Page 20 of Sweet Surprise

Mason looked up at Carson and flashed a delighted toothy grin. “Can we stay to see it?”

With an equally bright smile and slight bob of his head, Carson concurred with his son. “Absolutely, that’s what we’re here for.”

Another few moments of following the stars, or planets, and Mason seemed to grow a little restless. Staring off in the distance, he pointed ahead. “What’s over there?”

“That’s the canyon.”

“Like the Grand Canyon?”

That made Carson chuckle. “Not exactly. Though the canyon was formed by what was once a river—”

“It’s not a river anymore?” Mason interrupted.

“Just a creek. That canyon was probably formed a bazillion years ago, long before settlers started ranching.”

“Can I go look?”

The way Carson’s brows buckled made Jess wonder if there was something more dangerous out there than just falling over the edge.

“We can all walk over. Just give me a second.”

While Mason went back to studying the sky through the telescope, Jess kept her gaze on Carson as he walked to the Jeep, leaned into the front seat and then straightening to his full height, tucked his shirt in behind him. Except, it wasn’t just his shirt he was straightening. It took her another moment to add two and two together and realize he’d grabbed a gun and was tucking more than his shirt into his jeans at his back. The hair on the back of her neck rose to stand on end, and she considered maybe life alone, just the two of them, in the city wasn’t such a bad thing.

“Ready?” Carson asked, his gaze settling on Mason.

Jumping back from the telescope, and bolting upright, Mason danced in place. “Ready.”

“Okay.” Carson waved his son over. “Stay near me and your mom. Now that we’re not grazing large herds of cattle, the grass is a little high—”

“Snakes?” Rather than the expected fear on her son’s face, Mason cut off Carson, his voice energized by boyhood curiosity, and if Jess wasn’t mistaken, hopeful to run into the slithering creatures.

A wide smile bloomed on Carson’s face. Jess might even call it pride. “That’s right. So we’ll all walk together and watch our steps.”

Unlike her son, Jess had not one iota of interest in stumbling across a snake. If she could, she’d crawl into Carson’s arms and get her feet way off the ground. Or better yet, climb back into the Jeep and not stop driving till she struck Dallas.

Relieved not to have had any incident with snakes or any other unwelcome visitors, Jess looked up and down the length of the small canyon. Carson had been right. When she thought of canyons, she envisioned images of the Grand Canyon or the Palo Duro State Park canyons. This one was definitely deep enough to qualify as a canyon, and she certainly wouldn’t want to fall off the edge to the drop below, but she could see someone climbing out of the deep furrow if they did happen to have the misfortune of falling down.

“Oh, wow.” Mason trotted away, quickly approaching the edge.

“Take it easy,” Carson called out before she could say anything. “Not too close. The ground along the edge may not be very stable.”

Just what Jess didn’t want to hear. Now images flashed in her mind, over and over, of Mason tumbling down the canyon.

“Relax.” Carson lowered his voice and leaned into her. “He’s a smart kid, he’ll be careful.”

One side of her wanted to snap at him that there were probably plenty of smart people who had fallen off cliffs, while another side wondered how could he be so confident. There wasn’t an ounce of worry in his eyes.

“You didn’t say you had horses.” Mason pointed down the canyon with one arm while simultaneously twisting to grin at Carson.

“Horses?” The crease that formed between his brows surprised Jess.

“They’re beautiful. Can I draw them?” Mason glanced down at his feet, clearly eager to move closer for a better view of the horses, but not wanting to disobey Carson’s instructions.

Carson came to a stop beside his son. “Well, I’ll be.”

“What?” Jess and Mason echoed in perfect unison.

“Those are wild horses. I didn’t think any herds had crossed into Texas.”

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