Page 11 of A Rancher's Heart
Emma nodded exaggeratedly, her chin dipping all the way up and down, pleasure returning a smile to her expression.
Of courseDustin was going to join them, because if there was anything the younger Stone boys liked more than tormenting their biggest brother, it was satisfying their curiosity.
No wonder the kid been hanging out close to the house. “I’m going to send him a bill if he keeps this up.”
Luke ruffled Emma’s curls as he stood, heading to the counter to drain the enormous pot of pasta that had been boiling on the stove. “It’s great he still loves doing things with us. Got to appreciate that—some kids his age can’t wait to get as far away from home as possible. That he only moved into the bunkhouse because he wanted to be more grown up is a good thing.”
“He gets meals with the bunkhouse. Living completely on his own would require he cook for himself at least part time.” Still, Caleb was smiling as he joined them at the island, slipping an arm around Emma’s shoulders. “You like to spoil your Uncle Dustin, don’t you, little girl?”
Emma leaned against him, her hair tickling his nose as she held up two fingers, her expression going sad.
He squeezed her, knowing there was no way she’d speak in the crowded room. Thankfully, he was able to figure out what she was referring to. “I know we’re two less than before. I miss the girls as well. But Auntie Dare will come and visit when she can, and she’ll bring your new cousin Joey with her. And we’re supposed to Skype with Auntie Ginny next weekend. That’ll be fun, right?”
Emma nodded before sighing heavily and adding another word to her homework page.
It wasn’t math that got his little girl’s goat, it was language. They had to coax the words from her, whether it was her fingers or her mouth doing the talking.
Daughter number one rushed into the room like a whirlwind. Ignoring everyone else, Sasha climbed up Emma’s stool and stuck her lips next to her sister’s ear to speak rapidly, soft enough no one else could hear.
“Hello to you too, Sasha,” Walker said with a chuckle.
She waved at him without interrupting her secret sharing. The longer she muttered, the wider Emma’s eyes grew.
Footsteps sounded again, and Caleb braced himself before turning, only to discover Dustin marching into the room. “That was quick.”
Dustin tossed a set of keys in the air and caught them with one hand, grinning widely as he glanced around the room at his brothers. “She’s got a nice truck.”
That’s what he said.
Caleb mentally kicked himself for turning every damn comment about Tamara into something sexual. “You settled her horse already?”
“Yep.” The next second Dustin shifted on his feet uneasily, looking just as uncomfortable as the girls did when Caleb caught them in a lie. “Okay,Ididn’t settle him. Ashton was there, and he said he didn’t mind, so I parked her trailer and brought the truck up to the house. I didn’t want to be late for dinner.”
Luke pushed past Caleb to place a huge pot of spaghetti on the table, speaking softly as he went. “Because he wants to check out the nanny. Told you so.”
Lord Almighty, wasn’t that exactly what Caleb needed.
He chose to focus on the fact that Dustin had beensomewhatuseful. “Don’t pass off your chores to our foreman, but thanks for parking the trailer.”
“No prob.” Dustin gave Walker a friendly shove on the shoulder in greeting before dropping into a chair and tipping back to balance it on two legs as he watched everyone else in the kitchen work.
Walker leaned past him to place a basket of garlic bread on the table, and Dustin snatched a piece as it went by.
The girls left the island and headed to their seats. Dustin fell into teasing them, his speech garbled as he spoke around the bread he was inhaling.
“I’m curious too,” Walker admitted, speaking in Caleb’s ear soft enough the girls couldn’t overhear. “About the nanny. Colour me shocked to find you’ll be hosting a woman in the house.”
His expression was hard to read, somewhere between concerned and teasing.
“Behave,” Caleb warned. The last thing he needed was for the girls to think there was anything to this nanny business except someone coming to help on a strictly work-type basis.
A squeal escaped Emma as Dustin poked her. Sasha retaliated, and while they were just playing, the volume rose louder than anyone was supposed to be in the house. “Girls. Dustin—do I have to remind you to use your inside voices?”
Dustin shoved a huge chunk of bread into his mouth before answering, obviously amused as his words came out muffled. “We got man’ers.”
“Bad ones.”
His family. Rambunctious and borderline wild, but he loved them—when he didn’t want to kill them.
