by Emma Ashwood
“What can I say, my wife brought me the best mare in Texas,” Carson said with a warm smile for Annie before he turned his gaze back to the horses playing in the fields.
With the sale of his first foal, Carson had bought another mare and was now not only a cattle rancher, but a horse breeder as well.
“Carson, there’s something I need to tell you,” Annie began with a little hesitation. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell Carson about the baby, it was just that she didn’t want to be on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy.
Carson smiled in a mysterious way. “I know.”
“What? You can’t know. You don’t even know what I want to tell you.”
“The baby. You want to tell me we’re having another baby. I know.” Carson sighed. “You haven’t been eating and you’ve been napping with Dakota.” Carson gave her a charming grin. “I’ve suspected it for a while now.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Annie asked flummoxed.
“Because I thought you didn’t know,” Carson shrugged.
Annie laughed. “Of course I knew.” A mischievous smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “But that’s still not what I wanted to tell you.”
Carson turned to her with a frown. “It wasn’t?”
“No,” Annie insisted with a heavy sigh. “Carson, I’m sorry but I’m not happy with the covered porch.”
Carson’s brows drew together. “But you wanted it. Now you want me to tear it down? It took me a week to build it, regardless of the lumber.”
Annie laughed. “I want a wraparound porch.”
“A what?” Carson asked, confused.
“I want the porch to wrap around the whole house, with a roof of course. That way I can sit on all sides and watch the ranch, the seasons changing and of course wherever you’re keeping yourself busy with.”
Carson laughed. “You and your strange ideas. Next you’ll be telling me to move the outhouse indoors.”
Annie frowned. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
They shared a smile and a knowing look of love when Annie suddenly pointed towards the road leading to the ranch. “Look, here they come.”
Cassidy and her husband had travelled through Fort Worth to take on the last leg of their journey with Bonnie and her husband. The small wagon trail coming over the ridge brought a smile to Annie’s face. “I missed them. I can’t believe how much I missed them.”
Carson nodded. “Me too. Just please don’t invite them to move in.”
Annie laughed. “How can I? With another baby on the way, we don’t have the room.”
Carson laughed. “You’re right. But since we’re probably going to have a dozen more, I had better add a few rooms on before I start building that porch.”
Annie smiled. “That’s a good idea.”
“Have I told you today that I love you?” Carson asked softly.
Annie shook her head. “No, but you tell me every time you look at me. I can see it in your eyes.”
“I thought you said I had hard eyes,” Carson asked with a frown.
Annie chuckled. “You used to have hard eyes, especially when you wanted to throw me off your ranch.”
“I think I’ll keep you,” Carson stood up and drew her in for a tight hug before he stepped back with a sigh. “Let the chaos ensue.”
Annie couldn’t help but laugh as she followed Carson down the porch steps to wait for his sisters, because he was right, when everyone was at the ranch it was nothing but chaos.
And she loved every minute of it.
