Page 12 of Christmas with the Cowboy
“We used it to tow a few days ago. It must still be in the bed of the truck.”
“Not the truck that went to town?” His dad had left while he and Henry had been gone.
“Old Yeller.”
“Ah.” Old Yeller had been old when Reed was a kid. It was the truck he’d learned to drive in, and since the late ’60s vehicle had no power steering or brakes, he’d had a real love-hate relationship with the one-ton Ford. It wasn’t hard to spot the safety-yellow truck parked behind the shop. Reed retrieved the chain out of the back, then after dumping it into the side-by-side, told Henry he was going to see if he could unearth his gloves and change jackets. If he was going to rip a jacket with barbwire, he wanted it to be the old one.
His mom was just leaving the Little House as he came up the path.
“All unloaded,” she said. “And the kitchen is organized.”
Trenna’s car was gone, so they must have laid out a plan for the work ahead of them. He wanted to ask his mom the schedule, but thought better of it. Instead, he said, “Thanks for helping. I told Lex to wait for me to haul things in, but I had a feeling she wouldn’t.”
“I think she wants to keep busy.” Audrey brushed her hair away from her face as a breeze wafted over them. “I never thought I’d say this, but thank goodness for smart phones. She’s going to have a video call with her two best friends after dinner tonight. She told me that she’d have to hurry through dishes, so I told her we’d move dinner up half an hour.”
“Thanks, Mom. Anything to make her feel less isolated.” He met his mother’s gently concerned gaze. “She swears she’s good being here, and I believe her. But I also worry about her worrying about Gregg as well as missing her friends.”
“And I worry about both of you,” Audrey said on a laugh.
Reed let out a soft laugh. “It never ends?”
Audrey gave her head a shake. “Never.”
“Did you and Trenna come up with a schedule?”
“We did,” his mom said easily, but offered no more information, and damned if he was going to dig.
“Okay. Well, Henry and I are about to right a wrong, so I’d better get going.”
“I’m glad you’re doing this while your dad is in town.”
“Why’s that?”
His mom looked toward the driveway, as if assuring herself that her husband’s truck was indeed gone. “He’s been dealing with some back and hip issues. The surgery took care of the structural issues, but he’s hurting and won’t talk about it. I’m guessing arthritis.”
“Won’t talk and won’t slow down?” No surprise there.
“Exactly. That’s why I’m glad you and Lex are here. I mean, I wish it was under different circumstances, but he needs you, Reed.”
“Then I’m glad I’m here.” He motioned toward the house with his head. “I want to check in with Lex, then we’ll head out.”
Audrey nodded, then headed down the path while Reed crossed the porch. The kitchen looked like they’d lived there for years. Lex was pushing her cookie jar into the corner, and once it was in place, she turned and beamed at him.
“What do you think?”
“Homey,” he said.
“There’s so much room.” She spread her arms out and turned.
His kitchen in his small mobile home on the Holloway Ranch had left a lot to be desired, and Lex had discovered baking, which meant a battle for space in both the cupboards and on the counters when she came to visit for weekends and holidays.
“You and your grandma must have worked at warp speed.” There weren’t even empty boxes in the room.
“Trenna helped.” Lex straightened the towel hanging on the oven door. “She just left.” She spoke as if baiting a trap.
“What do you want to know?”
Lex blinked, having obviously not expected a candid response.
