Page 35 of A Sunny Sweetheart for the Cowboy

It was beautiful. Peaceful. The sun shone, warming his skin. He inhaled deeply, bringing in the mixed scents of the lodgepole pines and Douglas fir.

He was closer to God here than anywhere else.

And Walter Sullivan wasn’t unlike God. God had sought Weston out, invited him into His family, and promised him an inheritance. Both identities required his acceptance, his choice to live into them, to honor the family name and relationship.

What did that have to do with the irritating tween down in camp?

Maybe Matthew was having trouble discovering and living into his identity.

With Matthew’s help, Paisley watered the horses in record time. The kid could be sweet and helpful when he wanted to be, but she was under no illusions that he wasn’t gaming her. She’d seen him talking to Weston before approaching her — not that she’d been able to overhear their conversation — and both guys’ chins were up as though they were trying to best each other. Like a wimpy 12-year-old could take on a full-grown, muscular man like Weston Kline.

She’d also noted that Weston disappeared from camp after that. The Littles organized an assembly line for making sandwiches, all the other kids participating. Paisley and Matthew got in the queue at the end.

“Seen Weston?” Harvey asked.

She shook her head. “Not for a while.”

“Huh. Well, he’s never missed a meal yet.” Harvey scanned the group around the smoldering fire, his finger tapping the air as his lips moved. He shrugged. “Everyone else is here and accounted for. Well, he can make his own sandwich when he shows up.”

Paisley filled her water bottle at the filtration station then picked up her paper plate with its sandwich, carrot sticks, and chips. She made her way to the log and sat down beside Matthew. “Where’s Weston?”

The kid shrugged. “How should I know?” He shoved the sandwich in his mouth.

“You were talking to him before.”

Matthew pointed at his over-full mouth as he chewed.

Didn’t that just figure? Weston would show up sooner or later. He wouldn’t have gone far without telling someone. Without Ranger.

The fire flared as some of the kids dropped their empty paper plates into the coals.

Weston never let the flames get much lower than this. He’d stacked a neat pile of logs nearby. If he didn’t return soon, Paisley would add wood to the fire.

How would she know if he were injured off in the forest somewhere? This simply wasn’t like him. She scanned the perimeter of the clearing, but he didn’t magically appear.

Matthew finished his lunch before Paisley was half done. He tossed his plate in the fire and stomped off to the rocky shoreline where Harvey had taken the kids fishing yesterday.

She was savoring the last few salt-and-vinegar chips when Weston appeared at the food table and fixed himself a sandwich out of the remains. She jumped to her feet and jogged over. “Weston! I was wondering where you’d gone.”

He looked past her before glancing at her then focusing on spreading mustard. “Went for a walk.”

“You? Like, on your own two feet, not on a horse?”

Weston scowled.

“Whoa, dude. That was a joke. I didn’t know you liked walking.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

Wasn’t he Mr. Sunshine? Not that scowling Weston was any different than usual… except that he’d seemed to have softened some recently. Guess she’d imagined that. Yay.

“I’m trying to understand.” Paisley set her hand on his forearm.

He shrugged it off. “Get in line.”

What? “I’ve already eaten. So has everyone else. You’re the last.”

Weston huffed. “Get in line trying to figure me out. No one has yet completed the quest.”

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