*
The hayride didnot turn out exactly as described in the book.Important details had been omitted.
For instance, the wagon had wooden wheels that did not absorb shock.Malika was afraid to loosen her hold on baby Callen for fear she might drop him.She had to keep her other hand free to ensure Linda and her cute little friend Emily weren’t tossed to their deaths under those same cumbersome wheels.
As for showing Jayce how unimportant he was…
It was difficult to do when the massive beast hauling the cart that trailed hers obstructed his view.Draft horses were huge.
Her cart led the small caravan.Andy was driving.Jayce and his cart were next.Three young boys rode in it with Tilly.Behind them was Adam, driving Tilly’s sister Loretta, and two teenaged girls.Grady brought up the rear.Pearl had three more young boys with her.Linda had insisted that she wasn’t riding with her parents, and Pearl was happy to let Malika take Callen off her hands too.
Malika had envisioned gazing up at the starry night sky from a soft bed of hay while the ride lulled the children to sleep.
There would be no such lulling.
The caravan began at the town stable.They would detour around Burning Scrub, then cut back into town, with the ride culminating at the church, where hot cocoa and cookies awaited.To cap off the event, the children would be given a tour of the cemetery and a few ghost stories to sweeten their dreams.Didn’t that sound like fun for their parents.
By the time they arrived at the church, all of the bones inside Malika’s body had been rearranged, and Linda and her friend had escaped certain death a total of five nerve-wracking times.
Andy helped the little girls from the cart.They were so wired from the ride that adding sugary treats didn’t seem wise, but it wasn’t Malika’s call, and she didn’t have to put them to bed.
She passed Callen to Andy, who held her hand while she dismounted, and then returned Callen to her.
“Gotta run,” he said, grinning widely.“I’m supposed to hide behind tombstones and grab the kids as they walk by.They’ll be afraid of the dark for the rest of their lives.”
Malika had nieces and nephews.They would adore the entertainment, and she was sorry to miss it, but Callen was nodding off in her arms, and he was too heavy to carry for long.She decided to sit on the church steps while he slept and let Pearl have fun with her daughter for a change.
Lantern light spilled from the open doors at the top of the steps where the hot cocoa and cookies awaited.Callen’s head drooped on her shoulder and his diaper-padded bottom draped over her forearm.
Jayce dropped onto the step beside her.She hadn’t been alone with him since the day at the bunkhouse.
Drat him and his beautiful blue eyes and rugged cowboy physique.She would not flirt with him, despite how hard he made it.He smelled wonderful too.Like laundry brought indoors after a day spent drying in the sun.
Her willpower was not carved from stone.
“Did you enjoy the ride?”he asked.
Oddly, she had.“I once rode a camel when I was a child.The experience was much the same,” she said.“Very invigorating.”
“Invigorating’s a good word for it.”
Jayce’s crooked smile further tested her strength.
Shrieks of terror, then laughter, floated from the night-shrouded cemetery behind the church.
“I can hold Callen if you want to go hear the ghost stories.I’ve heard them before,” Jayce offered.
What a good suggestion.She should leave, since he showed no signs of departure himself.She gave Callen one more quick little cuddle, then carefully, so as not to wake him, she eased him into Jayce’s waiting arms.
She saw at once that she’d made an unwise decision.She couldn’t leave now.Jayce holding a baby merely enhanced his male beauty and she lost all interest in children’s ghost stories.There was nothing left to do but torment him.
She cast about for something especially annoying.“Andy is wonderful with children, don’t you agree?”
“He’s the irresponsible uncle who shows up drunk for Christmas dinner, passes beer to the teenagers and power drinks to anyone under twelve, including the toddlers, then steals everyone’s wallets.”
Jayce didn’t sound annoyed.More as if stating a fact.He very well could be.Andy didn’t strike her as responsible, either.Tilly had supervised him while he cleaned the chicken coop out because she said he’d cut corners if he wasn’t watched.
“You have completely misread his character,” Malika said.“He’s a gentleman.Reliable too.”
