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Laughing, I got the butter crock out of the fridge and set the plate in front of her. “Bon appetite.”
“Thank you,” she replied and tucked in. Almost instantly, she clapped her hand over her mouth before swallowing. “Oh, my goodness, these waffles are perfect.”
“Why, thank you,” I replied. “I’m not only good for roping mad bulls.”
“You made these?” Rayna met my eyes. “I thought it was Miss Ella.”
“Daddy makes the best waffles,” Harper crowed out. “It’s why today is waffle day.”
Rayna looked profoundly impressed. “Every Sunday is waffle day? You two girls are so lucky.”
“…It's the third Sunday every month,” Sam pitched in. “Daddy is gone a lot but tries to stay for Waffle Sunday.”
“I’ll have to ask you for the recipe,” she said, cutting into another waffle.
“It—”
“Top secret,” Sam and Harper said together.
I leaned back in my chair with a smirk. “They said it. It’s true. Now, what brings you to our neck of the woods again?”
She closed her utensils. “That was wonderful. I was hoping to see a little more of your ranch today. I’m not afraid to admit, I googled this ranch, and I see you have a petting zoo?”
My eyes flickered to Harper. Was she clairvoyant? “Well, Harper here wants to see our new rabbits today. I suppose we’ll go together.”
“Are you coming with us, Sam?” she asked.
“No.” She shook her head, her messy ponytail lopsided. “I’ve got a book report to finish.”
“Oh,” Rayna replied. “I’m sure you’ll be great.”
“If not, can you talk to Mrs. Heather for me?” Sam gave Rayna a dry smile.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Rayna promised her.
I stood and kissed Harper. “You guys finish up and keep Miss Everett’s company. I’ll be upstairs for about ten minutes.”
After giving Rayna another look, I headed upstairs and went directly to my shower. Peeling my clothes away, I dropped one by one until I stepped into the glass enclosure naked. I’d wanted a wonderfully hot and steamy shower to fantasize about, but now I needed a cold one to clear my head.
After seven minutes flat, I dried off and dressed in jeans, dry sneakers, and a gray shirt. As I was about to leave the room, I pivoted, headed back to my bedside drawer, and slipped a condom into my back pocket. Who knew if we would get a moment alone? I was not going to waste a moment if we got one.
I headed down to meet the girls and found that Harper was, as I’d expected, chatting Rayna’s ear off, but kudos to Rayna. She looked as if she was as invested in the conversation as if she was talking to a judge. Sam was gone.
I hid my disappointment.
“Where’s Sam?” I asked.
“She went to her room,” Rayna replied. “She said she wanted to finish the report before dinner so she wouldn’t have to worry about it. Smart girl.”
“She didn’t leave abruptly or—”
“No, no,” Rayna smiled. “She was very polite and smiling when she went off.”
That took a load off my shoulders. “Well, Harper, let’s go see the bunnies.”
* * *
The petting zoo was a half-acre spit of land with white-picket fences for the baby goats, pygmy donkeys and sheep, and pink and blue painted chick coops and rabbit hutches. There was even one for some guinea pigs, and over to the left was an artificial pond for tiny ducklings waddling with their little tails off under the shade of an old oak tree.
