Page 28 of The Cowboy's Bullfighter
Beyond the storage containers there were a ton more structures—a feed and tack shed, a lean-to, three big barns.
“So what you got over in the barns?”
“I haven’t really gotten out to the barns yet to see if they’re solid. They’ll need to be redone before we put anything in there, I guess. I imagine that we’re going to have to run something—that I’m going to have to run something for the kids. For 4-H or FFA, what have you.”
“Huh. Good to know.” He glanced at the barns again. “Do you mind if I run out there and look after I start all the food?”
“Not at all, but you don’t have to do everything, you know. I’m more than willing to help. All I have to do is pick up some of the kids. Just like I said, I haven’t been out there since I bought the place, so there’s probably snakes.”
He wasn’t worried about that. Once he cleaned up, the mice would leave, and then the snakes would move on. “There won’t be snakes for long. How many acres you got?”
Coop grinned at him, leaning against the porch railing, and Brooks was shocked at how the man suddenly seemed younger, as if a weight had been lifted from his huge shoulders. “Fifteen. I didn’t buy the house for the land, really. I bought it…well, I bought it because the family who owned it needed the money, and I thought, I like the Chiaras. I work for them all the time. The house needed work, and I like to do that. I got a good deal, and the people who needed cash got their bit out of it, so…”
It was hard to wrap his mind around all of this. This huge weird-ass house dropped down in the middle of nowhere. Those barns, the kids. Hell, even the fact that Benji was talking to him.
What if he fucked up the queso? It wasn’t a stretch to think what he remembered as his momma’s queso and what Benji remembered weren’t the same thing anymore.
“What do you do for the Chiaras?” He had to stop thinking. It wasn’t good for him.
“I’ve trained some bullfighters. Periodically, I cast my eyes at the guys that they’re thinking about hiring. Every so often I’ll give an opinion on a bull. I have a knack for them. You know I’ve fought a few, and I’ll tell them what I think. I have a unique perspective.”
“I bet you do, Mr. Coop, I genuinely do. I’m going to go get the meat. You said it was all labeled?”
“All packaged, all labeled, all dated. It’s kind of creepy how organized they are. But there’s breakfast sausage in there and Italian sausage. Anything you could want.”
“Cool.” He’d actually dreamed of a setup like this all the time. The stations in Oz were cool, but he loved a smaller place, and he loved to spend time outside. This had the advantage of way fewer bugs, venomous snakes, and other crazy creatures, and those barns…
They weren’t his.
But he still wanted a look. Brooks grabbed sausage and headed inside to start the sausage cooking for the queso. He’d have Benji cut up the Velveeta.
Benji was dozing at the kitchen table, head nodding.
“You want to go back to bed, kiddo?” Coop asked him.
“Huh? No. No, I can help.”
“Hey, y’all!” A knock sounded at the kitchen door. “Miss Nell and Dani and Naomi have come to save the day. They said if we came over this morning, we could help.”
Kase came in with the girls, and he was looking a little wild around the eyes.
Uh-oh. He wondered what could make the cheerful cowboy he’d met the other day look so stressed.
“Hey, ladies,” Coop said, “why don’t you go put your stuff in Mina’s bedroom? You’ll change there, even if we all sleep in the family room.”
“Okay, Mr. Coop!” Nell, who he’d met, led the way.
“You okay, Kase?” Coop asked, pouring him a cup of coffee.
“This is the best day for a sleepover, man.” Kase took the cup with a grateful smile. “Hey, Brooks. You look busy.”
“Cooking fool,” Brooks agreed.
“Anyway, one of the teenagers we’ve got on respite care for two weeks had a total meltdown. Come to find out, he was using at his foster home and went into withdrawalsince he couldn’t get anything while he was at the ranch. He’s in the hospital, his sister is in hysterics, and we’re crawling with social services.”
“Oh, shit.” Coop shook his head. “Anything I can do to help?”
“No, you got your hands full.”
