Katie didn’t stir, the little stinker.
“Sorry, Hayden.” Evie crept into the bedroom. Her sweatshirt read: Nurses do it with intensive care. “I told you not to wake him, bug.”
“I didn’t.” Katie twitched beneath that fuzzy blanket. “Come to bed, Mama.”
Evie looked stricken.
Yes, come to bed, Mama.
Hayden wet his lips and tried not to think about embracing his wife. Theirs could never be a real marriage. “Hey…um…Evie…I’d help you out here, but I’m only wearing boxers.”
“That answers that question,” Evie muttered.
Hayden felt the oddest urge to smile. Highly out of line, that impulse, given they weren’t in love. He tamped it down.
“Katie, let’s go downstairs and get some hot chocolate.” Evie reached for Katie’s blanket.
The little girl leaped to the other side of the bed. “I want a lazy day, Mama.”
“What’s a lazy day?” Hayden asked, interest piqued.
Katie sat up and stared at Hayden incredulously, her short, blond curls a halo for that sweet little face. “We lay in bed and watch movies all day. It’s super fun. Want to have a lazy day?”
“Can’t, honey.” Hayden took her fuzzy pink blanket and tossed it to Evie. “I’ve got horses to feed and chores to do.”
“Horses to feed…” Katie considered his words while Evie walked around the bed to reach her. “Like my pony, Hay-Hay? Gran said you’re getting me a pony. Did it come last night while I was sleeping?”
“I haven’t gotten you a pony, honey.” That was the least of his concerns. But at Katie’s pout, he felt the urge to cave.
“I want a shiny yellow pony with a unicorn horn,” Katie said as if this was a common request, like ice cream for dessert. “Make sure her name is Sparkles.”
Hayden laughed. “Can I buy you a stuffy instead?” A stuffed animal, he meant.
“No!” Katie clapped her small hand over his mouth. “I want a real, shiny, yellow pony with a unicorn horn,” she repeated. “Promise, Hay-Hay.” She removed her hand from his mouth, then held out her pinky finger.
“She wants you to pinky promise,” Evie explained, now standing behind Katie at his bedside, looking beautiful and uncomfortable.
Uncomfortable? With me?
He didn’t want Evie to feel awkward with him. They were…
He struggled to define their relationship. Man and wife seemed too intimate while friends seemed too cold.
Stumped, Hayden focused on Katie. “The first rule of ranching is that you don’t buy good riding stock based on the color,” Hayden began. “Flashy horseflesh is often the devil when saddled.”
“Hay-Hay,” Katie said in a stern voice, shaking that pinky at him and ignoring his ranching rule. “Promise you’ll find me the shiny yellow unicorn pony of my dreams.”
Cornered, Hayden hooked his pinky with hers. “Okay. I promise to do my best to find it for you.”
“Good.” Katie nodded, scooting toward her mama.
“But don’t be surprised if I bring home a brown pony without a unicorn horn,” Hayden teased. He needed to lay the groundwork in case a well-trained palomino pony wasn’t available for a bargain-basement price.
Katie gasped, staring at Hayden as if he’d done something wrong.
And he hadn’t done anything yet!
But just looking at Evie’s amused smile…