“He would be proud of you, you know,” Rowan said quietly, his voice rough with emotion. “Proud of how you’ve kept this place running, how you’re raising Huck.”
“How can you know that?” She slid two eggs onto a plate beside several strips of bacon and handed them to him.
He took the plate to the table. “Because I knew him. Because anyone with eyes can see what you’ve accomplished here.”
Sierra considered him for a moment, then sighed. “Yeah, well, the inheritance he left barely covered the taxes on this place, and…” She leaned a hip against the counter. “I want Huck to grow up here.”
“I talked to…Alden yesterday.”
Her brow went up, and she reached for her coffee. “And no one was hospitalized?”
“Funny.”
But she smiled, and it just lit something inside him. Those eyes in his.
She so knew him, even now.
“I still can’t believe he got away with?—”
He held up a hand. “It’s over. And I’m a grown man. But yeah, I can admit that for a moment…” He made a face. “Anyway, he said he offered to buy your place?”
She made a sound. “Yeah. As if I would ever sell my property to that man.”
He could kiss her, straight out, for that.
Instead, he dug into his eggs.
She cracked more eggs into the pan, and about then, Huck came downstairs. He wore pajama pants and a T-shirt, his hair sticking up in every direction.
Something about the way he smiled at his mom, walking over to steal a piece of bacon, just sort of jolted Rowan. Wow, he was a handsome kid.
“Morning, sleepyhead,” Sierra said, kissing him on the head. “You’re up early.”
“Smelled bacon.” Huck yawned and scratched his stomach. “Hey, Mr. R. You stayed.”
He’d suggested the name last night during their little bedtime routine. Now he saw Sierra’s mouth tweak up at it.
“Yep. I’ll be around…for a bit.”
Sierra glanced at him, but didn’t deny it. Another Oorah.
“Cool.” Huck slumped into a chair at the table. “You going to practice with me today?”
“Yep.”
Huck’s eyes brightened immediately. “Awesome. Mal said he’s been working on his backup loop all week. But I bet mine’s still better.”
“Confidence is good,” Rowan said. “But practice is better.”
“I practice every day. Well, except when it’s raining. Or when Mom makes me do homework first.”
“Homework always comes first,” Sierra said firmly, setting a plate of eggs and bacon in front of her son.
“I know. But sometimes I think about how much better I’d be if I could practice instead of doing math problems.”
“Math problems teach you to think logically. Problem-solving. That’s useful for roping too,” Rowan said.
Huck looked skeptical. “How?”
