The Cowboy's Surprise Baby (Cowboy Country Book 3) by Deb Kastner Page A

imagine his faith would have faltered. But he wouldn’t be the first man—or woman, for that matter—to find himself succumbing to temptation. The only difference here was how Cole had responded once he found out his actions had had permanent repercussions. Her heart expanded at the thought.
    Tessa looked away from Cole just long enough to glance up the line. One of the boys, Matt, had turned backward in the saddle and was making all kinds of ridiculous noises. Screeching, yelling, whooping and hollering it up—exactly the kind of thing that would send most horses bolting.
    Crazy kid was trying to get the girls’ attention, no doubt. Not thinking about what would happen if his horse decided to take off from underneath him. He’d land on his merry little bum, and then they would see who would be smiling and laughing. She didn’t know whether to chuckle or shake her head.
It
was starting. The challenge of Mission Month was about to explode into full gear.
    She searched for Marcus and found him up near the front of the line, enjoying Sissy’s easy gait as he conversed with Alexis. It figured. He didn’t spare a backward glance behind him, and he wasn’t paying any attention to what was going on down the line. Probably figured she and Cole would pick up the slack—which, apparently, they were going to have to do.
    “Hey!” she shouted to Matt, kicking Little Bit into a brisk trot. Normally she’d keep her own voice down, but in this instance, she wanted to make sure she was heard over the boy’s earsplitting antics. “What do you think you’re doing? Your horse is going to take off from underneath you. This isn’t a carousel. Stop clowning around and turn back in your seat where you belong.”
    Matt merely laughed at her suggestion—at least until his eyes met hers and he realized, probably from the scowl on her face, that she meant what she said. He griped loudly in protest but reluctantly turned forward in the saddle and stopped his screeching. Hotshot kids didn’t think before they acted. It was a good thing for him the horses were all well vetted or he would have been in a world of hurt. Literally.
    From her very first experience on a Mission Month, Tessa had learned that the young people would press their luck to see how much they could get away with, especially early on. Many of them were well-to-do and used to getting their own way. Fortunately, it usually didn’t take long for them to realize Alexis and her team weren’t kidding around. They were strong enough to deal with both foolishness and stubbornness and, ideally, to redirect the teenagers into more productive emotional expressions.
    There was plenty of affection and kindness to go around, pouring from all who came into contact with the kids, but sometimes the
tough
had to be woven through the youths’ lives before the sweet side of the love could truly be threaded in.
    Today, Matt would be learning a hard lesson, starting with Tessa’s scolding in front of his peers and ending with a very large stack of potatoes to peel when everyone else got time off.
    “See me when we’re finished with the trail ride. You’ve just earned yourself KP duty, mister, while your friends are going to be out enjoying the evening. They’ll be playing games while you’re chopping vegetables.”
    “Playing games? Like a bunch of little kids?” Matt gave her a silly smile that she imagined sent many females in his own age range into the clouds.
    How annoying. Why did guys always think they could get away with things with a wink and a smile?
    “Oh, come on, give me a break,” he pleaded.
    She wanted to roll her eyes, but instead she narrowed her gaze on him. “You want to push me and make it a week?”
    Matt started to say something else and then seemed to think better of it. He shook his head and slumped in the saddle.
    “Sit up straight or Ginger here won’t know you’re in charge.”
    This time he wisely did as he was told—
without
giving her any guff