asks Heath and he nods.

He made us eggs, bacon, and toast for breakfast this morning and I’m a little concerned that we’re going to eat him out of house and home.

“I have some food and stuff in the cooler out in my car,” I tell him, standing to head outside to grab it but he’s already at the door.

“I’ll grab it. I’m already a little wet from getting the tent,” he says with a slightly timid smile as he darts outside and over to my car.

It takes him a couple of minutes to dig the cooler out of the car and by the time he’s headed back up to the house, he’s drenched.

His black T-shirt clings to him and my mouth starts to water at the sight. His hair is plastered to his head and he has drops of rain running down his face.

I want to lick those drops off of him.

I jerk my gaze away from him, looking over to Charlotte as Heath comes back inside. I can’t be thinking about Heath like that. I need to get my head on straight here. I just moved to Cherry Falls not that long ago. I need to get settled here, make sure that Charlotte is alright, and make the diner a success before I can even think about dating.

Besides, what if I dated Heath and then we broke up? It would be so awkward to still have to see him every day, and since our businesses are literally across the street from each other, I know we would be running into each other a lot.

I watch as Heath and Charlotte work together to dig the food out of the cooler. He heads back outside and comes back with some campfire cooking sticks and three sleeping bags.

“I’ll make you one, Caroline,” Charlotte tells me when I move to help them and I laugh.

“Thanks, bunny.”

I watch the two of them work together and I’m surprised. I never thought Heath would be good with kids since he seems too gruff with adults, but he’s patient and kind as he helps Charlotte with the hot dogs.

“Oh man! I burned it,” Charlotte says and I grimace as I think about eating that one.

“I love burned hot dogs,” Heath says right away. “Can I have it?”

Charlotte nods, smiling as she holds the stick steady and Heath grabs the now ruined hot dog with a bun. He slathers it in ketchup and mustard and I bite back a smile when I see him take a big bite and only slightly grimace.

When Charlotte looks at him, he takes another big bite, giving her a smile.

“It’s delicious. Thanks, Charlotte.”

She grins at him, holding up the package of hot dogs for him to help her with it. He slides another hot dog onto the end of her stick and back into the fire it goes. This time, he helps her hold it out of the flames and shows her how to turn the stick so the hot dog cooks evenly. A few minutes later, she has a perfectly cooked hot dog and Heath puts it on a bun for her before he hands it over.

“Now we just need to make one for Caroline.”

Heath gets to work on that while Charlotte eats her hot dog and I move over, grabbing a bun to help him when he pulls it away from the flames.

“Thank you,” I whisper to him and I hope he knows that I’m thanking him for more than just the hot dog.

I love seeing Charlotte so happy and I love that we were still able to go camping. I owe all of that to the strong, rough around the edges man next to me.

“Anytime, Caroline.”

I retreat back to the couch to eat my hot dog. I’m not sure that I trust myself being so close to Heath. I can’t deny it any longer. I’m attracted to him. I have been since I first arrived in town, but I need to do what’s right for Charlotte now, and I don’t think that’s dating Heath, or anyone for that matter. Not right now at least.

The rest of the afternoon passes in a blur of s’mores, cleaning up messes, and telling silly ghost stories. Charlotte is too afraid to do them at night, so we all climb into the tent with flashlights and do it at three in the afternoon.

Through it all, Heath is a good sport. He’s patient with her, laughing the hardest at her ghost stories that don’t make any sense, and helping her clean up when she gets marshmallow all over her face.

I’ll admit, it’s been nice not having to do everything for Charlotte all by myself. Being a single mom is exhausting and I don’t know how anyone does it.

“Should we make more hot dogs for dinner, bunny?” I ask when it’s the evening, and she nods.

This time I sit by them on the floor, next to the fire with Charlotte between us. We manage not to burn any of the hot dogs this time, and I’m not sure if it’s all the excitement of today, the fire crackling and heating the whole room, the rain pattering on the windows and roof, or a mixture of all those things, but soon Charlotte is starting to doze off.

“She wanted to sleep in the tent,” Heath says and I nod, moving to open the flap as he scoops her up in his strong arms.

He cradles her gently against him as we both move into the tent and tuck her into her sleeping bag. She doesn’t even stir and I smile down at her sleeping face, bending over to press a kiss to her forehead

“Goodnight, bunny,” I whisper and she sighs, tucking her little fist beneath her chin.

I follow Heath out of the tent and look around the living room. It’s a bit of a disaster with candy wrappers, graham cracker crumbs and stray smears of marshmallow on the floor by the fireplace.

“Let me help you clean up,” I say, heading past him to where I saw the broom in the kitchen.

“I can get it,” he says, trying to stop me.

His hand wraps around my hip and my breath stalls in my lungs as I look up at him. Our eyes meet and cling to each other as we remain motionless.

“Caroline,” he whispers and I can’t take it any longer.

My whole body feels like it will explode if I don’t feel his lips on mine in the next second. Every cell in my body is urging me toward him and I take another step closer.

“Just kiss me already,” I whisper back and in the next instant, his lips are on mine.

His lips are a little rough, probably from the wind and rain outside, but I love it. They brush against mine softly, his hands tightening around my waist and pulling me closer.

My hands land on his wide chest and I can feel his heartbeat racing underneath my palm. I can feel every hard plane of his body and when my belly rubs against a certain thick ridge in his pants, I can’t hold back my gasp. My panties start to grow damp with my arousal and I step closer to him when suddenly I hear a sound from inside the tent.

Heath and I both jump away from each other as Charlotte sleepily climbs out of the tent.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” she says, her eyes barely open and I avoid Heath’s gaze as I help her to the bathroom.

By the time I return, he has the living room cleaned up and is just setting another log on the fire.

“Are you guys coming to bed now?” Charlotte asks and I nod.

“Yeah, I just need to brush my teeth and get into my pajamas.”

“Are you coming, Heath?” Charlotte asks sweetly and his eyes dart to mine.

I look away from him, heading into the bedroom to get changed instead. I hurry through brushing my teeth and then pad back out to the living room. I don’t see Heath and I wonder if he’s in the kitchen as I climb into the tent. There are three sleeping bags lined up inside and Charlotte is already tucked back into the one by the right side wall.

Heath is on the other side, lying on his back, his body tense. He gives me a strained smile as I climb into the sleeping bag in the middle. Charlotte blinks her eyes open at me and I lean over and give her another kiss on her forehead.

“Night, Caroline. Night, Heath,” she says, her eyes fluttering closed.

“Night,” we both say and then we lie there in silence.

I know he’s still awake and I wrack my brain trying to figure out a way to break this tension between us, but all I can focus on is the insistent ache between my legs.

I want him. Bad.

You can’t have him. Think about Charlotte. Think about what’s best for her.

I sigh, flopping onto my back and staring up at the ceiling. It’s really too bad that I can’t pursue this thing with Heath because I’m pretty sure I just fell in love with him a little bit this weekend.