Page 8 of Sweet Surprise (Honeysuckle, Texas #2)
“Wow. Dinosaur pancakes!” Mason’s eyes lit up like a kid who found Willy Wonka’s golden ticket. “Mom just makes ordinary round.”
“It’s been a long time since I made animal shaped pancakes.” Spatula in hand, Carson’s mom smiled at the boy before flipping another pancake. “It’s nice to try again.”
“Hey, slow down.” Jess gently patted her son’s arm. “This isn’t a race.”
“Your mother is right.” The family matriarch’s grin slipped slightly in an effort to look a bit more serious.
“It’s important for your health to chew your food well.
Besides, there’s plenty more where those came from.
” Her motherly, or in this case grandmotherly, speech over, a wide grin was back on her face.
“Yes, ma’am. Sorry.”
The way Carson’s mother’s smile bloomed and her eyes sparkled, anyone would think the kid had just told his grandmother that there was gold buried in the backyard.
“While y’all were getting us more fresh eggs,” Alice Sweet waved the spatula at her son, “Mason and I took a detour into the attic. We brought down your old telescope.”
“You still have that?” Why it surprised him that his mother would have stashed every tidbit of their childhood in the attic, he didn’t know.
“Yes.” Her voice dropped an octave in modulated reproof. “There was an alignment of planets last night and if we hurry, I bet it can still be seen with the telescope from the canyon bed.”
“That’s a great idea.” Her empty dish in hand, Rachel stepped away from the table.
“Of course it is.” His mother smiled at Mason.
“Canyon?” Jess asked.
“It’s not really much of a canyon.” Jillian slipped her plate into the dishwasher.
“We’ve got a lot of work scheduled for today.” Carson hated to be the one to smother a fun idea, but he carried the majority of the load since all his siblings had day jobs to run off to after they did early morning chores. “Maybe we could do it another time.”
The way his mother shook her head, Carson knew there was more to be said.
His mom’s pointed glare was directed solely at him. “Another time would be in about twenty years.”
Garret pushed away from the table. “I’ve got all day. I’m sure we can do without you for a few hours.”
“If we’re riding out to the canyon, that’ll be more than a few hours.” Whether he was shirking his responsibilities to the ranch or to Mason, either way, Carson had a huge slice of guilt on his plate.
“Riding?” Once again Jess’s eyes rounded, at the moment a little wider than the time before.
“If you take the Jeep, it will save some time.” Garret slid his dishes into the sink. “It still might make for a long day, but it will be easier on everyone.”
By everyone, Carson knew his brother meant Jess and their son. Especially since he was pretty sure neither of them had likely been on a horse. Ever. At least not a real one.
“I don’t know.” And Carson really had no idea what the responsible thing to do was—he couldn’t shake the idea that either way, he’d be letting someone down.
“Your brother is right.” His mother’s gaze bore through him. “You take Mason and Jess out in the Jeep, set up the telescope, and enjoy the view, and the day. I’ve already got a nice lunch packed for you.”
Of course she did. His mother had always believed in an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, or in this case, and ounce of preparation is a guarantee to get her way.
Still uncomfortable passing off his chores, Carson scanned the room; every sibling gave a brief nod of their heads. “I guess we’re going star gazing.”
“Planet gazing,” his mother corrected, roughly mussing the top of Mason’s head.
He had to be a good boy to simply look up at the woman he had no idea was his grandmother and smile at her for mussing his hair. Could it be having been raised by Todd had left the poor kid craving any attention?
Slowly, Carson’s fingers curled at his sides.
While he’d been less than happy to realize that he had missed out on so much in his son’s life, the harsh reality that Mason’s childhood had been lacking thanks to Todd’s indifference left Carson ready to shove a fist through the nearest wall.
Not that it would change anything for the better, but the anger was still there.
“Carson?” Jess’s hand rested gently on his forearm. “Is something wrong?”
“Wrong?”
Her voice dropped as she leaned slightly closer. “That vein in your forehead is popping. It always did that when you were upset.”
Had she really known him that well? Was there anyone else on the planet, including his own family, who could read him so easily?
If Jess were to go along with the crazy one year plan for the sake of the ranch, and some security for her and Mason, would he be able to pull it off?
Was there any chance in hell that he could watch her walk away from his life once again? Could he actually let her go?
If anyone had told Jess just a few weeks ago that she and her son would be on the Sweet Ranch in West Texas, riding a Jeep to some canyon to watch planets line up for a once every few decades event, she would have asked the person what had they been smoking.
And yet, here she was, bouncing across the prairie and despite her big city upbringing, actually looking forward to the adventure.
