Page 157 of Seasons of Love
“Oh shush, enough of the emotional. Go out there and play with my boy in the water. I’ll look after the little one.”
I stand and lean over to give Florrie a kiss on her cheek, then I run to the water, diving in and bringing Milo down with me.
“Freaking fudgesickles, warn a man. I was not ready for that,” he says, splashing water in my direction.
I grab his arm and pull him to me. “Are you ready for this?” I kiss him on the lips and then down his neck to his shoulder.
“Thank fuck the water is cold,” he says, and I laugh.
We mess around in the water until our fingers look like prunes before joining the girls.
We share a towel to dry ourselves and then sit next to each other on another one.
Florrie takes her phone out from her pocket when it dings.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about.”
“What’s that?” Milo asks, grabbing the cool bag to get Sara’s lunch.
“The girls from the knitting club have recruited some helpers, and we’re going to protest against that damned parking lot they want to build. Vera is getting supplies from Birchcraft to make signs and everything.”
“Not that again,” Milo says.
“Just because you don’t want to get involved doesn’t mean the rest of us want to watch as they destroy our community,” Florrie says.
Milo looks at her like he wants to say something but then stops himself. He peels off the lid from Sara’s yogurt and grabs her spoon from the bag.
Florrie makes eye contact with me.
There’s definitely tension between them about the parking lot issue, but it’s not something Milo and I have ever discussed.
“I heard Tyler is talking about a cleanup operation at the playground to convince the council to drop the application,” Florrie says. “You know about that, don’t you, Ellis?”
Milo looks at me.
“I…yeah, I met up with him and a couple of friends after the town council meeting.”
Milo frowns and goes back to feeding Sara.
“Anyway, what’s this knitting club about, Florrie? Can anyone join?” I change the subject to avoid any more tension.
It takes Milo a while to come out of his head and be more himself while Florrie tells us how the knitting club is the best place to be for all the gossip because everyone there is either related or knows someone who works in the various businesses in town, including the mayor’s office.
The rest of the day goes by peacefully, and we even manage to get Florrie to the water’s edge to get her feet wet.
By the time we’re pulling up at Milo’s and Florrie’s homes, Sara is fast asleep in the car seat. She had a great day and exhausted herself by trying to stand on her own while holding on to Milo.
She even loved when we sat on the water’s edge and the small waves kept coming in and getting her wet while she grabbed clumps of sand that we tried very hard to make sure didn’t go in her mouth.
Florrie retreats into her place, and I follow Milo into his.
Sara wakes up while he’s giving her a bath, but after a bottle of formula, she’s out again, so he takes her to her bedroom.
“Where’s your bedroom?” I ask. When I was here yesterday, it didn’t occur to me that I’d only seen two additional doors in the small house. One of them I now know is the bathroom and the other is Sara’s nursery.
“Why? Want to take advantage of me, Mr. Bradford?” Milo asks, taking my hand and pulling me closer. He nuzzles my neck and inhales, causing all my hairs to stand to attention and my dick to react.
“I might.”
