Cherry Bomb

by J.W. Phillips

  Henry had on a pair of swim trunks over a very full pull-up. “Mommy, can we go now? Noah hit me. Can you make him stay home?” Henry’s brown eyes lit up in the most child-like delight and his little voice wobbled.

  “No, Baby, I’m not making Noah stay home.”

  I had promised to take the kids to The Falls to cliff dive and swim. I had no idea why. I was horrified of swimming, but it was something their dad did with them every summer and they had been begging to go every week. Lord knows their dad didn’t have it on his schedule.

  “Wow, Mommy, is this for me?”

  Henry took off running toward the large box that Drake had sent the night before. It was still sitting on the edge of my bed. Oh, no.

  I raced and luckily beat him to the package. “No, sweetheart, that’s mine. Now go get out of those wet britches and meet me downstairs for some waffles.”

  I set on the small sofa in the corner of the room and pulled the box over next to my feet, inside were still wrapped gifts. I lifted up the top one. It was pink with a small white card on top with the word, Saturday, written across it. I picked up the second one that clearly was marked Monday. Rummaging through it, I realized it was a gift for each day of the following week. I opened the card on my Saturday gift.

  Some more of my favorite things

  For my all-time favorite

  Yours,

  Drake

  Damn, that man was good. Unwrapping it, I almost slipped off the cushion. It was the panties I had left at his house after our first night together.

  “Mom, Henry said you were making waffles. Get a move on it. I have things to do,” Noah screamed from down the hall.

  I smiled, shoved the panties back in the box. “Be there in a minute.”

  I pulled the collar of the robe up to my nose. His smell seeped into my lungs. He has my clothes but I still have his robe. I was seriously screwed.

  I made my way downstairs to the sounds of little voices coming from the kitchen.

  Noah was in the process of throwing a Froot Loop into the air. The tile floor was covered in his already failed attempts.

  Henry who was already sporting a pair of goggles saw me first and covered his smile but he was clearly enjoying Noah’s show.

  Noah got a glimpse of me out of his peripheral vision, and flipped his head just in time for the yellow piece of cereal to land right in his eye.

  “Awe, Mom, you messed me up.”

  “You are going to think messed up if you do not clean up that floor,” I said and pointed down to the cereal spewed all over the tile.

  “I’ll clean it up. Just having fun.” Noah said with a small smile playing on his lips.

  Henry who was eating a stray Froot Loop off the table said, “Noah called me a stinky pants and a baby.”

  “Noah quit making fun of your brother. Henry quit being a tattle-tale.” I crossed the kitchen to get a large mug of coffee, knowing I was in for a long day. No Drake, the day was set aside to what should be my number one focus, being a Mommy.

  “Here, Mommy, someone has been texting you,” Noah crawled out from under the table and handed me my cellphone. I had totally forgot about dropping it the night before.

  Drake: Good morning, Cherry

  Hoping your day is as pleasurable

  As your night.

  Shit, it was Drake. The text was sent an hour ago.

  Me: You never know, Sir

  Drake: I know I’m not invited.

  Me: Carrying the kids

  to the Falls to swim.

  Drake: Have fun with the kids.

  Me: Oh yeah, thanks for the panties.

  Drake: You are welcomed, ma’am

  I would return the bra.

  But it’s a little torn and

  I’m using it to support

  the tomatoes in my garden.

  Later, Mrs. Webb

  Cherry Webb

  “Ruby, please quit arguing we are almost there.”

  Noah and Henry both had been up since five a.m., and ready to leave by six. Ruby, on the other hand, was still not ready at ten. I had promised the boys we would be there by eleven, but thanks to Ruby, we were already running thirty minutes late. I had even managed to leave the towels at home. They could drip dry. At least, I grabbed the drinks and snacks.

  “Damn, I didn’t want to go. I’m PMSing and so over today,” Ruby said, pulling at the top of a bikini that was way too small for her blooming bust line.

