I don’t know . . . maybe it’s time. I don’t want to dedicate everything to raising the boys and miss out having someone in my life to share it with. I’m sure, just like me, you get lonely sometimes.”
“It’s been especially hard this past year, watching Hallee grow so fast and do so many new things.” Heather nodded. “I want to share it with her father, but I can’t, so yeah, having a partner, someone special, in my life would be great.” She thought about her encounter with Mason at the mailbox. A sexy lawyer would do fine. Someone stable. Someone available and open to a relationship that could potentially turn into a lifetime of memories.
She loved being a mother. She’d love to have another baby.
Mason had never had a family. Maybe he’d like to be a father.
“You’re thinking about someone,” Sierra teased.
Since Sierra knew Mason, Heather didn’t want to give away her secret thoughts. “I’ve just recently been reacquainted with someone and . . . I don’t know. Maybe there could be something there.”
Sierra held her glass up. “Go for it, sis. Life is too short.”
Heather clinked it again. “Yes. It is. In the blink of an eye, you can lose everything. Why wait to have what you want.”
“Here, here.” Sierra took a sip, then glanced in the living room where Hallee let out a big belly laugh as Oliver held up a puppet and made fart noises. “Boys.” Sierra shook her head, but a smile tugged at her lips.
Heather soaked up the scene with the boys entertaining Hallee. “This is nice.”
Sierra met her gaze. “Yeah. It is. I’m glad you invited us.”
“I hope we get to do this a lot more often. I’d like Hallee to really get to know Danny and Oliver.”
“Me, too. We better feed them.”
Heather, caught up in the moment and her emotions having Sierra and the boys in her home, impulsively hugged Sierra.
“What’s this for?” Sierra held her close.
“I’m so glad I didn’t lose you.”
Sierra squeezed her harder. “You’ll never lose me.”
Heather hoped Sierra kept that promise.
Chapter Twelve
Sierra parked the SUV in Mason’s driveway and tried to wrangle the butterflies into submission with a hand to her belly and a deep breath. This wasn’t a date. It was just two friends getting together to watch a football game. Mason meant it as a kind gesture to make her sons happy.
“Can we see the horses first?” Danny asked.
Both boys watched the ones grazing in the nearest pasture. They were beautiful.
She missed riding and the freedom of it.
“We’ll see.” She opened the car door just as Mason walked out the front door with the ease of a confident man.
Nervous, anxious, and yes, excited, Sierra felt anything but confident. More like self-conscious.
She wasn’t the same young lady he knew from their youth. She’d grown up, filled out, and had two kids that made her body dip and bulge in new ways that defied all exercises meant to flatten and tone certain areas.
How did he look the same after all these years?
She stepped out of the car and waved.
“Sierra, you look fantastic. I’m so glad you came.”
The ridiculous amount of giddiness that single compliment shot through her made her feel like a teenager with her first crush.
Did she still have a crush on Mason?
Had she ever stopped crushing on him?
“Thank you again for inviting us.” She closed the driver’s-side door so Danny didn’t hear her. “Danny is really looking forward to this. It means a lot that you’d spend time with him.”
Mason brushed that off with a wave of his hand. “I’m happy to have a buddy to watch the game with me. Otherwise, it’s just me, all alone in this big house.”
She wondered if he spent his nights alone, but didn’t dare ask or let her mind go down that road. Not her business.
He’d been kind to help her get the job, but she didn’t want to assume he held any interest in her other than being a friend and neighbor.
Mason took a step closer. “And I’m hoping you and I can spend some time catching up, getting to know each other better now that you’re back.”
“There’s not much you don’t already know.”
“I know the outline. I’d like the details.”
“Horsies!” Oliver jumped out the back door and ran for the fence.
Danny ran after him.
Mason let out an earsplitting whistle.
The boys stopped in their tracks and turned back to him. “Not so fast. There are ranch rules you need to learn and follow.”