Page 32 of Wilde Ride

My mother beamed with pride at my son. “You go on and do what your daddy says, he’ll clean for you this time.”

Rhett gave me a look that clearly said he was glad it was me, not him, doing the cleaning.

I helped him get the apron off and lifted him down from the chair he’d been standing on. “Wash your hands good, Rhett,” I called out as he hightailed it out of the kitchen. Turning to the sink, I grabbed the dishcloth.

“Take off your cowboy hat,” Mom said as she motioned with her head.

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied, doing as she asked.

After I hung my hat up on the rack by the back door, I got to work cleaning the island while Mom slipped the last batch of cookies into the oven.

“I’ve got some bread over there we can heat up, Oliver, if you want to do that.”

Dad took the bread out of the bag and set it on a small cookie sheet before placing it in the Breville oven I’d bought for them last Christmas.

“That little oven has come in handy more than once,” she said with a wink in my direction.

“I’m glad you like it.”

The three of us worked in comfortable silence. Once I’d cleaned the island and helped my mother put away all the ingredients she’d used for the cookies, I grabbed four bowls for the roast, along with silverware.

“Are we eating in here or the dining room?”

“Let’s go to the dining room. I’ve been in this kitchen nearly all day. I’m afraid Rhett won’t ever want to help me bake or cook again, but he was a good sport about it.”

Shaking my head, I replied, “He’s loving the time he’s spending with you, Mom. Thank you for that.”

“It’s not a hardship on my part, I can tell you that right now. He’s such a kind and well-mannered young man, Levi. You’re doing great with him.”

“I had good teachers.”

Mom grinned. “Flattery will get you everywhere, son.”

Rhett came bounding into the kitchen, all cleaned up. “Can I help?”

“Why don’t you help me set the table.” I motioned for him to head to the dining room. As I placed the bowls down, Rhett followed me with the silverware. “Did you have fun today with Grammy?”

He looked at me and smiled. “Yep! We sure made a lot of cookies today. I tried not to eat a whole lots, but it was hard.”

I chuckled. “I bet it was. Rhett, I was talking to Emeline, who’s Caden’s sister. She takes care of all the horses on the ranch.”

“Have I met her before?”

With a shake of my head, I answered, “No, you haven’t met her yet. She’s a good friend of mine, just like Caden. Anyway, she also runs a summer camp on the ranch. Would you be interested in going? They do all kinds of things, like horseback riding, hiking, archery, learning how to make things, and the campers even get to help around the ranch, so they can see what being a rancher is like.”

He stopped and looked at me. “Like an overnight camp?”

Nodding, I replied, “Yes, it would be an overnight camp. But I thought it might be a good way to meet some of the kids you’ll be going to school with. You’d be grouped in the cabins by age.”

He narrowed his little blue eyes and asked, “Will girls be there?”

“I believe so, but not in your cabin. Is that a problem?”

I watched as the wheels turned in his head. “Nah, but will they be on their own side of the camp?”

Laughing, I said, “I’m not sure. We can ask Emeline more questions if you want. She said I could bring you to the ranch, and she’d give you a tour of the campgrounds. She gave one to me today. And I’ll be at the camp as well, volunteering the week you’ll be there. Actually, I think I roped myself into volunteering for each session.”

“What’s this about volunteering each session, where?” my mother asked as she walked into the dining room, followed by my father. They set the food down on the table and my stomach growled. Man, had I missed my mother’s cooking.