Page 19 of Sweet Surprise

“Your brother is right.” His mother’s gaze bore through him. “You take Mason and Jess out in the Jeep, set up the telescope, and enjoy the view, and the day. I’ve already got a nice lunch packed for you.”

Of course she did. His mother had always believed in an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, or in this case, and ounce of preparation is a guarantee to get her way. Still uncomfortable passing off his chores, Carson scanned the room; every sibling gave a brief nod of their heads. “I guess we’re going star gazing.”

“Planet gazing,” his mother corrected, roughly mussing the top of Mason’s head.

He had to be a good boy to simply look up at the woman he had no idea was his grandmother and smile at her for mussing his hair. Could it be having been raised by Todd had left the poor kid craving any attention?

Slowly, Carson’s fingers curled at his sides. While he’d been less than happy to realize that he had missed out on so much in his son’s life, the harsh reality that Mason’s childhood had been lacking thanks to Todd’s indifference left Carson ready to shove a fist through the nearest wall. Not that it would change anything for the better, but the anger was still there.

“Carson?” Jess’s hand rested gently on his forearm. “Is something wrong?”

“Wrong?”

Her voice dropped as she leaned slightly closer. “That vein in your forehead is popping. It always did that when you were upset.”

Had she really known him that well? Was there anyone else on the planet, including his own family, who could read him so easily? If Jess were to go along with the crazy one year plan for the sake of the ranch, and some security for her and Mason, would he be able to pull it off? Was there any chance in hell that he could watch her walk away from his life once again? Could he actually let her go?

If anyone had told Jess just a few weeks ago that she and her son would be on the Sweet Ranch in West Texas, riding a Jeep to some canyon to watch planets line up for a once every few decades event, she would have asked the person what had they been smoking. And yet, here she was, bouncing across the prairie and despite her big city upbringing, actually looking forward to the adventure.

From the look on her son’s face, he was more excited than all of them put together, including Alice Sweet.

“Sit back, sweetie.” Even though Mason was strapped in with the seat belt, he’d still been leaning so far forward in the passenger seat that Jess had visions of Carson coming to a fast stop and her son flying through the windshield, or at least, snapping forward like a bungee cord.

“Yes, ma’am.” Mason turned to Carson. “How much further?”

“Not very.”

“This is a really big ranch, isn’t it?” Her son’s gaze scanned the horizon from left to right.

“One of the biggest in the area.”

“I don’t see very many cows. Didn’t someone say this was a cattle ranch?”

Even from the back seat, Jess could see Carson’s face tense. That thin muscle twitching in his jaw.

“It still is. We had a few… incidents over that last year or so, but soon we’ll be running more cattle again.”

Mason’s head bobbed up and down, the smile never leaving his face. The boy had no idea the nightmare that had befallen the Sweet family thanks to the betrayal of their thieving foreman, and only now, looking at the expanse of land before him and the lack of cattle anywhere within sight, brought home to her just what was at stake for this lovely family.

“This should do it.” Carson brought the vehicle to a slow stop. “It won’t take long to set up.”

“I’ll get the picnic basket.” Jess hopped out of the back seat and hurried around to where Carson now stood pulling out the telescope and some miscellaneous attachments. It didn’t take much experience to see that Mason was all set to rush off and explore the wide open spaces. “Sweetie, why don’t you carry the blanket for Mommy?”

Stopping in his tracks, Mason did a one eighty and hurried to where his mom stood. “Sure, Mommy.”

Another few minutes and Mason was practically dancing in place. His father at his side, showing him how to adjust and focus the telescope.His father. Anyone would think she’d need more time to get used to calling Carson her son’s father, and yet, the word father sat so comfortably with her. She would forever be asking herself how had she not figured this parental thing out on her own a long time ago.

The more she thought about it, and the more she watched her son interact not only with Carson but all the Sweets, the more she realized that Mason and Carson needed time. Not just a few minutes here and there, not just every other weekend, or every Wednesday night like divorced parents. The two had years of catching up to do. Lost time to make up for. She still wasn’t sure a fake marriage was the answer, but at the moment, she didn’t have any better ideas.

“Mommy, look!” His eye glued to the telescope, Mason didn’t bother to move his head, he merely waved in the direction his mother sat and urged her to come close to him.

Stepping into the spot that Mason had occupied a moment ago, Jess closed one eye and tried to focus. “Oh, my.”

“Isn’t it cool?” Mason grinned from ear to proverbial ear.

Her son was right. Seeing five planets lined up in single file was seriously cool. The sort of thing she’d only expect to see on a calendar.

“The last two aren’t fully lined up,” Carson added, “but they probably will be within a few hours.”

---