Page 59 of The Cowboy's Bullfighter
Which might be a shame, because he had some assembly to do for the kids’ Christmas presents.
“Hey, Coop,” he said when Coop came through behind him as he stood at the sink. “You ready to put that remote control car together for Johnny?”
Coop glanced at him as he grabbed something out of the fridge. “Sorry, buddy. I got to go to the big ranch today and look at a bull. I’ll be back by supper, and I’ll help then.” And Coop left, just…
That was it.
And Coop had been that way since last week. No kissing, no lingering glances, no “honey”. Just “buddy” and ships passing in the night.
“What the fuck did I do to piss him off?”
Benji came in, sans crutches, cane,or even a limp. He’d been working out hard, and he was looking better. “Who?” he asked, grabbing a Gatorade out of the fridge.
“Coop. Clearly he’s mad at me. And I have no idea why.”
“Hmm.” Benji leaned back against the counter, twisted off the cap, and then stared at Brooks while he drank. “How long have you been getting the cold shoulder?”
“Not quite a week? Since we went shopping in Farmington.”
“Uh-huh.” Benji watched him carefully, those dark eyes so like he was looking in the mirror. “And what did you say to him?”
“Shit, Benji, I’ve been trying to figure it out.” He remembered how Coop seemed to turn off like a lamp at lunch, but he couldn’t for the life of him remember what he might have said to make that happen.
“Because I got to tell you, Unc. Coop doesn’t stay mad for long. Surely not a week. So, it sounds to me like you hurt his feelings somehow.”
He chewed his lower lip, trying to parse that. “What the hell could I have said to hurt his feelings?”
“You tell me.” Benji shrugged. “I mean, I can tell he’s been pretty down. Coop feels shit deep in his chest, man. Real deep. He’s not just some douchebag cowboy.”
“Hey.” He leveled a finger at Benji. “I have never said that. Or even thought it.”
“But what did you say, then? Or do? Because if you’re right, it’s totally on you.”
“Gee, I can’t tell you how helpful you’ve been.” He could hear the little bit of Oz in his voice. It happened when he was being sarcastic. It was the best accent for it, so that was the one that popped out.
“Maybe no one else noticed but me and Ricky, but we know you and Uncle Coop were getting freaky. That can make people emotional. If you’re not in that to win it, then I’dquit, because Coop takes his people very seriously.” Benji shrugged. “But if you dig it, you should ask him.”
“Ask him what?” Brooks’s head was spinning a little.
“What you did to upset him. Like, adults do that kind of thing, right?”
“That is the rumor, yes.” He was fixin’ to lose his shit. He really didn’t need some teenager—which Benji still was—telling him how to run his love life, or lack of it. The simple fact was, he didn’t know what he’d done or he wouldn’t have done it.
What made it worse was he couldn’t even yell at Coop about anything because, Coop had been decent—not mean, not ugly, simply…distant.
Which, if he was honest, did read as hurt, and he might have to kick Benji for being right.
“Seriously, dude. Coop’s, like…” Benji shook his head, face all scrunched up. “I mean, do you know a lot of bullfighters?”
What the fuck? He was a goddamn cowboy. He knew all sorts of folks. “Well,” he snapped back, “I know you.”
As soon as the words came out of his lips he knew they were a mistake.
He knew it.
Jesus, he needed to watch his damn mouth.
“Not really.” Benji’s dark eyes flashed as he straightened, and he looked like his daddy. It was like fucking Andy was there, toe to toe with him again. “In fact, I would say that you have just started to get to know me. I know I’m just a kid to you, and I’m sure not involved with anyone right now. But I also know that bullfighters are a certain type of person. Especially those of us who were taught by Cooper Adams how to do their jobs. He tells us, before every show, that caring for people is our calling. To know we have been blessed by the good Lord Himself to protect the people who are in need of us.” There was pure fire in the kid’s eyes,and Brooks knew without a shadow of a doubt why Coop was the one Benji had called from the hospital.
