Page 67 of Claimed By the Cowboys
My heart nearly overflowed when Maisie’s little fingers pointed excitedly to the end of the page, where she had drawn Piper in sky-blue but with orange-red hair for a layer of added realism, the same way she’d drawn herself in bright pink with a sunny yellow crayon to scrawl her own wild loop-de-loop curls.
“And this is me andMama,” she concluded with a proud finality.
I could see the tears welling in Piper’s eyes and reached out to squeeze her hand under the table.
“What a beautiful drawing, Maisie-Rae!” Zeke complimented her warmly.
“We’ll have to find a nice place to hang it up in the house,” I agreed, running a finger over each of our crayon-rendered faces fondly.
It struck me that there would never be a more perfect moment to break the happy news.
“Hey, Maisie-doodle—what would you think about adding a little brother or sister to that picture?”
Maisie’s crystal-blue eyes shot up from the paper to meet mine before darting to Piper’s face. “Am I gonna have a little sister!?” she squealed happily, lifting a bright purple crayon high into the air.
All of us let out a relieved laugh.
“Maybe a little sister or maybe a little brother. We don’t know yet,” I answered, not just for Maisie, but for all the rest of my pack mates sitting at the edge of their seats—and for Emmy eavesdropping as she wiped down the table behind us for the third time since we arrived.
“No thank you, I don’t want a little brother, just a little sister, please,” Maisie informed us, polite but firm.
Dakota couldn’t help but snort a laugh at this.
“Well, we don’t actually get to pick which one we want, Maisie dear.” Piper hummed thoughtfully, giving Maisie a sidelong squeeze. “But whatever your sibling turns out to be, you get to be thebig sisterno matter what! Our very special helper around the ranch, who will have to show the new baby what it’s like to get the eggs, and feed the cows, and how to make chocolate chip cookies,” Piper explained gently, Maisie’s knowing smile growing all the while.
“And I can sleep on the top bunk!” Maisie blurted out, drawing looks of confusion from the rest of us.
“But, honey,” Piper said with a laugh. “You don’t have a bunk bed.”
“Can we get a bunk bed for me and my baby sister?” Maisie quickly pivoted to cover her bases.
Before any of the rest of us could object, Zeke jumped in with a bold proclamation, “I’ll make you and your little brother or sister bunk beds!”
Something told me—between Dakota, Zeke, Maisie, and the new baby, we were going to have our hands full withkidsat Blackwood Ranch.
Chapter 32
Piper
Ranch life suited me.
It was early afternoon, and Maisie and I were prepping some potatoes and veggies to add to the large stew pot I had simmering away. One thing about cowboys and ranch life was that there was never a shortage of beef.
There were two chest freezers in one of the outbuildings full of cuts of meat. I had picked out some cube steak and thrown it in a stew pot for the day so it got all tender. I planned to serve it with buttery mashed potatoes and add carrots, onions, and green beans to the stew.
I was basically a cliché—barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen—but I loved it.
Maisie's favorite spot in the kitchen was the little wooden stool she would stand on so she could help me at the counter. Every time I was cooking, she wanted to be up there, giving me a hand.
Teaching house was quickly becoming one of my favorite hobbies. Anytime we did any cooking or baking together, we worked on her numbers. I may have been slightly biased, but I was convinced she was a tiny genius.
“Okay, can you put these in the pot with gentle hands?” I asked Maisie, handing her a few chunks of carrot.
She plopped the carrots into the stew, turning to me with a smile. “Done!”
“Well done. Now we have all these carrots left over,” I told her, picking up the ends and peels. “Why don’t we go give them to the horses?”
Maisie nodded eagerly, scrambling off the stool and taking off her apron with shocking speed. Laughing, I took off my own apron and placed it on the counter. The stew was simmering in a slow cooker, so we could leave the kitchen safely and go to the barn for a bit.
