“The party starts at four this afternoon, sweetie.” She sat up.
“How long before we gots to go, Mommy?”
She gazed into that innocent little face. Her mild sense of guilt from last night had been replaced with guilt that had the kick of a mule.
She picked up her phone from the nightstand and turned it toward him. “What time is it now?”
“Six-o-five.”
Her son had talked endlessly about the party at dinner last night. He’d been incandescent with joy at the prospect of seeing his idol today and giving him a birthday present.
“Then let’s count the hours.” She held up her hand. “Count with me. Seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven. How many hours is that?”
He consulted his spread fingers. “Five.”
Switching hands, she continued the countdown. “Twelve, one, two, three, four. How many hours is that?”
He groaned. “Five again. Can we go early? Mister Monty wants to see me. I know he does.”
“I’m sure he does, but if we go early, they won’t be ready for us. They’ll still be setting up.”
“We could help!”
“Not this time, sweetie. We’re just getting to know the Bridgers, and?—”
“Where’s my wrangler?” Uncle Graham’s voice drifted down the hall. “Time to feed the herd, buddy!”
“Yes, sir!” Tex glanced down at his pjs. “Uh-oh. I gots to get dressed. You too, Mommy!”
“I’ll be ready in a flash.”
“Me, too!” He raced back to his bedroom.
She hurried through a quick sponge bath before throwing on some clothes. She’d be the last one down to the barn, but that was fine. No client appointments today.
Some coffee would be nice, too. Mari would have made a pot and left her some. The whir of an electric mixer told her two things — waffles were on the breakfast menu and her sis had lingered in the kitchen to get the 411 on last night. Made her smile.
When they’d lived in Great Falls, they’d divided the chores. Mari had done most of the cooking and Zinnia had handled the bulk of the cleaning. They’d continued the system here. Relieving their uncle of that work was the least they could do to thank him for taking them in.
Mari shut off the mixer when she walked in. “Hey, there.”
“Hey.” She grabbed a mug, poured herself some coffee and pretended not to know why Mari was still in the house. “You’re going down to the barn, right?”
“Absolutely. I can’t wait to see that cutie-pie. I just wanted to mix the batter first, so we’re ready to roll when we all come back in.”
“Then making the batter has nothing to do with you itching to find out how things went last night?”
She laughed. “You know me too well.”
“And you know me too well. You were right about this matchup. It was awesome. He’s awesome.”
“Woo-hoo!” Mari spun away from the counter and rushed over to give her a hug.
“Watch the coffee, watch the coffee.”
“I am.” Her sis gave her a quick squeeze and stepped back. “I’m just happy for you. I assume you’re going back tomorrow night?”
“Probably, although we didn’t confirm it and I snuck out while he was asleep. I left him a note, though, so he’s aware you’re not working Sunday night.”
