Page 25 of The Cowboy's Bullfighter
“Cool.”
“I’ll just take a burrito,” Ricky said.
Brooks grinned. “There will be plenty.”
“I’ll eat your Pop-Tarts.” Benji crutched into the room, and he steadfastly ignored Brooks, even as the other kids started to warm to him thanks to the bacon.
It really was a great social equalizer.
He got the kids all fed, then got them off to dress, knowing he had to divide and conquer.
“I’ll do the dishes,” Brooks said.
“Oh, no, Coop has a way he likes the dishwasher,” Benji snapped.
“Hey. I’ll take all the help I can get.”
Benji glared at him, then grabbed his coffee and clumped off toward the front porch.
Coop rolled his eyes one more time for good measure as Brooks stood leaning against the counter, shoveling a burrito into his mouth.
Lord help him, it was going to be a long day.
Chapter Seven
The last few days had to have been the longest in human history. Brooks had worked hard to just smile and make nice with the kids, but there was nothing for him to do, really. Except cook.
The kids were all warming up to his cooking. Coop tended to assemble food, which was fine, but he’d learned a lot from a camp cook back in his early days working as a cowboy, living at a high camp in the summer with the cattle.
He’d also hung out with the cookie at the station in Australia, too. She’d been a hoot, and happy to teach him the ins and outs of rolled roasts and savory scrolls and making cakes and cookies for smokos.
Tonight they had a sleepover, so maybe he could actually be helpful.
Coop wandered in from God knew where. It wasn’t like the man had any livestock to deal with after all. The beagles yipped at his heels as he stared at his phone.
“Okay, so we’ve got Naomi, we’ve got Nell, we’ve got Dani. Johnny says his little friend Mike is going to come, but we all know that Mike will have us call his parents about onein the morning, and they’ll have to come by and pick him up. Mason is bringing the entire goddamn football team. Lucy, I don’t know with Lucy, but there’ll be somebody. There’s always somebody. That little girl, Becca, she’s weird, but she’s Lucy’s bestie, so she’s coming. Rick’s going out. He’s got a date. So we won’t have to worry about that. Benji—” Coop glanced up at him. “You’re not Benji. Sorry, man. You’re not Benji. I was talking to Benji. Where the fuck is Benji?”
Brooks had to grin. Coop rattled at him like he was a roughstock rider. “I’m assuming he’s still in his room.”
Coop rolled his eyes and pursed his lips, obviously irritated. “Okay, I’ll go get him. This whole thing where he cannot be in the same room with you is going to have to stop now. I have enough to deal with without this bullshit.”
“Hey, I do too, I didn’t do this to him. I have no idea why he’s so fucking pissed off at me.” And that was the God’s honest truth.
“Well, obviously, because you showed up a year and a half, two years after his folks died.”
“Hey! I didn’t know they were dead!”
Coop arched one eyebrow. “And it didn’t seem odd to you that you hadn’t talked to him in two years? I mean, that’s a long time for two brothers not to speak…”
“Do you talk to your brothers?”
“You bet your sweet ass I do.” Coop shrugged at him. “I got one brother. I got one sister. We text at least weekly. The brother, Pete, he’s up in Montana being some sort of a hunting guide or something. It’s very, very macho, and he can’t wait to make enough money to buy a cabin in Colorado and just be some twink’s bear. My sister, on the other hand, is a chef in New Orleans. Also very macho. She and her partners are fierce. My folks are in Dallas. I talk to them every Sunday.”
Brooks stared for half a second. “Well, Andy and I weren’t that close, but I’m here.” They had been close when they werekids, but he’d said the wrong thing at the wrong time, then Andy had made it worse, and things had fallen apart. He didn’t understand why this was so hard to fathom, though. He was here; he was helping. He didn’t get it. Why was everybody mad at him?
“And I’m incredibly grateful because we’re fixin’ to have a thousand children here in this house, some of whom I’m not completely sure are potty-trained. So this is a fabulous thing, and I’m totally into it. Welcome aboard. We’ve got to plan. My little idea of Nell coming to spend the night has become a full-assed friggin’ house party, and I am not capable of dealing with this on my own.”
“You’re not on your own. I’m here. He doesn’t need to be here.” Benji was just a thundercloud.