  “Get over yourself. Today is for the boys. Plus, isn’t Matt supposed to meet you there.”

  “Mommy, is Daddy coming?” Henry said as I pulled into the gravel road leading to the waterfalls.

  “No, baby, Daddy couldn’t come today.” He is too busy screwing some random whore. “But I’m sure he would love to be here if he could.”

  Henry scoured the parking pad, turning back into the little boy that was forever searching for a dad that will never be there for him.

  “Maybe, he didn’t know, Mommy,” Henry said and started to unbuckle his booster seat. I opened the door to help him out and smiled.

  Noah got out on the passenger side. He was the one I worried about the most. He never asked about their father. He simply accepted what was. Almost as if he knew who his father really was.

  It was only one of the million reasons why I couldn’t get involved with Drake. Noah didn’t need another man to let him down.

  “Drake,” Noah scream in pure delight then took off running. I raised my head to see Drake’s strong, athletic form coming our way with a little girl no more than five thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and two little boys about my sons age close on his heels.

  Drake started jogging in our direction while the little girl giggled with each bump to his step. She was adorable with red, bouncing curls. The two boys right behind him were with an older version of Drake, who was carrying two chairs and a bag of towels.

  Henry wiggled out of the car, his face was one big smile. “I want to see Drake, Mommy.”

  I hadn’t even noticed that Ruby had climbed out of the car until she whistled and said, “Who the hell is he?” She never took her eyes off Drake.

  Hell, we could just reuse the towels they brought. After all we could wash them on the washboard he calls abs and then wring them out with the extra strength tummy control I was wearing. One of us didn’t belong, and the way my boys were running to him and my daughter was drooling, I was beginning to believe it was me.

  “Damn,” Ruby whispered. “Again, who the hell is he?”

  “No cussing, Ruby,” I said and rolled my eyes. She really was getting on my last nerves.

  “He’s Mommy's friend that will play with me,” Henry said before leaping right up to Drake’s side. Drake ran his fingers through his hair.

  “Hey, buddy, care if me and my girl join you?” Drake said and knelt down between Henry and Noah and let the little girl he was carrying slip to her feet.

  “Gracie,” Drake said and gave Gracie, I presumed, a kiss on the cheek. “These are my buddies, Noah and Henry.”

  As soon as Drake got the words out the two boys following behind him ran up and each nudged one of Drake’s shoulders.

  “Noah and Henry these two knuckleheads are Thomas and Jeff and the old man there,” Drake pointed to the guy overloaded with supplies, “Is my brother Billy.”

  I slowly walked up to them, enjoying the view of the man who was so forceful in the bedroom be so at ease surrounded by a small army of children. Drake stood up in front of me, grinning like a kid himself.

  “Hey, beautiful,” Drake said and rubbed his fingers back through Henry’s hair. “Well, hey, you must be the lovely Ruby.” Drake reached past me to shake Ruby’s hand. She stood a step behind me at that point with her mouth slightly gapped open and basically dumbfounded. I wished she could have seen how she looked, she sure would have pointed out if I had that look on my face.

  “Hey. What are you doing here?” I asked, pretty stumped at what he was doing t
here myself.

  “Some cutie told me about a great swimming hole and I’d promise this cutie,” Drake paused to boost Gracie back up into his arms. “A fun day. Meet my niece Grace and nephews Thomas and Jeff.”

  It was instant relief when he clarified they were not his kids.

  “Nice to meet you, Miss Grace,” I said and held out my hand, trying my hardest to look like nothing about this situation was unexpected and definitely that his presence did not send every cell in my body on alert. What the hell was this man doing and why did I like it so much? “Thomas, Jeff.” I greeted the boys with a nod of my head.

  “Again who the hell is he?” Ruby leaned in and whispered in my ear.

  Drake instantly grabbed Ruby’s wrist. “Drake, I’m friends with your mom, and I think I might need to get you a cussing jar. I would appreciate if you would watch your language around the kids and your mom.”

