Carson sat on his back steps as the sun went down, Ted and Tony frolicking through the grass at the edge of the yard. Every so often, one of the labs would dart into the trees and bark happily.
He loved watching them enjoy themselves, his knife moving through the soft wood and creating a pile of shavings at his feet. Adele was busy tonight, making more of her cooking videos, and now that Carson knew what she was doing in her cabin, he didn’t mind this time alone.
Four months ago, as the sale of the ranch was being finalized, Carson had hit a low he’d never experienced before. He’d thought he’d never get out of the darkness he existed in, and while he’d been moving at a crawl, he could feel the sunlight on his face now.
He carved with no real intention, and the wood became an overly larg
