Page 59 of Brett and Rowdy
But northern New Mexico, that was home, and he could smell it as soon as they started getting up where they belonged.
“Almost home, baby girl,” he said.
Madison chuckled softly, the sound as familiar as his own heartbeat. “Almost home, Daddy. It’s been a good drive, though. You guys are great shotgun riders.”
She was right. He’d always been a go baby, and Brett had just been happy to see anything there was to see.
And to stop at silly roadside attractions. There was one that had a big metal teepee, which had been hot as hell in the sun when he touched it. They had to stop a little more frequently than him and Maddie probably would have anyway because ofthe dogs, so they got to go to all sorts of places and Maddie bought all manner of trinkets and lots of Slim Jims and pistachio nuts and junk food out the wazoo.
But now he could feel it in his bones, they were almost back to his ranch.
“I can’t believe how gorgeous it is up here,” Brett said. “It’s really been amazing to watch the land change as we went up in elevation.”
“Yeah? I remember what it looks like, I think, but more than that these days? I remember what it smells like and what it feels like. The air changes, you know? And the sun feels different on your skin.” Rowdy lifted his face to the sun. In fact, they had one of the windows open, and he could just stick his head out like one of the dogs.
“I can’t wait to see Pappy,” Mason said. “And have Brett go to his first Mexican restaurant.”
“New Mexican, baby.”
“Right, it’s not the same as Tex-Mex.”
“Nope, and it’s not the same as that crappy Mexican food you get in South Carolina either.”
“Hey, we have Mexican people in South Carolina,” Brett told him. “They work in restaurants.”
“Yeah, but they cater to the gringo taste there. People who can’t have spices in their food.” Rowdy hooted, and Brett joined in laughing with him, which made him feel ten feet tall and bulletproof. Getting Brett out of his home turf had made him so much more likely to take a joke and to run with it. He laughed a lot more. Madison said he was smiling more in just a couple of days. That worked for him on a cell-deep level.
He wanted Brett to be happy; he didn’t want the guy to be miserable. That was no life to live.
“Well, I reckon that’s true, although we do like our weird spicy chicken, and I like pimento cheese to have a bite to it.”
Madison snorted. “Brett, you haven’t lived until you’ve had the green chile here. Now that can be hot. Remember that burrito, Daddy? The one we split from the lady who used to bring them around in the cooler in the summer?”
“Lord yes. That liked to take the top of my head off.” He’d shit fire for days afterward. “Don’t worry. Rose is nowhere near as evil.”
“Mmm… do you think she’ll made me huevos rancheros? It’s been a year since I had any.”
Rowdy knew for a matter of fact that Rose was planning that for breakfast in the morning.
“We’ll ask her. I thought I’d stop at Blake’s on the way home. Bring your pappy a chile cheeseburger.”
“Yum.”
“What’s Blake’s?” Brett asked, leaning up over the seat.
“A Sonic with green chile and really good onion rings.” Maddie offered. “We have one in the town next to the ranch. So yummy.”
“We are food-based life forms, aren’t we, baby girl?”
“We so are. I mean, we work hard, and we know where our food comes from, why not?” Her giggle was still so young, but she had driven most of the way cross-country with Brett just spelling her a few times, she was ready to take on the ranch, and she was all about this bulldogger…
God. How had she got so grown?
“Mmm. Burgers. I like Sonic a lot.”
“Blake’s is better,” Maddie told Brett. “You’ll see. They also have faboo breakfast burritos, though really, if I go out for those, I’ll go to Dona Maria’s. That’s our wee little Mexican place.”
“Nice.” Brett’s breath brushed his ear, making goosebumps rise.
