He wanted to protest that he wouldn’t be, that he craved routine and disrupting it bothered him more than he’d told her, but he stuffed the words back down his throat.
“I’ve got the food,” April thankfully called, and Dawson stepped away from Caroline. Brandon brought his horse around from the side of the stable too, and the three of them would stay together for the next few days while they journeyed out into the hills to check on their cattle and dogs.
“Load us up, missy,” Dawson said. He whistled for Ruffin, and the dog perked up from where he lay in the shade. “Let’s go, buddy.”
Brandon swung into the saddle, and April collected her reins after putting the food in Dawson’s saddlebags. He’d made himself several sticky notes for what needed to be done when he returned, and he’d done all of the required items before this trip.
“All right,” he said. “We’re headed out.” He turned back to his horse only to find Caroline pulling her hand back from his saddlebags. His eyebrows went up, his curiosity off the charts. “What’s goin’ on here?”
“Nothing,” she said airily.
“Did you put something in or take something out?”He peered at her hands, but she’d folded her arms. “I need all the stuff I put in there.”
“I didn’t take anything.” She watched him with that familiar fire in her eyes.
Dawson grinned at her, because those eyes mesmerized him more than anything. “Caroline?—”
“Just look when you get there,” she said. “Okay? Please? I don’t want you to see it right now.”
“All right,” he drawled. “Is this something I should try to open when I’m alone?”
“Not necessarily.”
“My niece is fourteen,” he teased. “You sure?”
Caroline huffed out her breath and then finally smiled. “Maybe the note.”
“Oh, there’s a note?”
“Are you going to flirt all day?” April asked from atop her horse as she shuffled it closer. “Or are we going?”
He looked up at her, catching her impish grin before she flattened it. “We’re going,” Dawson growled. He took a quick step to Caroline and swept his arm around her as he kissed her cheek. “I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Have fun,” she said. She raised her hand to April. “You keep him in line, okay?”
April grinned at her. “Yes, ma’am.”
Dawson worked hard not to roll his eyes as he swung into his saddle. “All right,” he said. “Lead us out, you.”
April threw him a grin and swung her mount aroundto do just that. Dawson couldn’t wait to get out into the wilderness and bask in the Texas sunshine. He couldn’t wait to let the wide sky above Three Rivers cleanse his thoughts and remind him of who he was.
And he absolutely couldn’t wait to see what Caroline had snuck into his saddlebag.
Chapter Thirty-One
Caroline woke slowly on the morning of her birthday, Dawson’s last text from last night running through her mind.
You’re my favorite person, and I can’t wait to celebrate your birthday with you.
She could hear him saying those words in his deep, cowboy rumble, and his voice always made her warm from the inside out. She wasn’t sure she’d ever been anyone’s favorite person, and it sure felt nice that she could be that for a man like Dawson.
The sun had started to rise, as summer was getting nearer and nearer, and she finally opened her eyes to check the time. Her alarm hadn’t gone off yet, so it couldn’t quite be seven a.m., and since Dawson couldn’t really take a whole day off from his ranch duties, Caroline wouldn’t see him until lunchtime.
She had plans to sleep late—seemed like that wasn’t quite working out, though—and spend the morning out in the cool shade of her garden, then shower, and get ready to take Dawson lunch in his office.
They’d spend the afternoon together, and then Dawson had plans for dinner too. He hadn’t told her much of what he’d put together for them, and that was just fine with Caroline. She liked a good surprise, and as she sat up and stretched her arms above her head, she exhaled out the past three decades of her life.
“Dear Lord,” she prayed. “Thank You for the first thirty years of my life. Thank You for helping me become this woman that I am, and help me to know how to set down the things that need to be put aside so I can continue to become who You want me to be.”