From the look on her son’s face, he was more excited than all of them put together, including Alice Sweet.
“Sit back, sweetie.” Even though Mason was strapped in with the seat belt, he’d still been leaning so far forward in the passenger seat that Jess had visions of Carson coming to a fast stop and her son flying through the windshield, or at least, snapping forward like a bungee cord.
“Yes, ma’am.” Mason turned to Carson. “How much further?”
“Not very.”
“This is a really big ranch, isn’t it?” Her son’s gaze scanned the horizon from left to right.
“One of the biggest in the area.”
“I don’t see very many cows. Didn’t someone say this was a cattle ranch?”
Even from the back seat, Jess could see Carson’s face tense. That thin muscle twitching in his jaw.
“It still is. We had a few… incidents over that last year or so, but soon we’ll be running more cattle again.”
Mason’s head bobbed up and down, the smile never leaving his face.
The boy had no idea the nightmare that had befallen the Sweet family thanks to the betrayal of their thieving foreman, and only now, looking at the expanse of land before him and the lack of cattle anywhere within sight, brought home to her just what was at stake for this lovely family.
“This should do it.” Carson brought the vehicle to a slow stop. “It won’t take long to set up.”
“I’ll get the picnic basket.” Jess hopped out of the back seat and hurried around to where Carson now stood pulling out the telescope and some miscellaneous attachments.
It didn’t take much experience to see that Mason was all set to rush off and explore the wide open spaces.
“Sweetie, why don’t you carry the blanket for Mommy? ”
Stopping in his tracks, Mason did a one eighty and hurried to where his mom stood. “Sure, Mommy.”
Another few minutes and Mason was practically dancing in place.
His father at his side, showing him how to adjust and focus the telescope.
His father . Anyone would think she’d need more time to get used to calling Carson her son’s father, and yet, the word father sat so comfortably with her.
She would forever be asking herself how had she not figured this parental thing out on her own a long time ago.
The more she thought about it, and the more she watched her son interact not only with Carson but all the Sweets, the more she realized that Mason and Carson needed time.
Not just a few minutes here and there, not just every other weekend, or every Wednesday night like divorced parents.
The two had years of catching up to do. Lost time to make up for.
She still wasn’t sure a fake marriage was the answer, but at the moment, she didn’t have any better ideas.
“Mommy, look!” His eye glued to the telescope, Mason didn’t bother to move his head, he merely waved in the direction his mother sat and urged her to come close to him.
Stepping into the spot that Mason had occupied a moment ago, Jess closed one eye and tried to focus. “Oh, my.”
“Isn’t it cool?” Mason grinned from ear to proverbial ear.
Her son was right. Seeing five planets lined up in single file was seriously cool. The sort of thing she’d only expect to see on a calendar.
“The last two aren’t fully lined up,” Carson added, “but they probably will be within a few hours.”
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.”
“Wild?” Jess knew her eyes were probably threatening to fall out of their sockets.
“Mustangs?” Mason’s enthusiasm seemed to be spiking.
“Unlikely, but you never know.”
“Can we go down and get a closer look?”
Carson shook his head. “It’s never a good idea to get too close to any wild animal, whether it’s a horse, a buffalo, or a feral cat or dog. Animal instinct for self preservation can be a problem.”
“Don’t touch the fluffy cows,” Mason deadpanned.
A loud roar of laughter burst out as Carson kicked his head back. “Something like that.”
“I’m sorry,” Jess interrupted. “Fluffy cows?”
Carson nodded. “You see that everywhere up near Yellowstone and other places with large herds of bison or buffalo.”
Jess turned to her son. “Where did you learn that?”
“At school. Mary Margaret O’Hanlon wore a t-shirt with that slogan on it after her family went on a Spring break vacation to Mount Rushmore.”
“Is the canyon your land?” Jess asked.
Carson shook his head. “Our property ends at the cliffs edge, the actual canyon and water belongs to the state of Texas, the other side is the Callahan spread.”
“So the horses belong to the state?” Jess asked.
“At the moment,” Carson squinted in the direction of the herd mulling about, “I’m not sure who they belong to.”
“They’re beautiful.” His gaze glued to the horses below, Mason hadn’t moved an inch. “Sure wish I could sketch them.”
“We have work horses on the ranch, you’re welcome to sketch those if you like.” Carson’s gaze was focused on the equines, just like his son.
As a matter of fact, from where Jess stood, the resemblance between the two was suddenly quite startling. Their stance, their focus, their profile. Good Lord, how could she not find a way to keep these two together?