Page 73 of Rocky Mountain Devil

The kid went from zero to sputtering with excitement in under three seconds. “You’re joking.”

“If you’re not interested I can teach—”

“I’m interested,” Nathan all but shouted.

Rafe smiled as he led the boy around to the back where they needed another burning pit. “I’ll get the backhoe in position then show you how the controls work.”

Fifteen minutes later he left behind a far happier helper. Nathan was eager to make a mess and one hundred percent on Rafe’s side, at least for the rest of that day.

The old backhoe was bombproof. The gears moved slowly, the footing was rock solid, and the only way the kid could get hurt was if he literally threw himself from the seat into the hole he was scooping in the soft soil. Rafe made sure Nathan was belted in tight before promising to check in on him in a while.

He liked kids—always had. Gabe might have joked about him being the annoying little brother, but as his cousins had children, he’d ended up babysitting off and on for all of them.

Laurel likes kids.

The thought hit hard, and for a second he had to shake his head. Except…

He’d dived into dating Laurel because it felt right. They’d been friends forever, and it made sense to take it to the next step.

Kids? That was a step farther than they’d ever talked about.

Don’t you thinkshe’sthinking about more than just fooling around and having fun?

The fact her father was stopping by only added to his sudden mental turmoil. Was this a forever path he was headed down with Laurel?

Ifhisfather weren’t an issue, that answer would potentially be a whole lot simpler. Maybe if Rafe knew for certain he wasn’t going to turn into the bastard at some point in the future…

You’re so much like your father.

How many times had he heard that when he was growing up? Not as much lately, but then he’d made a point of not hanging out where too much gossip got tossed his direction.

Lance was hard at work, so Rafe slipped around to the back room, intending on sorting through tack until Pastor Dave arrived. Hopefully sorting out his brains at the same time.

Instead he bumped into another clan gathering, this time with a few of the older generation. He’d caught them during a break. Uncle Mike and Uncle George were peering out the window to where he’d left Nathan while Gabe was sorting through what looked like a pile of maps on the table.

“You spot a sasquatch in the yard?” Rafe asked.

Uncle George twisted to face him. “That kid hasn’t stopped grinning since you plopped him in the seat. What’s he being rewarded for?”

“Being lippy,” Rafe admitted.

A chuckle escaped his uncle. “Interesting system you got going, but if it works…”

Gabe slid the pile of papers into an envelope and passed it to Uncle Mike, ignoring Rafe’s raised brow and offering a slight headshake before changing topics. “They’re good workers. I’m surprised you didn’t want to keep the boys over at the Six Pack land for longer,” he said to Mike.

“I wouldn’t mind,” Mike said, “but Gramma Marion was spoiling them rotten, and Lance has a major crush on Vicki, so it’s time to get them some fresh territory.”

Rafe and Gabe exchanged glances before snickering. “Vicki?” Gabe asked.

Mike shrugged. “She shows up to help out where she can. Lance walked into a barn wall, he was so busy staring at her.”

“How’s Joel handling that?” Rafe managed to get out through his laughter.

“He’s at the still-amused stage, but there’s no use in making any of them suffer for longer.” Mike folded his arms and leaned back on the wall behind him. “Hear you’ve got a new girlfriend.”

“Old friend, new as a girlfriend, yeah.”

“Marion speaks well of her,” Mike said. “Her whole family, in fact.”