“It’s all right.” Wyatt placed his foot on the next step. “I asked her if she had a boyfriend, and she said no.”
Tyler wouldn’t admit to his son that he’d been curious about Kinsey’s relationship status and was strangely satisfied to know she was single. Instead, he had to chastise the boy for prying. “Listen, Wyatt. You can’t go asking—”
“She’s real pretty, don’t you think so?”
“Yep!” Anson called from below, his grin widening. “Your dad thinks she’s a pretty little filly.”
Tyler tossed the old cowboy another glare. “We don’t refer to women as horses. That’s derogatory.”
“Fine. She’s a pretty little thing. That better?”
“We don’t call women athingeither. That’s objectifying them.”
Anson’s grin faltered—probably because he didn’t know whatobjectifyingmeant.
“Listen,” Tyler continued, “all you have to say is that she’s pretty. That’s all it takes.”
Anson’s lips curled up again. “See, I knew you thought she was a pretty little thing.”
Tyler bit back a sigh.
Wyatt halted only a few feet away from the end of the bridge. “Even though she said she’s not looking for a new boyfriend, I figured you could change her mind.”
This time Anson’s crotchety chuckle echoed in the air, and Cooper smirked up at him.
All Tyler could do was shake his head at the two of them.
“What do you think, Dad?” Wyatt hopped the last couple of boards and grabbed on to the landing like the seven-year-old daredevil that he was.
Tyler made quick work of finishing the ropes course and joining him on the landing.
“Wanna give it a try?” Wyatt smiled up at him with hopeful eyes. “You got that bargain with Grandpa to keep.”
“Yep. That bargain!” Anson called as he started whittling on his carving of the mushroom.
Tyler tugged on Wyatt’s harness, making sure it was still secure and buying himself some time to think of an answer. Finally, he sighed. “Kinsey’s leaving in a few days.” He hadn’t told anyone else yet about the replacement, but Wyatt obviously needed to know the news.
Wyatt shrugged. “Tell her she can stay.”
So much for squelching the kid’s enthusiasm for Kinsey.
“The truth is, squirt,” Tyler started, “Kinsey and I, well, we’d never get along even if she did stay. So I’ll have to find another way to keep that bargain with Grandpa.”
Wyatt studied Tyler’s face for a long moment, his brown eyes growing serious. Then he nodded. “Okay.” As if the matter were settled, he lowered himself to the first rung of the ladder and started to descend.
Tyler could only watch him, stuffing away the disappointment that the boy hadn’t protested a little bit harder.
9
She had only two days left at Healing Springs Ranch.
Kinsey opened the miniblinds and let the early-morning sunshine into the room.
T.W. squinted through his reading glasses at the laptop in front of him.
It was a good sign that he was feeling well enough to want to work again. After the past weeks of not being able to do much, dipping his toes back into his business was good for his mental well-being and gave him some purpose and reason to recover…probably a more realistic reason than having his kids get married.
She could admit she was going to miss being with T.W. when she left. She’d grown fond of the McQuaid family in the short time she’d been there. The place had a wonderful homey feel to it, one that she missed because she hadn’t had a home of her own since she’d started working with Premier.
