Bekka frowned at him, but in a worried, not mad sort of way. “Are you sure, Cam? I can go.”
“I’m sure, little mother. I got this. You just keep on with what you’re doing and keep that chocolate out of the front room. Deal?”
She nodded, so happy, so young. “I think Daddy’s gonna love it, having some fancy hot chocolate.”
“Oh, I think so too.” Personally, he thought Mitch would gag, but it didn’t matter. He had seen Mitch eat some shit Rebekka had made which would have made a lesser man die, and Mitch just swallowed and smiled like it was heaven.
The way from the house to the work shed was cleared, and the lights were on. The pellet stove in there was obviously going to town because smoke was pouring out the top of the chimney.
He made it about halfway there when he saw the bitty footprints along with great big dog footprints in the snow, pointed toward the barns.
That little shit.
Cam rubbed his forehead with his good hand. Sarah knew she wasn’t supposed to be out in the barns by herself.
He thought about going to get Mark, then he pondered calling Mitch, then he thought, Goddamn it, he was a cowboy. Those were basically his barns, and he was going to go tell that girl she needed to get inside and not go out to the barns when she alone and she knew better.
He grumbled and stomped, getting all the way over to the barns where he found Sarah with a Coleman lantern, a bunch of blankets, the dog, a bag of Doritos, and a bag of baby carrots. She was all wrapped up on a hay bale, sitting there next to Copper Penny and Fire, who were stabled side-by-side, and she was reading to them. Periodically she would stop to feed all three horses and Rosie a carrot.
He really needed to yell at her. It was sort of necessary, but this was so damn cute. So he got his phone out and started taping.
The horses stared at her as if she was the most fascinating thing ever, while Rosie was wrapped around her so tight that it was like she had a big black Rottweiler parka.
She’d talk for a bit, read a couple of pages, then eat a Dorito. Then Fire got a carrot, Copper Penny got a carrot, and Rosie got a carrot.
To his utter surprise, Sarah chucked a carrot across the barn into a bucket that was hanging on Olive’s stall, too.
Jesus Christ, this girl needed to play basketball.
He wondered if she even knew what basketball was.
He watched for a couple more seconds, and sure as shit, next time around, carrot, carrot, carrot. Whee,plonk, carrot.
He put his phone away. “You ever thought about playing ball?”
Sarah blinked over at him, orange Dorito dust around her mouth. “What kind of ball? I play kickball at school.”
“I was thinking basketball.”
“I don’t know that. I mean I know what it is, but I don’t know how to play.”
“I think you’d be good at it. Volleyball too. That’s really impressive with the horses.”
“It was cold,” she explained. “I didn’t want to stand up, but I didn’t want Olive to feel like she was left out.”
“That’s really cool. You do know you’re not supposed to be out here?”
She gave him an arched eyebrow. “Daddy said I couldn’t mess with the horses. I’m not messing with anything, I’m reading and sharing my carrots. That’s not messing.”
Oh, these children were too damn smart for him. “I think what your Dad meant?—”
She shook her head, cutting him right off. “It’s what he said. I cannot be responsible for what he meant.”
“You can’t huh?”
“Nope. He said don’t mess with the horses. I haven’t opened the stalls. I haven’t even really touched the horses much. They may have touchedmewith their lips when they got the carrots,or when I got into reading and forgot to give them a carrot. So they may have touched me, but I did not even touch them.”
Yeah, he was totally gonna have to call Mitch. There was no way that he was qualified to deal with this. “Don’t you think you ought to come inside and help your sisters?”
