Page 84 of Rainbow Rodeo

He wasn’t sure how he felt about that either.

Tank shrugged off all the unpleasant thoughts. Life was damn fine, and he needed to stop borrowing trouble.

“You cool, man?” Dalton’s words were gentle, curious.

“I am.” He gave Dalton a smile. “I was just wandering in my head. Dangerous place.”

“You got to watch that.”

“I do. No reason to ruin a fine night with something as silly as deep thoughts.” He laughed out loud, and Dalton chuckled with him.

Dalton turned the steaks, then went to dangle his feet in the pool.

Tank joined him, the cool water making his toes curl. Perfect.

“It’s nice, huh? I love to be able to come out and float.”

“It’s amazing. You got a lounger?” Tank loved floaties.

“I totally do. There are four in the cabana shed deal.”

“Oh, cool. Tomorrow.” Tonight they would just consume meat and dip a bit.

“Yeah. We got some time to rest. They’ll want us up the big house tomorrow.”

“They gonna have a feed?”

Dalton nodded easily. “Momma will want us all in one place. She don’t get to have that much, you know?”

Yeah, he could see it. She deserved a big do when all her babies were home.

“Do we need to bring anything?” Tank asked.

“Bubba will call and find out in the morning.”

“Cool. You let me know if I need to run to the store.” Tank intended to pull his weight.

“We should all go, the three of us. We can stop at the diner for breakfast.”

“Works for me. I love a diner.” He wanted to just be there, be able to see Dalton’s life.

“Yeah. Me too. Pancakes on demand.” Dalton stood, easy as pie, and went to plate up two gorgeous sirloins.

The smell of charred meat made any day better, and today had been good.

“You want to eat out here? We got the table.”

“Sounds good.” The air was cooling off just enough to be pleasant. For a Texan.

“You need steak sauce?”

“If you got it, sure. If not, I’m easy.” A-1 was best on Texas toast, anyway.

“I got Worcestershire and A-1 out here.”

“A-1 is great, baby, thank you.” Tank climbed to his feet, ready to chow down. He would do dishes.

Plate, knife, fork, potato and steak—soon they were sitting and devouring their food, everything simple and filling. The steak sauce added a nice tang, and Tank all but licked his plate.

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