Page 33 of Merry Christmas, Cowboy

Garrett ended upwinning the poker game, surprising the guys and perhaps earning a bit of respect and bragging rights. But the small consolation hadn’t been enough to put a smile on his face. He’d been feeling uneasy ever since Nicole’s phone call. He didn’t want things to be weird between them. There was still work to do on the fundraiser and it’d been two solid days since they’d spoken.

He finished his work in the barn and walked outside. A cold chill hit him and he shivered a bit. Shoving his work gloves in his back pocket, he strode to the front gate to wait for Cody. A minute later, Paulette pulled up.

“Hi, Mr. Brown.”

“Hi, Paulette. How was your day?”

“Great. I’ve been practicing for our Christmas choir performance at church. Maybe you and Cody can come. It’s on Friday night.”

“Well, we sure will try. Thanks for the invitation.” He glanced in the back seat. “Hi, Code. How’d it go today at school?”

Cody was already out of his seat belt, jamming out of the car. “Fun. Miss Russell let us finger paint today.”

Garrett smiled. “I can see that.”

The boy had paint smudges on his chin and down his neck. Obviously, there’d been a valiant effort to remove most of the paint off his skin.

“See what I made.”

Cody lifted up a picture of a would-be Christmas tree with snowflake ornaments on the branches. At least that was what his little six-year-old fingers seemed to be going for. “Well, that’s pretty nice. I bet we can find a place for that in the house somewhere.”

“Cause, we don’t have a real tree?”

“Well, uh, let’s talk about that later. Thanks, Paulette,” Garrett said, giving Cody’s shoulders a gentle squeeze.

“Yep, thanks,” Cody said. “See ya.”

“You’re welcome. Have a great afternoon.” Paulette drove off, and the two of them marched up the path and into the house.

“Hey, bud. Guess what? I installed a brand-new oven today. I thought we could cook something up together. Our first meal with a working oven.”

Cody slung his backpack down on the sofa and rushed over to see the stainless steel four-burner stovetop with a griddle in the center. It was a far cry from the dilapidated oven his uncle Rand had. This one was equipped with all the bells and whistles. Cody eyed every knob and digital button. “Awesome.”

“I thought you’d like it. So, what should we make?”

Cody thought on it a few seconds. “Cookies.”

Garrett chuckled to himself. “Of course, cookies.”

“Not for me, Uncle Garrett. Well, maybe one or two. But can we decorate cookies and bring them to Miss Russell’s house? Remember when you knocked all of hers down?”

Garrett swallowed hard. At times, the kid really surprised him. “I didn’t really knock them down. It was an accident; we bumped into each other. We were both taken by surprise.”

“I know,” Cody said. “They were probably good, before they got smashed.”

“I’m sure they were.”

“So, let’s bake her some new ones.” Cody seemed adamant.

“Then we’d have to drive into town to give them to her.”

“Or, she can come here.”

“No, I think we should bring them to her, once we bake the perfect batch. Okay?”

Cody nodded. “Okay.”

Garrett felt he’d been outwitted by a six-year-old. But he had to admit it wasn’t a bad idea. “I’ll text her to make sure she’ll be home tonight and then we’ll have to pick out some fun decorations.”

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