“You’re cheating.” He said it smiling, not bothered by Eoghanan’s imaginative dinosaur play. “That dinosaur couldn’t jump like that.”
“How do ye know that, lad? Have ye seen a dinosaur?”
By this point I’d reached the bottom of the stairs, but I stayed where they couldn’t see me for a moment, not wishing to interrupt their conversation. Perhaps I knew where my son’s penchant for eavesdropping came from, after all.
“No. Have you?” Cooper asked the question with such genuine curiosity that it left me baffled. Of course, Eoghanan had never seen a dinosaur, and Cooper knew it.
“No, lad. I havena traveled that far back. No at all.”
For the life of me, I couldn’t begin to imagine what they were talking about. Out of the loop and frustrated with my lack of understanding at their conversation, I decided to make my presence known.
“Good morning. Please tell me that you were awake when Coop found you.” I looked sympathetically at Eoghanan as I neared, sitting down on the edge of the couch next to them.
“Aye, I was. I doona sleep verra much.” Eoghanan shifted so that he could stand from his place on the floor, looking rather pleased with himself as he did so. “Ah, it feels nice to be able to move more freely. That dinna hurt me at all.”
“Good, I’m so glad.” I placed my hand on his back in a sort of congratulations. The warmth that shot through my fingers at the touch sent a jolt through my body. I enjoyed the unfamiliar feeling, but I felt him shiver a bit beneath my hand, and I jerked away awkwardly, worried that I’d made him uncomfortable. I had a tendency to be that way with people—to touch them in comfort or understanding. I supposed it was the mom in me.
Quickly, I bent to lift Cooper up into my arms to break the tension. After a good long hug, he pulled away, jerking his head toward the kitchen.
“Morna asked if I wanted to go work some sheep today.”
I smiled at his statement, not sure if I was more pleased at how excited he seemed over some sheep or at prospect of having at least part of the day to look through my photos and write.
“Sheep, huh? Do you want to go?”
He thought my question ridiculous. I could tell from how his eyes bulged when I asked it, and he twisted free from my arms so that he could pull my hand back toward the staircase.
“Of course I want to go! I need to go put on some sheep working clothes, Mom. Let’s go.”
For being such a small kid, he did a fair job of pulling me across the floor. Shaking his hand free, I waved him ahead of me. “Go on, Coop. I’m right behind you.”
Rubbing the sleepy from my eyes, I trudged up the stairs after him, watching as he stripped his pajama top even before reaching the bedroom door.
Chapter 9
I worked consistently throughout the morning, zoned into the screen of my laptop, clicking through photos and sporadically trying to get a start on the article, only deciding to take a break after the growl of my stomach became too loud to ignore.
As I made my way down the hallway, I created a mental task list, running through all of the places still left to explore and photograph, hoping I could remember them long enough to write them all down after grabbing a bite to eat. Midway down my mental list, as I passed the last door before the staircase, a deep scream inside Eoghanan’s room made me shriek as I jumped as high as Cooper’s t-rex.
“Grace?” Eoghanan’s voice from somewhere inside the room calmed me immediately. I’d not realized that he’d stayed behind.
Cracked slightly, I stepped forward to push his bedroom door open, one hand on my rapidly beating heart in an attempt to slow it. I didn’t find him in the main room, but I could hear him grumbling something from inside the bathroom and moved toward the sound of his voice.
“Eoghanan. Are you okay? Why did you scream?”
Unthinkingly, I stepped into the center of the room, giving me a direct view into the bathroom and a wide, gorgeous shot of Eoghanan’s bare rear-end.
“Oh…gosh. So sorry.” I jerked around quickly. My bare toe caught on the corner of the bed, sending me sprawling onto the floor, arms and legs spread wide.
Eoghanan laughed loudly. Although I kept myself on the floor, folding in one arm to shield my eyes, I could imagine his body shaking from the effort of it. As I listened to him step forward to help, I held up my other hand to stop him. “Wait. Go get a towel or something.”
With the only injured party being my big toe, I pushed myself up to stand and turned right into Eoghanan’s approaching chest as he grabbed both my arms to steady me. With hesitation, I glanced downward and exhaled loudly in relief at finding him wrapped in a towel.
I didn’t need to see him naked again. I’d not been on a date since before Cooper was born…or made for that matter, and the sight of that too perfect body left me quite hot and bothered.
“What was yer name again, lass? I doona think it can be Grace. ’Tis no verra fitting.”