Page 4 of The Cowboy's Bullfighter
“That’s right. They’re in the truck. I brought them with me. They love to go in the truck.”
She sniffled as he jabbered at her, and she cuddled right in. “I can go with you.”
“Thank you, sweetpea. Come on, y’all. We’ll put everybody in the big vehicle here, and then we’re going to hook the trailer up to my truck, and we’re gonna all head to the house. Maybe we’ll stop and get doughnuts.”
“I like doughnuts.” The youngest boy stared up at him with huge dark eyes. “I like doughnuts a lot.”
“Good deal. Doughnuts it is. Get in the car.”
The oldest girl who was about as thin as a rail, her eyes haunted, came out and started getting the three little ones into the Suburban.
As she did, Ricky came up to him, chewing on that bottom lip like he was fixin’ to get oil from it. “Mr. Coop, is Benji going to be okay? I mean, for real.”
Coop nodded, knowing that all those kids were listening to him. “Lord yes, he’s gonna be fine. Brother has got himself a broke pelvis. It happens. Happened to me about ten yearsago. It makes walking hard for a bit, but that’s about the extent of it.”
Left a couple of pretty scars in private bits, but that was it. “He got stepped on. He’ll come to the house and be with y’all in a couple of days, soon as he gets himself stable and then? Y’all will all stay at the house.”
“There’s a lot of us, so we can stay in the trailer, if you want.”
Not on his fucking watch, they wouldn’t. “You seen my house, son? It’s huge. Y’all are all welcome. There’s enough rooms for everybody to have their own space if they want it. It’s going to be great. Be like a big slumber party where you can slumber in a bed that’s actually yours and not on the floor.”
And there would be showers and a heater for the night and a swamp cooler for the day and food and a safe place to play…
“Okay, um. I got my license, if you need me to drive,” Ricky offered.
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to be a thing. You’re tired, and we’re gonna be hauling the travel trailer and all.” Ryder winked at Ricky. “If you want, you can come ride next to me in the truck. I’m gonna take Cooper’s truck, and Coop’s going to drive the Suburban with all the kids.” Ryder gave him a shit-eating grin. “And he can stop and pick up the doughnuts since he said he would. Make sure and get, oh I don’t know, maybe twelve dozen?”
“Yes, boss, I’ll even call ahead so that they know I’m coming.” Fucker.
Poor Ricky didn’t look like he knew whether to scratch his watch or wind his butt. He kept looking to the kids and then looking to the truck. Looking to the kids and then looking to the truck.
“And if you want to ride with Ryder where it’s quiet and just get some sleep, you can. Or you can ride with me and thekids. It don’t matter. We’re going to the same place.” Coop just wanted to get these babies on the road. He was tired, and they were exhausted. “The only thing that I’m going to do any different is stop and get those doughnuts.”
Ricky nodded to him, smiled. “Okay. I think I’ll go in the truck, then, to the house. I got the phone.”
“Good deal, you leave the phone out and that way if you need to get hold of me, you can. We’ll make sure Mr. Ryder’s number is in your phone too. Fair?”
“Yeah.” Ricky took a deep breath. “Yessir, I got this.”
Oh, these poor babies. He hated this shit.
Nora and Andy had been good folks. Solid.
Nora had been a nurse, and she’d worked every event that Andy did. He’d rope, and she’d work at sports medicine patching cowboys back up and having babies one after another.
Everybody had laughed as the babies came, because he’d be damned if any of them looked like the other one.
The only thing they had in common? They each had their dad Andy’s dark eyes.
There were blonde ones and redheaded ones and dark-headed ones.
Some who were darker-skinned and some who were pale-skinned, and some who were freckled and some who weren’t, but each and every one of them had those Whitehead eyes.
They looked like holes burned into a blanket staring out. And they’d all been born with them too—not blue-eyed like most babies were.
It was wild.
He slid into the Suburban, Lucy watching him. “Your brother’s gonna go with Mr. Ryder and the trailer. We’re gonna go get doughnuts, and then we’re all going to go to the house. That work for you?”
