Page 41 of Billionaire Lumberjack's Bargain

His eyes that match his mother’s light up. “Look what I did.”

The pride in his voice warms my chest as I glance down at the single spinach sprout he has lopsidedly placed in the planter bed and grin at him. “That looks amazing. You’re really good at this. You’re a great helper.”

He nods and goes back to it, happily moving dirt back and forth between the bed and buckets, seemingly with no rhyme or reason.

I push to my feet and turn to find Camille watching me carefully, her eyes holding that dewy softness that always makes my heart skip a little beat, even though it shouldn’t.

Shouldn’t.

Yet it’s impossible to ignore how beautiful she is, how her sadness and tender nature call to me in a way I didn’t even know was possible. How badly I want her to start living again instead of constantly dwelling in the past and being afraid of what’s coming next.

The rain starts falling heavier, the sound now almost like thunder echoing around us in the greenhouse, and I glance up, staring through the almost clear top to the darkened sky.

No lightning.

Noactualthunder.

Just a nice warm summer rain.

A grin pulls at my lips, and I turn back to Davey. “Hey, Davey.” He glances up, and I point toward the semi-transparent roof. “The rain is coming down pretty hard.”

He nods, clearly more interested in his mess than my weather observations.

“I bet you there are some great puddles out there.”

Little brows furrow as if he’s not following me or understanding what I’m getting at. I can’t help but chuckle at how sweet and innocent he is as I turn back to Camille to find her fighting a smile.

I scoop him up easily, and he protests slightly, his plastic spade slipping from his hand. Setting him on my hip, I ignore the twinge in my lower back and lean in to whisper conspiratorially. “Don’t you want to go play in some puddles?”

His eyes widen slightly and immediately dart over to his mom, who gives me her nod of approval, without me even having to explain my intentions.

He finally smiles and bounces in my arms, clapping wildly. “Let’s go!”

I carry him past Camille, who gives me an appreciative look, before I push open the greenhouse door and step out into the rain, inhaling the crisp, clean smell that always comes with it.

Instantly, the memories flood back of another time I stood out in a summer downpour, a time before everything was taken from me because I wanted something I shouldn’t have.

I refuse to do that with Camille.

To make that same mistake.

Stepping out farther onto the property, I search for the perfect spot and locate the low-lying area along the edge of the grass near the gravel drive. I set Davey on his feet and point it out. “That looks like a pretty good puddle right there.”

He glances up at me, as if to ask my permission, and I run toward it and jump, landing right in the middle and sending a giant wave of water up and out.

Davey squeals and claps, then rushes over after me and leaps in just like I used to with Dad, helping dull the ache of that memory by giving me this incredible new one.

* * *

CAMILLE

Davey’s peal of laughter makes my heart clench violently. I try to drag in a breath, but it gets stuck in my suddenly clogged throat. A boulder seems to sit there, something heavy and laden with emotions I’m not willing to examine if I want to maintain any of my sanity.

Through the semi-transparent greenhouse, I can just make out their shapes moving through the downpour.

Dalton, so much bigger, and Davey so tiny, chasing after him across the yard and jumping up and down, making himself a bigger mess than he already was after “helping” us with the planting all afternoon.

But none of that matters.

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