Johnny’s head jerked around. “Hey—I haven’t played that game before.”
“It’s a new one I’ve been waiting to teach you. I’m the shark and you guys are the minnows. I’ll be at the end of the pool. You and Kit get up on the side of the deck. I’ll call out, sharks and minnows, one two three, fishies, fishies swim to me. That’s when you’ll dive in and swim to the other side. If I don’t catch you, then you’ll be the shark for the next round. If I do, then you’ll stay a minnow.”
Johnny giggled. “That sounds silly.”
He grinned. “You think? Just wait until I come after you.” His gaze swerved to Kit who’d climbed up on the deck ready to play. Ross had a devil of a time concentrating when he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Come on, Johnny. Let’s see if we can beat this big shark at his own game.” The way she’d said it heightened Ross’s anticipation.
“Yeah!” Johnny got out of the water and walked over by her.
“Sharks and minnows—” Ross called out after coughing. The game was on. They must have played six rounds, but Ross beat them every time. Both she and Johnny came up laughing and spurting.
“How come you guys can’t catch me?” Ross baited them. “I thought you said this was a silly game, Johnny.”
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Andy, who’d come out of the cabana in his suit and was watching. Well, what do you know. Nothing like a little healthy competition.
“Come on, Andy,” Johnny shouted when he saw him. “Help us win!”
Once again they lined up along the side, but this time Andy had joined them. “Sharks and minnows—” Ross called out. There was plenty of splashing as everyone dived into the pool. Ross went after the other two first so he would barely miss tagging Andy.
“Hey—now Andy’s a shark!”
“He sure is, Johnny.” Ross smiled at Kit’s son. “How did you learn to swim so fast?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re good!” Ross climbed up next to Johnny and Kit. She thanked him with her eyes. While he was still staring into them Andy shouted, “Sharks and minnows—” The boy was a quick study.
By Ross losing his concentration, Andy tagged him and Kit with no problem. That made Johnny the winner.
“Bravo!” another voice called out.
“Mom!” Johnny cried. Tracy had just come out to the pool. “Uncle Ross taught us a new game and I won this time! Put your suit on and get in.”
“Honey, it’s late. The pool is closed now. Time to get out.”
“Oh, heck.”
“Your mom’s right, Johnny. But there’s always tomorrow.”
He scrambled out of the pool to his mother who wrapped him in a towel. After kissing him, she said, “It looks like we have some new guests.”
“Yup. That’s Andy and his mom, Kit. They’re from Maine.”
Ross took over. “Kit Wentworth? Meet Carson’s wife, Tracy.”
“It’s so nice to meet you, Mrs. Lundgren. Andy and I are thrilled to be here.”
“We’ve all been looking forward to your arrival, haven’t we, Johnny.”
“Yeah. Please, will you come riding with us in the morning?”
Andy shrugged. “I guess.”
“Goody! We’ll let you pick out one of the ponies to ride, but I think you’ll like Raindrop. She’s a dappled gray. You’re older than we are and she’s a little bigger than the others. She likes apple nuggets for a treat.”
Ross chuckled. “She does love those.”
Kit smiled. “I can’t wait to see her. With that settled, we’d better get out of the pool and change. After our long flight we’re about ready for bed and will see all of you tomorrow. Come on, Andy.”
“Bye, Andy. See ya later.” Johnny walked away with his mother.
“Bye.”
Ross turned to his guests. “I’ll meet you in the foyer in five minutes to drive you back to the cabin.”
“We’ll hurry,” she assured him.
Before long the three of them met by the front desk where there were a few guests checking in. Ross was pleased to see their normal dude ranch business was continuing to grow.
Willy looked up. “Hey, Ross—I see they found you.” But his eyes were so focused on Kit, Ross would have laughed if the situation weren’t so precarious. Her dark hair still had natural curl when it was damp. She looked good. Too good. He had to remember they were honoring her husband’s memory.
“We did,” Kit spoke up. She appeared oblivious to Willy’s gawking. “Thank you.”
Ross walked them through the front door to the parking area on the side of the ranch house. “We’ll go in the truck.” He opened the rear passenger door for them, and they climbed inside.
Once on their way, he heard Andy talking to his mother in the back. “That Johnny’s funny.”
“He’s very cute. I think it will be fun to go riding with him.”
“Ponies are for babies.”
“Johnny didn’t look like a baby to me.”
Good for Kit.
When they reached the cabin, Ross shut off the engine and turned in the seat to expand on her comment. “When you’re seven, a pony is a lot easier to handle. Johnny’s adoptive father, Carson, is a champion rodeo rider who owns this ranch. He got him started on Goldie in June. You should see how he rides already.”
Ross could hear the boy mulling everything over in his mind. “What happened to his real father?”
Andy didn’t miss much. “He was a brave marine like your dad who died in the war. Like you, we invited him and his mom to come to the ranch for a week. They ended up staying, and now they’re married.”
“How wonderful for them,” Kit murmured.
Ross agreed, but the boy had gone quiet. Figuring he’d said enough for now, he climbed down from the truck and opened the rear door for Kit. They both got out the same side. Kit pulled the key card from her pocket to unlock the cabin door, drawing his gaze to the shape of womanly hips below her waist. As for the curves above...it was no wonder Willy couldn’t keep his eyes to himself.
She turned to him. “Good night. Thank you for everything.”
To his surprise he didn’t want to leave. “I’ll come by for you at eight in the morning, and we’ll have breakfast together before planning our day. Good night, you two.”
Ross got in the truck and took off for the ranch house. Before heading upstairs he made a detour to the kitchen for a sandwich and bumped into Buck stealing a donut on his way to bed.
These days his friend wore a continual smile. That’s what being deeply in love did for you.
“Hey—” He nudged Ross, then coughed. “Willy just told me about Mrs. Wentworth and her son. Apparently she’s one gorgeous babe. His words, I swear.”
“If you like brunettes.”
“You don’t?”
“I never said that.” The last word came out on a cough.
He studied him. “What’s she like? Don’t tell me she’s nice.”
Ross bit into his ham sandwich. “What if she is?”
Buck