Page 4 of Sweet Surprise

“Cool.”

For a while, Carson had tinkered with the idea of becoming an architect. Like Mason, he loved to draw, but eventually he settled on a standard business degree and then found himself flipping houses. Only on the most complicated of projects did he have to pay an architect or engineer to submit professional drawings to the city for permits, but almost always the drawings were merely renderings of the work he’d given the professionals.

“That’s pretty cool too.” The kid had lots of talent. The drawing was clearly a bird, a red bird, but with sleek lines and shadows highlighting the metal structure verses ordinary feathers. Somehow, Carson suspected if the kid wanted to draw a real bird with feathers, he’d probably do a great job.

“Excuse me,” a stern female voice sounded over his shoulder. “What are you doing with my son?”

“Sorry, ma’am.” Putting down the pencil, he slid out of the booth, drawing to his full height. “I meant no harm to the boy…” When his gaze leveled with the same brilliant green eyes that Mason had, Carson almost swallowed his tongue. “Jess?”

For the better part of a week, Jess had debated how to tell Carson that he had a son. Finding him online had been easy. How could anyone forget a town with a name like Honeysuckle? The problem was that she couldn’t bring herself to tell him this kind of news over the phone or an email. Once the hammer fell and she was officially laid off, there was no reason not to tell the man in person. The entire drive from Dallas had been spent thinking over what she would say, and she nixed every scenario.

Once they’d hit Honeysuckle, her stomach was so tied in knots, she was convinced she was going to throw up if she didn’t get some cool water on her face. Now, what to do or say wasn’t coming any easier than it had in the car. “Hi.” She almost rolled her eyes at herself, how lame was that…hi?

Carson took a step back. “He’s a nice boy. Lots of talent.”

“Lord knows where he got it. I can’t draw a stick figure to save my life.” Though spotting the napkin on the table, she remembered that whenever Carson was bored in class, he’d doodle the most amazing designs. Closing her eyes, not that she’d had any doubts after sitting down with the doctor, but right about now, a lot of missing pieces were falling into place. Mason’s artistic talent, the brilliant smile that didn’t mimic his mother or father…er, Todd. His eyes were so much like hers that she never questioned his kinship to Todd. How stupid had she been?

“Are you all right?” Carson’s gaze narrowed under dark brows that she remembered all too well.

“Sorry. I was just thinking.”

“Maybe you should sit. You’re looking a little green around the gills.”

Sitting sounded good. She slid in next to Mason and gestured for Carson to retake his seat. “Join us, please.”

From where she sat, it looked like he swallowed hard before finally nodding and sliding back into the booth. “So, what brings you to this part of the country?”

Oh heavens, wasn’t that a loaded question. She certainly couldn’t spit it out in front of Mason. “It’s a bit complicated.”

All he did was drop his chin in a short nod.

“I see you’ve made a new friend.” Agnes stopped at the table. “Do we know what we want?”

“Oh.” Carson glanced at Jess and then Mason before returning his gaze to Jess. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”

“You’re not intruding.” They had to start somewhere, didn’t they? “Are you meeting someone?”

He shook his head.

“Then we’d love to have you join us.”

They each placed an order and then sat in very uncomfortable silence. She needed to say something to alert him, but what? How? And more importantly—where? It had been almost an impulse to get in her car and start driving across Texas. A couple of times she came within inches of turning around, but what to? Her job had been downsized, without child support from Todd, she couldn’t afford the rent on the house. Perhaps once Carson learned that Mason was his son, maybe then he would contribute financially so she could keep a roof over their heads.

Unless, of course, he’s mad as hell and wants nothing to do with her or her son after what must look like a massive betrayal. She had so much to figure out and second guessing herself wasn’t helping.

“Where do you live now?” His gaze was on Mason, but the question was obviously directed at her.

“Dallas.” They’d both attended University of Texas in Austin and then once she and Todd married, he’d moved her as far away from her friends as he could take her. She supposed she was fortunate he didn’t take work in Alaska.

Carson gestured towards her son. “He’s really talented.”

Having moved on to another picture, Mason was happily drawing some kind of flying dinosaur. She could never remember the names of the different ones, but Mason knew them all. A grin tugged at the corners of her mouth; she was so proud of Mason, and how well-adjusted he seemed despite having a disinterested father.

Her gaze drifted to Carson. In just a few minutes, he’d paid more attention and more compliments to her son than Todd had in the first few years of Mason’s life.

The waitress with the name tagAgnesreappeared with all the dishes stacked up her arm. Jess had tried that once—every single dish came crashing down on the dining hall floor and she never tried it again.

“I’ll be back with your drinks.” Another few moments and Agnes did indeed reappear with a tray of drinks. The woman had barely set them down in front of everyone when Mason had nearly devoured more than half his hamburger.

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