Page 35 of A Rancher's Love
Dustin groaned. “Oh, please. Don’t.”
A snort escaped Ginny, but she covered it up the best she could. “Was thatdon’tfor me or Shim?”
“Shim,” Dustin said instantly. “Andyou. There’ll be way too many guys on the ice. You should skate somewhere safer.”
Sasha had been listening intently and now leapt into the conversation. “What does that mean? It won’t be safe to skate?”
“Uh,” Shim’s head swung back and forth as he tried to keep up with the conversation. “I just thought—”
“Papa, we want to skate, too,” Emma interrupted, sadness dripping from her little voice.
“We do. We will.” Sasha glanced at her little brother. “I need to teach Tyler how to skate.”
“Of course you do, pumpkin. That’s why Dustin will clear a second rink space for you and Emma and your friends to use. Right?” Caleb lifted his gaze to his youngest brother.
“Sure.” Dustin leaned forward again. “You can skate on that one, Gin.”
“Gee, thanks,Dus.”
He glared. “That’s not funny.”
“It’s hysterical,” she returned before ignoring him and carefully piling three pieces of bacon on top of each other. She held it up and made eye contact with Emma. “Know what this is?”
“Stop playing with your food,” Caleb grumbled, but he was clearly amused.
“You’re not playing hockey with us,” Dustin growled, sounding remarkably like Tyler.
“A bacon….” Emma frowned. “I don’t know.”
Sasha tilted her head as she announced, “A triple-decker bread-less sandwich?”
“Too much to put in your mouth at one time?” Tamara said at nearly the same moment.
The longer the rambunctious and chaotic conversation continued, the bigger Shim’s eyes got, his grin growing as well.
This time Ginny was the one who leaned on the table, easing around Shim as she waggled the bacon in the air at Dustin. “This is a super-skater vitamin, which means in a minute, I’ll be unstoppable.”
She crunched down with vigour. The bacon shattered into teeny delicious pieces in her mouth, and Sasha and Emma crowed with delight.
Unfortunately, the bit still in her fingers also shattered, spraying poor Shim with a fine coating of crispy fat.
He laughed even as he brushed off crumbs and glanced around the table. “You guys are awesome.”
“You’re an only child, aren’t you?” Caleb said dryly.
“Yes, sir.” Shim coughed as Dustin hit him in the chest. “Ouch, what was that for?”
“He’s not asir, he’s my brother,” Dustin drawled then met Caleb’s eyes. “I mean, you are awesome and everything, bro, but jeez.”
Caleb’s lips twitched, but he ignored Dustin and looked his friend over. “You can call me Caleb if you want, but whatever makes you comfortable. I don’t mind.”
The young man nodded. “Thanks.”
Ginny didn’t remember Caleb ever smiling this much before. Now he all but smirked as he waved Dustin and Shim off. “If you’ve had enough to eat, get working on clearing the rinks. The rest of the crowd will be here before you know it.”
They shot to their feet, thanked Tamara for the meal and headed for the door.
“Well, that was the quietest and most peaceful meal we’ve had in ages,” Tamara said as Tyler started to complain. She hauled him out of the highchair and handed him to Caleb. “Here, sir. A child for your entertainment. Leave the dishes. I’ll take care of them in a bit. Right now, Ginny and I need to go find some skates, because she’s got a game to get ready for.”
