Holidays on the Ranch (Burnt Boot, Texas #1)(40)

Green light, please let it be a green light, he thought as her eyelids slid shut, heavy black lashes fanning out on slightly toasted skin, and her lips parted.





Chapter 12


“Well, shoot!” Martin said when the anchorman on television said that Burnt Boot would be having school that morning. “Oh, man, I wanted to build a snowman.”

“The snow isn’t going anywhere, and the bus will be here in ten minutes, so go put on your coat,” Callie said.

“Finn, will you help me build one over the weekend?” Martin asked.

“We’re supposed to get at least three more inches tonight, and the temperature isn’t supposed to raise enough to melt it off, so I expect we’ll have enough by the weekend to build a decent one. If we built one today, it wouldn’t hold together anyway, as dry as that stuff out there is,” Finn said.

“Can we have snow ice cream?” Martin looked at Callie.

“You, young man, are procrastinating in hopes of missing the bus, but it’s not happening. Coat. Hat. Gloves, and not those new ones that Finn bought you to work in either. The ones inside your coat pocket.”

He looked at the floor and exhaled loudly. “Okay, I have to do it, but I don’t have to like it. I could be a big help on the ranch today.”

“You’ll be a big help at school today. If they closed, then you’d just have to make it up later in the year. You might even have to go to school on Christmas day,” Callie told him.

Martin slapped his hands over his eyes and headed toward his room. “Don’t even talk like that.”

Finn turned to Callie. “So what have you got in mind for after we do our workout?”

Joe made kissy noises and turned around to look out the window.

“I guess he watched something other than cop shows a few times.” Finn laughed.

“I wish he would have listened to country music instead of watching anything. To answer your question, there’s a ranch to be run and cookies to be made after our workout. I heard through the Verdie grapevine yesterday that the sexy cowboy who lives in this house likes gingersnaps.”

“Sexy?” One dark eyebrow shot up.

“That’s according to the grapevine,” she said.

“I kind of like the grapevine, then. You reckon you could put off the cookies until after lunch? I could sure use a driver this morning. Feeding would go a lot faster if you drove for me,” he said.

“If you’d rather have a driver than cookies, that’s what I’ll do. I’ve got a new warm coat and gloves, remember?”

Martin dragged his backpack up the hallway, books clumping along the hardwood floor. “It’s not fair that you get to go outside and help, Callie. I heard you talking about wearing your new coat. I’ll be stuck inside that old school all day, and you get to go help feed. It’s just not fair.”

“He’s a rancher for sure,” Finn said.

“I bet Adam and Ricky won’t even be there,” Martin continued to fuss as he headed toward the door.

“And who are Adam and Ricky?” Callie asked. “I thought Harry was your best friend.”

“He is when we’re in class. But out on the playground, we join up with Adam and Ricky. They’re both in second grade, but Ricky is a little bit older. They’re Olivia’s brothers, and if she ain’t there, then math ain’t no fun, because she and me, we’re the team leaders because we always have the good grades. And if she ain’t there, then the other team leader is Mindy, and she’s just mean.” Martin sighed.

“I’m not sure I understood all that,” Callie said.

“Olivia and Ricky and Adam all live in the same house. If they don’t have to come to school, then she don’t either. They have foster parents,” Martin explained.

Finn laid a hand on Martin’s shoulder. “The bus is pulling up in the yard. Maybe your friends will all be there. What’d you say their names are? Amos and Raymond?”

Martin mumbled as he left, “Yesterday Olivia got called to the office, and she came back with her eyes all red and puffy like she’d been crying. I hope there ain’t nothing wrong.”

Callie changed into work jeans and her heaviest sweatshirt, then checked Martin’s room before she put her coat on. The bed was made tightly, just like she’d shown him. He’d always liked to draw, and his newest creations drew her to the desk. There was a fair rendition of the ranch house with a Christmas tree shining through the window, snow on the ground, and those two four-legged things on the porch had to be Shotgun and Pistol. Another yellow figure was sitting in the window.

“Evidently animals aren’t going to be as easy for you as houses and snow.” She smiled.

She was toting her coat into the kitchen when Finn came out of his part of the house.

“Workout or feed first?” she asked.

“This first just to get me going for a workout.” He bent her backward and gave her a Hollywood kiss.

“Well, I reckon that heated me up enough,” she mumbled.

***

The cows were lined up around the feed trough like it was a Sunday buffet at the local café. Callie kept the truck running, but the heater only worked at about half speed. He was doubly lucky to have her in his life. Not only was the house in good shape, the meals on the table, and the laundry kept up, she was always ready to do real ranching work even if she didn’t like it.