  Drake’s eyes held the same intense stare he wore in the bedroom. It worked outside the bedroom too because Ruby stood up straight and slightly lowered her head before whispering, “I’m sorry.”

  “Cherry, right,” Billy said and held out his hand to shake mine. “I’m Billy and you must be the reason Drake wanted to come swimming.”

  I looked over at Drake who was raising an eyebrow. Gracie wrapped her small hand around Drake’s chin and pulled his face to look at her, demanding his attention. “Who is she, Drakie?”

  “These guys are my special friends.”

  “Special like me?” she asked with the most angelic voice.

  He kissed her forehead. “No one will ever be special like you, Soda pop.”

  Drake held out his hand for mine and guided me down the rocky path to the Falls. He was strong and gentle, and I would’ve almost forgotten about the kids if they were not loud and on my heels the whole way down. My boys and Drake’s nephews were hitting it off almost as well as we did.

  I hated myself for being so damn happy he was there.

  But I had never wanted someone with me more. If I didn’t guard myself, Drake Hart could easily become the most important person in the world to me.

  It took a good five minutes to trudge through the rocks and paths to finally get to the bottom of The Falls. It was beautiful, and I loved the feel of the water spraying off the waterfalls. Billy had stayed quiet except for the occasional reprimand of the boys. Drake took a chair from him and placed it on a flat rock, sat Grace in it, and told her he would be right back then pulled me behind a large formation of rocks.

  “Talk to me?”

  “About what?”

  “About what’s wrong. Are you mad I came this morning, that I corrected your daughter?”

  I held my head down. I couldn’t look at him and think straight. Is there something wrong with me? Am I mad? Hell no, I love having him here. But I shouldn’t. I should keep him away from my kids. I can’t let them get hurt because I am turning into a bag of hormones.

  “Why do you think I’m mad?”

  “You haven’t said more than three words to me.” He cupped the side of my face in his hands. “You won’t even look at me.”

  I finally looked up and our eyes met and seemed to mesh. His eyes spoke more than his words. They were burning with a look I had never seen before. A mixture of determination, yearning, desire, and devotion. He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

  “I’m not going to hurt you or those kids. You’re my curve ball.”

  “You’re what?” I asked and bit down on my bottom lip.

  “My curve ball, my chance to finally do the right thing, my Cherry bomb.”

  “Mom, where did you go?” Noah came running around the corner.

  Thank God too, because I was two seconds from kissing that smug look off his face.

  “Come on, we have some kids that I am sure my brother doesn’t want to babysit alone.”

  Cherry Webb

  We had already been there for well over three hours, on what was one of the most humid days we had so far that Summer, but the mist coming off the waterfalls made it comfortable. There were a few people father down on the rocks, but it was largely deserted. Most people spent their weekends at the river, missing out on one of the town’s most hidden treasures.

  I lay back on one of the towels Drake had brought and looked over at Ruby and Matt. Matt was Ruby’s boyfriend, and had showed up an hour after we did.

  They had wandered down the rocks, almost out of eyeshot. As much as the boys loved swimming, Ruby hated it. At times, I had the misgiving that my irrational fears of so many things where rubbing off on Ruby. And I knew, no matter how much I tried to hide my inner demons, Ruby had a way of seeking them out and exploring them.

  Matt was searching the many piles of pebbles and rocks the current had washed up from the nearby river. Ruby had found a piece right away. She had always spent her time finding unusual stone formations, and Matt was intent on finding her a piece of petrified wood. He was absorbed on the task, and Ruby was engrossed in him.

  Ruby was growing into an astonishing young lady whose insight and charm amazed me on a daily basis. But it broke my heart that she was growing so quickly. Still when I looked at her no matter how much she drove me crazy, she was the little girl with brown curls that had captured me in a way no one else ever had. She was my first baby and little girl.

  I closed my eyes, just intending to rest and ponder the day.

