The Cowboy's Little Surprise by Barbara White Daille

Author:Barbara White Daille
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-05-02T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Tina left the hotel by the kitchen door and went out to the back porch.

In the days after her talk with Abuela and Jed, she hadn’t known what reactions to expect from them once the shock of her announcement had worn off. Reproach, cold shoulders or, on the other hand, even more of the love they had always showered on her and Robbie.

As it turned out, she had noticed no difference at all in the way they behaved with her and Robbie or how they acted toward Cole.

Jed was sitting in a porch rocker, keeping an eye on Robbie and Pete’s daughter, Rachel, who were playing by the benches near the corral. Even from here, she could hear their voices raised in whatever game they were playing.

Jane and Andi and her kids had gone into town for lunch, and on the way back to the ranch, they planned to pick up Scott.

“I’ll go see how those two are doing,” she offered.

“Between me here and Cole over there, we’ve been making a good job of it. But suit yourself.”

She went down the porch steps. As she neared the kids, the noise level of their play increased. Judging by the sounds, they seemed to be pretending to be monsters.

Over by the barn, Cole and another hand stood grooming a couple of the horses.

As she crossed the yard, Cole looked up. He dropped his sponge into his bucket and began to cut across the corral.

Her heart skipped a couple of beats, but her pace didn’t falter noticeably. She hoped.

She and Cole had continued to work together while giving the riding lessons, but they hadn’t had time to talk the way they had during the first session. In fact, they hadn’t had any time alone together since then. She hadn’t yet told him her grandparents now knew he was Robbie’s father.

He had enough to deal with.

Though, at the moment, as he propped one boot on the lowest rail and smiled at her over the top rail, he looked as though he hadn’t a care in the world.

“What do you think?” he asked, gesturing toward Robbie and Rachel.

They had draped an old drop cloth across two of the benches. Except for one gaping area, the edges of the drop cloth had been weighted down with rocks. The sounds of roars and screeches came from beneath the cloth.

“I think I must have watched the wrong channel on television this morning,” she said. “They didn’t say anything about needing to take cover from a tornado.”

“Very funny,” Cole said. Looking smug, he explained, “It’s not a shelter, it’s a cave. They started out as wilderness campers and have gone on to become lions in their den.”

“And I’m guessing you came up with the idea?”

“I sure did. Gave them some training in lion roars, too.”

“Thanks for that,” she said drily. “A word of advice, if you don’t mind.”

“You’re the expert,” he said with a grin that made her pulse race.

“When they play indoors, the camping scenario will keep them much quieter.

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