Page 24 of Fall Wedding With the Mountain Man
I shoved those thoughts aside and asked, “You like kids?”
“Ofcourse. They’re awesome. Someday I hope to have a dozen. Maybetwodozen.” He gave me a knowing look. “Once I find the right woman willing to give them to me.”
A chuckle escaped my lips. “You don’t really want two dozen kids, do you?”
The look in his eyes as he stared into mine melted my heart. “Naw, I’d be happy to settle for one or two.”
Everything in me see-sawed, and I clearly saw a different life for myself, married to Hudson, babies in our house, a little cat named Leona and a dog named Frankie.
It would be a perfect life. Different from anything I’d imagined before. But was that really so bad? Maybe it would be even better than what I’d been able to create for myself.
I was thinking those radical thoughts as we headed towards the pumpkin patch, Hudson’s arm protectively slung around me like it had been all night long.
We passed by the games as a young man, almost a boy really, wheedled with the carnival barker. “Come on, I spent forty dollars here. Can’t you give me anything?”
The man working the throw toss rasped out, “Them’s the shakes, boy. You lost. That’s life. Come back when you have more to spend.”
Hudson stopped in front of them. “Don’t you know these games are rigged, kid? The targets are weighted.”
The boy, probably all of fifteen, with tousled hair and a sheepish look on his face, said, “I was trying to win a prize for Annabel.”
“Is that your girlfriend?” Hudson asked.
The boy sighed. “No. But I want her to be. I was hoping to win the jumbo tiger for her. I figured then she might want to date me.”
Hudson gave me a look and asked, “You mind if we spend a second here?”
I couldn’t hide my grin. Hudson was a born romantic. “I don’t mind.”
He slapped his money on the counter. “I’ll get it for you, kid.”
The carnival barker grunted, annoyance clear on his face. And I could tell it was true about the game being rigged. It would take a very strong man to budge the target.
But Hudson was definitely averystrong man. I had faith that he’d win the prize for the boy.
The throw toss game was dressed in fall fashion. The target was painted to look like an autumn leaf, and I could see a thick metal bar holding it in place.
Hudson picked up the ball, pulled his arm back and threw a perfect pitch, knocking the leaf back.
Then he did it again.
And again.
Three perfect throws in a row. “Give me that big tiger.”
The carnival barker—who’d known his number was up as soon as Hudson stopped—scowled and handed over his biggest prize.
“Here you go, kid. Go get your girl. And don’t waste your money on these games again,” Hudson rumbled as he handed the giant stuffed tiger to the boy.
I watched him with pride welling inside me.
Hudson was a good man. A really, really good man.
Thinking about all the lawyers I knew in New York, and the men I’d dated there, I couldn’t think of a single one who would’ve stopped and done that for a boy they didn’t know.
Hudson glanced my way and grinned. “One more throw. I’ve got to win one for my girl now.”
The barker rasped out, “Are you trying to bankrupt me? Move on, dude.”
