“Are you sure?” she asked Josephine once more. “At least for the thread and the extra fabric we used from your collection.”
“Nope.” Nana Jo gave her a firm headshake. “But there is one thing you can do for me.”
“What’s that?”
“Scoot on down to the barn and send your sweet daughter up so I can have her try this on.” She held up the costume and gave it a good shake.
“I can do that.”
“Oh.” The woman raised a halting finger. “One more thing.”
“Sure.”
“Stay down there with my grandson until I call you back up.”
Trinity gave her a long look. “Nana Jo…”
“He really shouldn’t be with the horses unsupervised.” She flashed Trinity the most devious wink. “Not too experienced, and you know how unpredictable those animals can be.”
“They might be, butyoucertainly aren’t,” Trinity countered, grinning.
“What can I say?” She shrugged. “Sometimes people just need a little nudge in the right direction. I’m nudging you in the direction of the barn and the handsome cowboy within it.”
Trinity couldn’t argue there, at least not with the handsome part. She wasn’t sure what it was—if Spencer was just becoming more settled in his surroundings or something else—but he had been so much more attractive to her lately. Watching the sweet way he showed Mia the ropes of horsemanship was a turn on Trinity hadn’t seen coming. He was gentle, attentive. Treating her like she was his own.
Trinity shook her head, the thought making her jolt with a pang of unexpected guilt.
Spencer did not need to be a father figure to Mia. He was simply an instructor. Her trainer. She would never want to saddle him with that responsibility. It was unfair to even imagine it in her head.
“Now is as good a time as any,” Nana Jo said, snapping Trinity from her reverie. “Don’t want your little gal walking up to the house in complete darkness.”
Trinity nodded, composed herself after that little internal blunder, and set out for the barn. It was dusk, the sky a beautiful wash of rich orange, pink, and purple hues. They’d had more scattered snowfall recently, so everything was dusted with white powder like the sugar sprinkled over Faith’s baked goods. It was picturesque to say the very least.
Trinity found her daughter and Spencer finishing up in Bluebell’s stall. They’d just latched the mare in for the night and were feeding the rest of the horses their dinner by tossing flakes of hay into their stalls.
“Perfect timing,” Spencer said through a wide grin. He chucked a flake into Alpine’s stall and then rubbed his palms together before swiping them along the thighs of his jeans to shake off any stray bits of hay. “We’re just finishing up here.”
“Hey, Mia?” Trinity turned to her daughter. “Nana Jo wants you to run up to the house to try on your costume to make sure it fits.”
“Is it done?” Mia’s little eyes got big with excitement.
“It is. And it turned out great. You’re going to love it.”
The girl squealed and somewhere down the barn aisle Doodlebug whinnied in response.
“You can take your boots off and put them in the tack room for next time,” Spencer instructed. “Your sneakers are in the first cubby. Let me know if you need help with the laces.”
Mia gave Spencer a quick nod before disappearing around the corner, practically skipping on the tips of her toes.
Trinity watched until her daughter reappeared with her tennis shoes on her feet and big grin on her mouth. Mia gave her mom a thumbs up and then set out for the house. In the distance, Trinity could see Josephine waiting on the porch,waving the child closer. They both disappeared into the ranch house.
“I’m impressed you two finished that thing.” Spencer jammed a pair of leather gloves into his back pocket before leaning against Bluebell’s stall door in the most effortlessly cool manner. What was it about cowboys and their ability to look relaxed doing just about anything? “It sounded like a pretty big project.”
“Only because we were starting over from scratch. Believe it or not, but I had just put the finishing touches on theotherturkey costume when Mia told me it was all wrong.” She rolled her eyes. “Have any use for a turkey costume that fits an average-sized five-year-old?”
“Hey.” He shrugged. “Maybe Doodlebug could wear it in the Thanksgiving parade. Heisquite a turkey.”
Trinity laughed, the snorting, catch-you-off-guard kind that was anything but attractive. She instantly covered her mouth, horrified. “Oh my gosh. I’m sorry. That was embarrassing.”
