Page 9 of Her Cowboy's Valentine

Liam grinned. “Whoa there, Mary. What’s got you so excited?”

“You promised we’d do something fun today! What’s it gonna be?” Mary’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as she hopped from one foot to the other.

“Yeah, Daddy! What is it?” Jacob piped up, tugging on Liam’s hand.

Aaron just stared up at him, wide-eyed.

“Well,” Liam said, crouching down to their level, “we’re all going to head to the ranch today. How does that sound?”

Mary narrowed her eyes. “We aren’t just being roped into chores, are we?” she groaned.

Liam laughed. “How about we leave it a surprise until we drive over to the ranch?”

“Can’t we have a hint?” Jacob asked.

“A hint, a hint!” Aaron said, jumping up and down.

Liam laughed again. “All right, all right! How’d y’all like to learn how to rope some calves today? Got everything ready out there for us, and I even brought in a few calves just for this.”

Mary squealed, clapping her hands, while Jacob’s eyes lit up with excitement. Aaron frowned, clearly unsure, but clung to his stuffed horse as if it might help him figure it out.

Liam chuckled and ruffled Aaron’s hair. “Don’t worry, buddy. You can watch first, and if you want to try, I’ll help you,” he said gently.

“What about Mom?” Mary asked, tilting her head.

Liam glanced toward the house, where Rebecca had just stepped out onto the porch, her hair still a little mussed from sleep. She wrapped her robe around her and raised a brow at him.

“You let me sleep in,” she said, her tone almost accusing.

“What’s wrong with that?” He winked at her. “Throw on some clothes, and we’ll head on over.”

“Hurry, Mom!” Mary exclaimed. “I want to rope some calves!”

“As soon as your mom’s dressed, we’ll show you kids how it’s done.”

Rebecca laughed, shaking her head. “You’re getting me roped into this too?”

“Pun intended,” Liam said with a wink.

Ashort while later, the family gathered by the paddock. Liam demonstrated how to throw the rope properly, showing Mary and Jacob how to build a loop and aim for the practice dummy he’d set up. Rebecca stood nearby, holding Aaron, who had decided the whole thing was more fun to watch than participate.

At first, things went smoothly. Mary had a decent aim for an eight-year-old and managed to snag the dummy a few times. Jacob got tangled in his own rope more than once, but his determination made Liam grin. Even Rebecca got in on the fun, though she laughed the entire time and missed more than she hit.

But the real challenge came when it was time to practice on the calves. The calves, apparently, had other ideas. One bolted as soon as Liam opened the pen, sending Jacob shrieking with laughter and Mary chasing after it with her rope in hand.

“I got it, Dad!” she hollered.

“Mary, slow down!” Rebecca called.

Liam tried not to laugh as the calf evaded Mary, darting around the paddock like it had just discovered freedom for the first time. Jacob tripped over his rope and landed in the dirt, but he popped up with a grin, his jeans coated in dust.

“Guess we’re gonna have to work on teamwork,” Liam muttered, jogging into the pen to corral the calf.

By the time they’d wrangled the calves back into the pen and managed a few successful roping attempts, the sun was high,and everyone was tired but grinning. Mary leaned against the fence, sweat on her brow, while Jacob showed Aaron how to make a loop with his rope.

Rebecca approached Liam, her cheeks pink from exertion and laughter. “You sure know how to liven things up around here,” she said, her voice teasing but warm.

He shrugged, looking at her with a soft smile. “Just wanted to do something fun for y’all. Been too long since we all did something together.”

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