A Forever Kind of Love (Kinds of Love 1)

“It's just Carter,” he told her with an easy smile.

“I just wanted to thank you again,” Mia said quickly. She smiled nervously. “Thank you for giving my boys another chance.”

“You're welcome.” He smiled again, easy and confident as he leaned toward her slightly. “Want to see what they're up to?”

“I'd love to.” She grinned and nodded as they started walking together toward the open barn doors.

“So, how did you get to be in charge of the trouble makers?” he asked as they approached the entrance.

“I'm their social worker,” Mia explained. “They were assigned to me.”

“You seem to care an awful lot for a social worker,” Carter remarked. He paused slightly by the door and held it open for her. She looked over at him. He had an open face and an honesty to his eyes that told Mia he didn't mean any harm by the comment.

“I do care a lot about them,” she said slowly, doing her best not to be defensive. She probably cared more than she should about them, but that wasn't something he needed to know. “They're good kids.”

“You say that a lot,” he replied.

Mia glared at him for a moment. “That's because it's true. They are.”

He nodded as they entered the barn.

The smell of horse and hay was stronger inside. The stalls were large and spacious with plenty of storage room off to the side. Mia didn't know much about horses, but she knew a stable like this had to be top of the line. It was nicer and certainly bigger than her apartment.

Inside, Grayson was already up to his elbows in soapy water leaning over what Mia assumed was a watering trough. He had on yellow gloves that were about six sizes too big, but with a grin to match as he scrubbed. Alexander and Lily were in one of the stalls, both with shovels. Despite the smell coming from that particular stall, they both were laughing.

“Make sure to get all of it,” Laura advised, standing off to the side and observing.

Mia leaned against the door frame and watched her kids. They were happy, and it made her heart swell. This was going to be good for them. All of them. They wanted so badly to please, and here, they could really feel useful.

“They look like they're going to do a good job,” Carter said, watching the kids work under Laura's watchful eyes.

Mia nodded, watching as Alexander enthusiastically scooped a very large load of something Mia didn't want to think about out of the stall.

“Gonna be sore tomorrow, though,” Carter said with a laugh as he watched the boy struggle to balance the shovel without spilling it.

Mia laughed. “That load's nearly as big as he is.”

Carter's laugh was low and musical. It made Mia want to laugh along with him without needing a joke. She turned, and their eyes met. He had such a great smile. Friendly. Warm.

“How long have you worked here?” Mia asked, doing her best not to get lost in his eyes. “I don't think I've seen you in town, and it's not that big of a town.”

Carter shrugged. “I've been with the ranch for a long time, but I've never been able to stay as long as I'd like here.”

Mia's brows came together as she tried to figure out what Carter did at the ranch that allowed him to leave and come back like that. “I guess I should ask what your job is then. I thought you were the ranch manager, but...”

Carter looked puzzled at her for a moment. “Laura is the ranch manager.”

“So, what's your job?” Mia asked, trying to think of another job that would put him in charge without having to be in town all the time.

A slow smile filled Carter's face, and his eyes started to sparkle. He chuckled, enjoying his new secret. “If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm not going to tell you.”

Mia crossed her arms and glared at him, but it just made him chuckle again. Apparently, he wasn't as intimidated by her “tell me now” stare as her kids were.

Fine, she thought, turning away from him. I'll just look him up later. I've got pretty good Google skills.

“Laura, will we get to work with the horses today?” Lily asked Laura, drawing Mia's attention.

Laura shook her head. “Not today. I needed to see what you knew how to do. Next time we'll work with the animals.”