  “Daydreaming,” Drake asked and sat down beside me close enough for a few drops of water to fall off the tips of his hair and down my shoulder. I sat up and instinctively took his hand in mine. Shit, it felt right.

  Drake had been the perfect gentleman. He had not even touched me since he pulled me behind the rocks when we first arrived.

  It had been all about the kids. He had spent an hour with Henry and Grace, trying to get them to jump off a small rock on the side of the stream, working them up to the bigger rocks. Noah had spent the time with Billy and his boys, cliff jumping. I had watched from the sideline, taking pictures, and cheering on each of their newest feats.

  My heart melted when Drake finally coaxed Grace and Henry to the smallest cliff. The closer they got the slower Henry moved.

  Drake kneel down between Henry and Grace and gathered them around him.

  “Okay, you both know you don't have to do this, but if you decide to, remember that Drakie will never let anything ever hurt you. I got you.”

  “I . . . I no . . . not scar . . . scared,” Henry said but never took his eyes off his feet as he climbed up each slippery rock to the top of the cliff.

  Grace never said anything. The death grip she had around Drake’s neck told it all. Drake took his time getting to the top. And he said he didn’t have any patience. Drake pointed out Noah and Thomas who just jumped off the highest cliff, laughing the whole way down. “See, how much fun they’re having.”

  As they reached the top, they saw a man and a young boy coming back down. “I guess they decided this was not their thing. It’s okay if it’s not your thing.”

  Henry fingered the curl on the base of his neck. His eyes blinking under scrunched up brows.

  “Will you hold me tight?" Grace whispered.

  “I will hold you both if that is what you want.”

  Henry stood, shifting from foot to foot before holding up his arms. Drake didn’t waste a second before he had him scooped up in his arms. I snapped a picture of that fine specimen of a man with two small children balanced on each hip.

  “Ready or not, here we go,” Drake said before stepping off the side of the cliff. He held both kids close to his body. The extra weight pushed them father under water then was comfortable, and Drake had to give himself an extra shove to get all three of their heads above water. But it was worth the effort when Grace started laughing and Henry immediately asked to do it again.

  And after about a dozen or so jumps, I finally found Drake at my side and his two sidekicks splashing in the water directly in front of us.

  “I enjoyed tod
ay,” I said and laid my head over onto his broad shoulders, and ran my hand down his arms. Feeling the multitude of fine white scars from his cutting days that marred his skin, I was reminded the pain from his past was far greater than any I had experienced, yet he spent every moment trying to erase mine.

  "Now come on, you haven’t even gotten wet today.” He stood and dragged me to my feet.

  I immediately lowered my head and started shaking it. “I can’t.”

  Drake Hart

  As I looked into those exquisite green eyes of hers, I saw pure unadulterated fear.

  “What is it?” I had her in my arms, unsure of her reaction.

  “I can’t swim.” She shook her head even more forcibly. “Please, don't force me.”

  “I won’t force you to do anything. Why are you so scared?”

  “I can’t. Please.”

  “Do you trust me?”

  She placed her forehead in the crook of my neck and nodded, then grew perfectly still in my arms, her back stiffened.

  I motioned for Billy and started stroking her back with the tips of my fingers. As if he knew something wasn’t right, Billy was off the cliffs and at our sides in no time flat.

  “What’s up?” he asked, pulling a towel out of a basket and started drying the little bit of hair he had left off.

  “Can you watch Grace and Henry for a few? I’m taking Cherry on a field trip.”

  “Sure, man, Grace needs some Uncle Billy time anyway. Isn’t that right, sweetie,” Billy yelled over to the kids.

  I didn’t give her time to respond or think, I got the hell out of there. Something was freaking Cherry out and I was determined to find out what.

  We walked over the rocks and down a small path. It only took about fifty feet before she tripped. Holding her hand, I felt her stumble, and held her up, making sure she was stable before leading her to a small swimming hole my brother had told me about that morning on the way to The Falls.