Chapter Three

Mia

“Maybe we'll get to ride the horses like cowboys,” Grayson shouted, bouncing around in the backseat. His seat belt was barely holding him down in his booster seat, and Mia had already asked him three times to remember to stay seated. He was just too excited to contain himself.

Mia pulled up to the big ranch house, this time invited rather than coming to rescue her boys. All three kids were in the car, and all three of them were jabbering ideas of what they thought they were going to do.

“I have a feeling it will be more like mucking stalls, or cleaning or something,” Mia said gently as she put the car in park. The kids all opened their doors and rushed out into the country air.

It smelled like clean air, grass, and... horses. Definitely, like horses. It wasn't a bad scent, but it wasn't something that Mia wanted to wear as perfume either.

Definitely doing something with cleaning the stalls.... she thought as she caught the main scent coming from the big barn to her left.

“Glad you all made it,” Carter called out, coming out of the barn to greet them. He was wearing perfectly worn jeans, a navy T-shirt, and a baseball cap. He looked good. Really good. Mia had to force her eyes away to stop looking him over, so she checked her watch once again, just to make sure they were on time. They had arrived five minutes early just in case. There was no way Mia was going to risk anything with these kids.

All three of the children ran over to stand in front of him. Alexander's foot tapped nervously, but otherwise, they all had big hopeful grins plastered across their faces. Carter appraised them for a moment.

“This is Laura,” Carter told them as a young woman came out to stand next to him. She was probably only a couple of years younger than Mia. Her dark red hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her green eyes sparkled as she smiled at the kids.

“Hi,” she greeted them. She stepped forward and made sure to shake each of their hands as if they were adults. It made Mia like her instantly since she treated her kids with respect.

“Laura will be your boss,” Carter informed them. “If she says jump, you just jump. Don't even ask how high. That's how in charge she is.”

“Yes, sir,” all three children replied like miniature soldiers. Grayson even did a pretend salute. Mia could only imagine he'd seen it done like that in a movie.

Laura chuckled and knelt down in front of Grayson.

“I have a little brother and sister about your age,” Laura told him. Her green eyes met his, and her face went serious. “If you're going to help me, I need to see your muscles.”

Grayson frowned, not understanding. He looked over at Mia, but Mia just shrugged.

“Like this,” Alexander explained, flexing his arm and showing his bicep. Grayson copied the movement and made a growling noise as he made his muscles bigger.

Laura reached over and felt the muscle. “Whoa! You might be too strong,” she said, looking impressed.

Grayson grinned at her and puffed his chest out with pride.

“Okay, then.” Laura stood up and put her hand on Grayson's shoulder to guide him toward the large barn. “Let's head into the stables and get started. We have a lot to do today.”

All three children willingly followed Laura through the large double doors. Mia hung back for a moment.

“Mr. Carter?” Mia approached him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Now that they were alone, she was suddenly nervous. She wasn't good with very attractive men and never knew how to behave around them.

“It's just Carter,” he told her with an easy smile.

“I just wanted to thank you again,” Mia said quickly. She smiled nervously. “Thank you for giving my boys another chance.”

“You're welcome.” He smiled again, easy and confident as he leaned toward her slightly. “Want to see what they're up to?”

“I'd love to.” She grinned and nodded as they started walking together toward the open barn doors.

“So, how did you get to be in charge of the trouble makers?” he asked as they approached the entrance.

“I'm their social worker,” Mia explained. “They were assigned to me.”

“You seem to care an awful lot for a social worker,” Carter remarked. He paused slightly by the door and held it open for her. She looked over at him. He had an open face and an honesty to his eyes that told Mia he didn't mean any harm by the comment.

“I do care a lot about them,” she said slowly, doing her best not to be defensive. She probably cared more than she should about them, but that wasn't something he needed to know. “They're good kids.”

“You say that a lot,” he replied.

Mia glared at him for a moment. “That's because it's true. They are.”

He nodded as they entered the barn.

The smell of horse and hay was stronger inside. The stalls were large and spacious with plenty of storage room off to the side. Mia didn't know much about horses, but she knew a stable like this had to be top of the line. It was nicer and certainly bigger than her apartment.

Inside, Grayson was already up to his elbows in soapy water leaning over what Mia assumed was a watering trough. He had on yellow gloves that were about six sizes too big, but with a grin to match as he scrubbed. Alexander and Lily were in one of the stalls, both with shovels. Despite the smell coming from that particular stall, they both were laughing.

“Make sure to get all of it,” Laura advised, standing off to the side and observing.

Mia leaned against the door frame and watched her kids. They were happy, and it made her heart swell. This was going to be good for them. All of them. They wanted so badly to please, and here, they could really feel useful.

“They look like they're going to do a good job,” Carter said, watching the kids work under Laura's watchful eyes.

Mia nodded, watching as Alexander enthusiastically scooped a very large load of something Mia didn't want to think about out of the stall.

“Gonna be sore tomorrow, though,” Carter said with a laugh as he watched the boy struggle to balance the shovel without spilling it.

Mia laughed. “That load's nearly as big as he is.”

Carter's laugh was low and musical. It made Mia want to laugh along with him without needing a joke. She turned, and their eyes met. He had such a great smile. Friendly. Warm.

“How long have you worked here?” Mia asked, doing her best not to get lost in his eyes. “I don't think I've seen you in town, and it's not that big of a town.”

Carter shrugged. “I've been with the ranch for a long time, but I've never been able to stay as long as I'd like here.”

Mia's brows came together as she tried to figure out what Carter did at the ranch that allowed him to leave and come back like that. “I guess I should ask what your job is then. I thought you were the ranch manager, but...”

Carter looked puzzled at her for a moment. “Laura is the ranch manager.”

“So, what's your job?” Mia asked, trying to think of another job that would put him in charge without having to be in town all the time.

A slow smile filled Carter's face, and his eyes started to sparkle. He chuckled, enjoying his new secret. “If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm not going to tell you.”

Mia crossed her arms and glared at him, but it just made him chuckle again. Apparently, he wasn't as intimidated by her “tell me now” stare as her kids were.

Fine, she thought, turning away from him. I'll just look him up later. I've got pretty good G****e skills.

“Laura, will we get to work with the horses today?” Lily asked Laura, drawing Mia's attention.

Laura shook her head. “Not today. I needed to see what you knew how to do. Next time we'll work with the animals.”

Lily looked crestfallen, but then quickly picked up her shovel and grinned. She waved to Mia and went into the next stall, ready to earn her place at the ranch.

“Would you like a tour of the ranch?” Carter asked Mia.

She turned, surprised by his question. He stood in the doorway, all sexy jeans and easy smile and for a moment, Mia completely forgot how to speak.

“Um, don't I need to watch them?” she finally managed to get out, stumbling over every word. “You know, make sure you're getting your money's worth?”

Carter chuckled. “I'm sure Laura will make sure that they are working hard and being safe,” he assured her. “Tour?”

Her bottom lip was between her teeth as she hesitated for just a moment. She glanced over to see Laura showing Alexander a better way to shovel and telling Grayson he was doing a great job.

“Okay, I'll take your tour,” Mia said, putting a smile on her face. It would be fun. Maybe she'd even get some hints to his identity.

“Excellent,” Carter replied, a grin filling his handsome features. “I'll give you the twenty-five-cent version.”

“Isn't it usually a 'ten-cent' tour?” Mia asked, puzzled as she followed him out of the barn.

Carter winked at her. “My tour is worth the extra charge.”