take over now,” Buck murmured.
Carson nodded. “Come on, Johnny. Let’s go find your mom.”
The boy put a trusting hand in Carson’s and they walked to her tent. “Tracy?” he called to her from the opening. She stirred and sat up. “Johnny had a bad dream and wants to sleep with you.”
“Oh, honey, come here.” Johnny ran to her. Carson turned to leave, but Johnny’s cry stopped him. “Don’t go, Carson!” He sounded frantic.
“Johnny, Carson needs to go to his tent and get some sleep.”
“He can sleep right here by me. Please, Mommy. I don’t want him to leave.”
In order to avoid a bigger disturbance he said, “Tell you what, partner. I’ll stay here until you fall asleep. How’s that?”
“You promise you won’t go away?”
“Not until after I hear you snoring.”
“I don’t snore. Do I, Mom?”
She laughed softly. “Sometimes.”
Tracy turned on the flashlight to find the blanket. “I’m not using this, Carson. Why don’t you put this down next to Johnny.” She was wearing pajamas with little footballs on them and looked adorable.
As Johnny might say, this was the funnest sleepover in the whole world.
Carson arranged the blanket into a pillow and stretched out. Their close quarters made everything cozy.
Tracy kissed her boy who’d climbed into the sleeping bag with her. “Do you want me to leave the light on?”
“Heck, no. Carson’s here.”
Tears stung Carson’s eyes.
Tracy turned it off. “What kind of a bad dream was it?”
Johnny told her exactly what he’d told Carson.
He heard her deep sigh. “I’ve had dreams where I couldn’t find somebody.”
“You have?”
“Me, too,” Carson interjected.
“Well, we’re all here now and it’s time to go back to sleep.”
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“I don’t want to go home.”
Carson’s heart skipped a beat.
“Shh. We’ll talk about it in the morning.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
“I love you, Mom.”
“I love you, honey.”
“Good night, Carson. I love you, too.”
Carson closed his eyes tightly. “The feeling’s mutual, partner. Good night.” What else could he have said that wouldn’t have upset Tracy?
When he’d had thoughts earlier in the day of being in the tent with her, he never dreamed he’d end up here in the middle of the night under these circumstances. In order to prove to her he wouldn’t take advantage of the situation, he waited until he could tell they were asleep, then he crept out of the tent. He found Buck sitting on one of the chairs with his legs propped on another one.
“Go to bed, Buck. I’ll never sleep tonight.”
“Why not, besides the obvious?”
Carson brought him up to speed. “I’m afraid this plan of ours may be backfiring big-time. We were supposed to give them a fun vacation, but now he says he doesn’t want to go home. I know you’re going to say he’ll get over it, but until he does, Tracy’s probably going to wish she’d never come.”
“Speaking of Tracy, what happened out there tonight when you two were alone?”
“I asked her to go dancing with me tomorrow night. She said yes.” The “yes” came out a little louder because he had to cough.
Buck moved his legs to the ground. “You weren’t really surprised, were you?”
“I don’t know. Ever since she got here, I’ve been turned inside out.”
He got to his feet and stretched. “Do you wish she hadn’t come?”
“If this becomes a nightmare for her because of Johnny, then yes. I have no doubt it was his father he was looking for.”
“I’m sure you’re right. It’s only natural. But she chose to accept our invitation. There’s a risk in everything and nothing’s perfect in this imperfect world. You have to know they’ve been having a wonderful time.”
“But at what cost?”
“That’s your old guilt talking, Carson. You’ve got to stop taking on what can’t be helped.”
Buck was right. “I don’t know how to do that.”
“It’s the only flaw I find in you. See you in the morning.”
“Come on, honey.” Johnny was slow putting on his cowboy boots this morning. “Now that we’ve had breakfast, they’re calling us to pack up.” So far he hadn’t talked about his bad dream last night. That was good, because now wasn’t the time for the serious discussion with him about Carson.
Johnny reached for his cowboy hat and put it on. “Do we have to go back to the ranch today?”
“Yes.” She finished putting his things in the saddlebag.
“But I like it here.”
“There are a lot more fun things we’re going to do. Remember what Buck said while he was cooking our pancakes? Ross is taking us on a hike over in Teton Park. We haven’t been there yet.”
“Why isn’t Carson coming with us?”
“You know why. He has business matters to take care of today.”
“I’d rather stay home and ride Goldie.”
Home?
“You can ride her after dinner. Here. You carry your saddlebag and I’ll bring mine.”
After fastening her hair back with a clip, she opened the tent flap and they joined everyone congregated by the horses. She could hear the men coughing. Carson’s black Stetson stood out as he finished saddling Goldie. He darted her a private glance before his blue gaze fell on Johnny. He
