Page 24 of Sweet Surprise

“Told ya, Mom.” Mason continued rubbing at Boot’s neck. The two were becoming fast friends.

“Yeah, Mom,” Carson whispered at her ear, his soft breath sending a whole different kind of chill down her spine. “We told you.”

Her heart slamming a rapid beat against her rib cage, she let out a soft sigh. If she could stay calm long enough to pat the neck of an animal large enough to swallow her whole without having a heart attack, maybe she’d figure out how to stand this close to Carson without melting into a pool of quivering nerves. Then again, maybe some day pigs would fly.

Chapter Ten

“I’d swear that horse knows she’s being sketched.” Jess sat on a bale of hay, watching her son hard at work.

“Don’t kid yourself.” Carson held back a chuckle. “Boots totally knows she’s the center of Mason’s attention. And she’s loving it.”

Jess’s shoulders shook with amusement. “I don’t think I’m going to argue with you. I just can’t believe the horse hasn’t moved a muscle since Mason started sketching. I don’t even think she’s twitched an ear.”

He knew that Boots would be the right horse to appeal to Mason and put Jess at ease. Most of the night he’d been kicking around the changes that were happening faster than he could process. Even though having Jess and Mason here was new and different and even strange in many ways, everything felt completely right. “I’ve been thinking.”

“Yes?” Jess gaze remained on her son.

“I need to tell my mother.” He cleared his throat. “About Mason.”

Jess dipped her chin in a short nod.

“Everything else aside, no matter what happens next, Mason is her grandson and she deserves to know sooner than later.”

“I know you’re right.” Her gaze darted momentarily from Mason to Carson and then back again. “And I know that she’s nothing like Todd’s mother…”

“But you don’t want another grandmother to reject him?”

A hint of smile pulled at one corner of her mouth. “You always did seem to know what I was thinking before I said anything.”

No matter how many women he’d met or dated, he’d never found the same connection as he’d once shared with Jess.

“Oh. Mornin’.” Clint led his horse into the stable. “Didn’t expect to find anyone here at this hour.”

Carson lifted his chin in Mason’s direction. “Artist at work.”

For the first time since he’d met Clint, the ranch hand actually smiled. “Your mother showed me a picture the boy drew for her yesterday. He’s good.”

Was it normal for a man to feel his heart fill his chest when someone complimented his son? “Very good.” Dragging his thoughts to Clint and the horse he walked into the barn instead of riding, Carson narrowed his gaze. “What brings you back this early?”

“I think he’s got a stone in his shoe.”

Mason’s head popped up. “In his shoe?” The kid’s gaze settled on the horse’s hooves.

“You want to help me clean out his hoof?” Clint waved his thumb over his shoulder at the horse.

“Can I?” Wide eyed, Mason looked to his mother and to Carson’s delight, his gaze darted momentarily to Carson.

That unsettled look from earlier was back on Jess’s face. Nibbling on her lower lip, she glanced at Carson. Understanding her silent question, he nodded at her. Shifting her attention to the ranch hand, she straightened her shoulders. “If you’re sure he won’t be in your way?”

“No, ma’am. I’d be happy to show him how to put a horse away.”

Again, her head snapped around to face Carson, and again he nodded, doing his best to offer a reassuring smile. “Okay, then,” she sighed. “I guess Mason is going to learn about horses today.”

“Come on,” he patted the small of her back, “let’s go find my mother.”

“Right. Your mother.”

He wished she looked more sure than he felt. There was no doubt in his mind that his mother would be thrilled at a grandchild, but he was also pretty sure she wasn’t going to be overjoyed that Carson had been an absentee father for so many years. Not that it was his fault. It wasn’t really anyone’s fault. Just a little joke the universe played on them.

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