Page 21 of The Cowboy's Bullfighter
It didn’t mean that he wouldn’t have appreciated a phone call to warn him.
Chapter Six
Brooks wasn’t sure if it was pure chaos or the most elaborate ballet he’d ever seen, but the bullfighter managed to get six kids—five kids and Benji—through making pizzas. There were eight of them, and they could do four at a time in the oven. So, the four youngest went first, and Coop got them all sat down at the great big wooden table with their pizzas.
The thing had to weigh a hundred pounds, easy, and it was covered with different laminated placemats—from rainbows to muscle cars. Each kid had a different one, and there wasn’t even a hint of arguing about who sat where.
Coop sat with them at the place with a Highland cow placemat, waving Brooks down at a place with a simple Zia sun one. There were two of those, obviously indicating where guests sat. Coop listened to them all jabber about their days as the second round of pizzas cooked.
He wasn’t sure what the actual topic of conversation was. It involved lots of talking and lots of voices, and he was real tired. He did hear robots and horses, touchdowns and tackles. Goats and chickens and the library. And Halloween.
He was fairly sure there was a lot about Halloween.
But then, Halloween was a big deal here. It had never been such a huge thing in Australia, so he’d kinda started spacing it.
God, he and Andy had loved Halloween as kids. He could remember once his folks had taken them to Boo at the Zoo in Denver, and he and Andy had just roared around the place, stomping and grinning from ear to ear. He’d been a tiger and Andy had been a lion.
“Uncle Brooks, are you okay?” Lucy was looking at him, a piece of pizza halfway to her mouth, an adorable frown on her face.
“Sorry, honey, I’m just super tired.”
“The guest room is all ready. You can go up there. One day that’ll be my room, but right now I want to stay close to Mina.”
He shook his head. He didn’t follow.
“So my suite and Benji’s suite are both down here on this floor. There are four bedrooms, a workout room, and an office on the second floor, and two bedrooms on the third floor,” Coop told him.
“That’s a lot of rooms.”
“There are bathrooms too. Three down here, four upstairs, and one in the very top!” Mina glanced at Johnny, clearly worried. “Right?”
“Yes. Eight toilets so everybody gets one!” Johnny grinned, wiggling in his seat. “No more waiting for Benji to poop!”
“Ew! Stinky!”
“Not at supper, y’all. Brooks, you want another beer?”
“Uh.” He looked at his half-empty bottle of warm beer. “No. Thanks. If you can point me to glasses, I’ll get some water.”
“I can get it.” Ricky came in, heading over to the cabinet and grab a glass. “Do you want ice?”
That was sweet. Brooks nodded. “Please.”
Coop watched Ricky and smiled. “Peek at the pizzas, please?”
“Sure. Sure, no problem.” Ricky came in with a glass of water. “The cheese isn’t melted yet.”
“Well, that won’t work,” Brooks teased. “It’s got to be gooey.”
“You should tell them about the vegemite,” Coop said, so Brooks told Australian food stories until the pizza came out of the ovens.
Then Benji clomped to the table, and they set to the food, too.
The pizza was good, and Coop ruled the table like a monarch, keeping the conversation light and encouraging little Mina to eat, even as she faded, her head bobbing over her plate.
Brooks felt that deep in his chest. He was about to doze off too. “You need any help getting the kids to bed, man?” he asked Coop.
“No. Ricky, can you help Brooks out with his bags? He’s in the guest room next to you.”
