Page 50 of The Cowboy's Bullfighter
“Where are the mutts?” Brooks asked.
“My bedroom.”
“Oh, wow. That’s wild.”
“Too cold to hide outside.”
“I wonder if we just hopped outside every so often if we could kill the germs.”
“Might have to be colder for that.”
“Yeah. I guess that’s true. Want something to drink?”
Coop chuckled. “How about we wait until this lot is asleep, and then we can have a beer and have something that we don’t eat with our fingers?”
Brooks had to hoot. “You’re a brilliant guy, Mr. Bullfighter.”
“Yeah, I dealt with an entire rodeo company of this once.” Coop grinned. “I was the only one didn’t get it.”
“That was me last year, mate. I managed to wing right through it.”
“Well, here’s hoping we keep up our record.”
He nodded, and they fist-bumped. Brooks had to stay healthy.
He had horses to acclimatize and Thanksgiving dinner to plan.
Though he might have to haul the food over to Kase and Ryder’s to cook it, at this rate.
Chapter Twelve
It was snowing, the fat flakes really coming down.
Thank God the kids were feeling better. The bug had been hard, but fast, and everyone was busy enjoying the day before Thanksgiving in their own way.
Brooks was lording over the kitchen like a knight with a whisk and a list of to-dos. It was a whirlwind of activity, but he seemed happy, and Lucy, and—oddly enough—Mason, were more than willing to help, and Brooks hadn’t threatened to kill either one of them, so that was a win.
Johnny was at the table, busy with his Legos, and Ricky and Benji were playing some video game in the front room.
Okay, who did that leave?
Coop looked around, counted kid’s heads—Mina.
It was always the littlest one. She just couldn’t stay put.
He rolled his eyes and headed back toward the kitchen where they were preparing stuff for tomorrow’s feast. “Happy Thanksgiving Eve again. Have y’all seen Mina?”
Lucy shook her head. “No.” He got three curious looks. “She’s not with you?”
“No, Lucy, if she was with me, I wouldn’t ask you whereshe was.” Coop blinked at her. Lord have mercy. “I’m going to go out hunt for her.”
Brooks frowned. “You don’t think that she would actually be outside? It’s snowing.”
“Oh, yeah. I don’t think there’s any question. She would totally go outside.”
“I bet she’s with the kittens.”
He glanced at Mason. “Oh? Which kittens?”
