Page 12 of Promise Me a Forever Texas Love

“I don’t know about that, Catydid. I still think it was a velociraptor’s thigh bone.” He hoped that would bring the sparkle back into Camden’s eyes. Instead, they narrowed.

“Katydid? Why did you call my mama katydid? She’s not a bug.”

Cadee laughed. “It’s just a silly nickname Huck came up with for me when we were kids.”

Those Hennessy eyes grew even more intense. Now they looked like Dawson’s . . . when he was getting ready to punch someone. “Did you bully my mama?”

“Cam! Of course he didn’t bully me. We were . . . good friends.”

The way she hesitated was like a knife right to the gut.

Camden continued to study him intently. “Then why haven’t you ever mentioned him before?”

It was a good question. He glanced at Cadee to see her face flaming bright red.

“I did. I’ve told you plenty of stories about Huck.”

Camden’s eyes widened. “He’s the best friend you told me stories about? The one you made a go-cart with? The one who taught you how to catch fireflies? Taught you how to do a cherry drop off the monkey bars?”

Huck stared at Cadee as his stomach took a roller coaster dip. She hadn’t kept him a secret from Camden. She hadn’t buried their memories . . . like he had.

Or tried to.

But he remembered all of it. Too well. He remembered building the go-cart and teaching her how to catch fireflies. He remembered that her favorite season was spring. Her favorite fruit watermelon—with the seeds so she could see how far she could spit them. Her favorite color was gold. Her favorite time of day twilight so she could wish on the first star.

He remembered everything.

He’d spent every day after leaving Promise Springs remembering Cadee.

And now that he’d seen her again, seen how age had matured her face and filled out her curves in the most seductive way, he couldn’t stop thinking about her . . . or the son they had made together.

He stared at that son, absorbing every sweet detail of his features. “I think your mama got that wrong. She was the one who taught me how to do a cherry-drop from the monkey bars.”

“Cherry-drops are for girls.”

Huck laughed. “Because boys are usually too chicken to try them. I only did because I didn’t want your mama to call me chicken.”

“Why? Did you like her?”

Damn, the kid could work for the secret service. He knew how to pin someone down with questions. “Yes. Like your mama said, we were best friends.”

“Why didn’t you stay friends?”

He swallowed hard. “Because I moved away.” Needing to get off this line of questioning, he glanced at the book. “So what dinosaur is your favorite? T-rex?”

Camden rolled his eyes. “T-rexes are clumsy, stupid oafs compared to raptors. Did you know the first Pyroraptor was discovered in France and nicknamed the Fire Thief? And the Utahraptor, which is the largest raptor discovered so far, can grow to over twenty feet long.”

Huck wasn’t sure why Camden sprouting facts about raptors made his chest swell with pride. “You know a lot about raptors. My favorite is the Velociraptor.”

“Yeah, everyone likes those because of Jurassic Park. Have you seen the movies?” When Huck nodded, Camden rushed on excitedly. “What ones?”

“All of them.”

“Lucky!” Camden shot an annoyed look at Cadee. “I wish I could see them, but my mama thinks they’ll give me nightmares. She still thinks I’m some kind of a baby. But I’ll be eight years old in just a few days.” Huck was stunned that he didn’t even know his own kid’s birthday. He started to ask when Cadee cut in.

“Sorry, buddy. Maybe when you’re nine, I’ll let you watch the Jurassic Park series.”

Huck looked at Cadee. “But we watched the first movie at my house when we were seven.”