Page 17 of The Cowboy's Bullfighter
He clumped up the front steps with Mason, while the little girls ran up the ramp he’d built on for Benji. He figured he’d keep it, but he liked going up the stairs. Figured it kept his joints all lubed.
“We’re over here, Coop.”
There was a big old porch on the one side of the house that was almost a room all in itself, except there weren’t no walls. The space had ceiling fans and couches, heaters and an old-timey Coke machine. That had been the first thing he’d fallen in love with, in this insane adobe that reminded him of a giant kid throwing blocks down for a house, leaving a bunch of weird little rooms, two courtyards, and eight bedrooms. He’d checked all the boards and replaced any that were off, first thing, while the pros dealt with lights and water and all.
It was a neat place, especially in the evening like this. There was plenty of shade in the summertime, and at times like now, they could have the little heaters going, and it was cozy enough. He loved it.
The little girls took an immediate left and started running toward the sound of Kase’s voice.
Mason wrinkled his nose, shooting him a worried little glance. “I’m going to take a bath.”
“Come on. Just say hi to your uncle first. You don’t needto do anything but that, and then you can go wash up, and we’ll talk over dinner. Fair?”
Mason frowned again, and Coop winked, trying to defuse his worry. “Before your brothers and your sister get back, then it’s going to be crowded as hell.”
“Yes, sir.” Mason stomped across the porch, and Coop’d fuss, but why? That boy walked everywhere like he was a herd of elephants.
Everything was going to be fine, no problem. This was not going to be big deal. This was going to be just fi?—
“Daddy?” Mina’s voice was absolutely shocked.
Oh fuck. Coop blinked and took the final couple of steps at a dead run, like one of his cowboys had his hand caught in his bull rope. “Baby girl, that’s not?—”
“Daddy, where’s Mama?” She was about pale, that baby face nothing but stunned.
“Baby, it’s not your?—”
“I’m your Uncle Brooks, honey. Your daddy and I were brothers.”
Mina stared at Brooks, her eyes filling with tears the second he spoke. “I want to go home. Uncle Coop, I wanna go home. Where’s Benji?”
“He’s in the house, baby girl. You can go in and see him.” His heart was breaking for her, and for Brooks, who was crumpling under the weight of those tears, he could tell.
She ran, and Nell stared—first at him, and then at Kase, her eyes wide and panicked. “What’s wrong with Mina? Are you a zombie?” Then her eyes got wider. “Daddy, did he bite you?”
“What?”
“If a zombie bites you, you eat brains, and you don’t love no one no more! Daddy, I need you! Don’t let him bite you!”
“I am going to have a hard talk with Dani and Naomi about scaring you.” Kase scooped her up before she could startscreaming. “No. Zombies aren’t real. This is Mina’s uncle. He looks like her daddy, and it startled her, that’s all.”
“My mama is dead too. I don’t remember that.” She glared at Brooks. “Biting is bad.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
“I’m going to shower, Uncle. I hear Ricky and them. I’ll tell them to come into the house so y’all can talk.” Mason was still as a statue next to him, watching Brooks like hewasfixin’ to bite. “Good to meet you.”
“I—” Brooks was about to fall down, Coop could tell.
“Hey.” Coop put on his soothe-the-injured-cowboy voice. It worked when a man had his bell rung. “It’s gonna be okay. I know you been traveling for days, and you must be exhausted. I got room for you here to stay for your visit, and once everyone settles, we’re doing make-your-own pizzas.”
He would fire up both ovens for this one. Inside and out.
“Dough is on the thaw. I’m gonna go ahead and head home.” Kase gave him an apologetic glance, but Nell was still pale and wide-eyed.
“Daddy. There’s gonna be pizza…”
“Maybe this weekend we can have a sleepover with pizza, Nell? You can bring your sleeping bag and a stuffie and you can sleep in the playroom with Mina and we’ll make pizzas?” Coop said.
