Page 25 of Sweet Surprise

“Are we going to tell the whole family?” Jess kept pace beside him.

“No. My siblings already know. Well, not Kade, but everyone else.”

Her head bobbed. “I see.”

“I’m not sure why I waited to tell Mom.”

Tipping her head to one side, and closing one eye, she stared at him. “You really don’t know?”

Did he?

“You wanted more time to absorb it yourself.”

And she did it again. “Maybe. Yeah, I needed to feel more at home with everything before I broke the news to Mom. And maybe just a little fear.”

Jess stopped short. “Fear?ThatI don’t understand.”

“Garret railed into me pretty harshly about how everything came to be. I suppose I didn’t want to see the same reaction in Mom’s eyes.”

She kept walking. “No matter how old we get, we always want our parents’ approval.”

Stepping onto the back porch, Carson sucked in a deep breath and glanced at the mother of his son.

“Maybe,” Jess stared intently at the back door and then over to Carson again. “Maybe this is something you need to do without me?”

His gaze drifted from her to the door and back. This was one of the many reasons he’d loved her so long ago, she understood him better than he understood himself. If he wanted to see his mother’s true reaction, he’d need to be alone with her. Nodding his head, he tried to smile. “You’re right.”

A soft smile settled on her lips. “It happens sometimes.” Taking a step back, she blew out a soft breath. “I think I’m going to check on Mason, or maybe take a little walk.”

“You okay?”

“Very.” She nodded and let her hand fall on his forearm. “You’ve got this. It will be fine.”

Fine. Right. Sucking in a deep breath, he walked into the kitchen. “Hi, Mom.”

As soon Carson crossed the threshold into the kitchen, his mother looked up and then over his shoulder. “Where’s Mason and Jess?”

“Clint is showing him how to groom and put away a horse. Jess is taking a walk.”

His mother’s smile blossomed more than he would have expected from such a simple comment.

“Isn’t that wonderful.” Alice Sweet slapped her hands together. “He’s going to be a rancher.”

“That may be a stretch.”

With a casual shrug, his mom grinned and reached for a tea kettle. “I was just making a cup, would you like one?”

“Actually,” Carson pulled a mug from the cupboard, “I wanted to talk to you about something.” Setting the mug on the counter, he took the kettle from his mother.

The way his mother’s eyes twinkled with delight, he wondered what the heck the woman was thinking.

Alice turned and opened the fridge door, pulling out the milk. “What’s this about?”

Carson gestured toward the kitchen table. “Maybe we should sit down.”

His mother’s expression shifted, a flash of worry crossing her features before she carefully schooled them back to neutral. “Is something wrong?”

“No, not wrong,” Carson followed her to the table. “It’s just… important.”

---