Holidays on the Ranch (Burnt Boot, Texas #1)(43)

“You couldn’t sleep either?” Finn’s deep drawl came from the recliner in the shadows.

His voice startled her, but it didn’t surprise her.

“It’s been a crazy day, hasn’t it? It keeps playing through my mind on a continuous loop.”

“Verdie?” he whispered.

She heard his movements before she saw him shift from chair to sofa. The chair popped down, Shotgun raised his head to check out the noise, and then Finn was sitting next to her. The scent of masculine soap and shampoo filled the space between them and sent her senses into a spiral.

It was a full minute before she could get a hold on her emotions and answer. “Not so much Verdie as those poor children. She’ll be gone back to her new place in a few days. Probably as soon as the weather clears up. I overheard her telling Martin while she was helping him with his English assignment that she had to visit with Gladys and Polly before she went home.”

“The kids and even Verdie aren’t kittens or a stray Chihuahua,” he said.

“I know that, Finn.”

He moved closer so he could wrap her in his arms. “But?”

She sighed. “But I’ve never seen Martin so upset. He’s made friends here in Burnt Boot. It would be different if they were snatched away because their parents were moving, but this hits a raw nerve.”

Finn slid farther down the sofa until they were touching, then reached out to take her hand in his. “He have trouble in foster care?”

“Not really, but Lacy was all he had, and then she was gone. She’d left a will of sorts saying she wanted to be cremated, and there was enough of a life insurance policy to make that happen. They let me leave two days early so I could get home, but Martin had to go into foster care until I could prove that I could take care of him.”

“Proves my point, again.”

She snuggled down into the curve of his shoulder. “What point?”

“You aren’t a runner. They don’t worry. They just go wherever the wind takes them.”

“Verdie is a settler, too, Finn. She’s not happy in her new world and is still hanging on to this one. We should ask her to stay until after Christmas. There’s lots of room here, and she and Martin have struck up a granny-slash-grandkid relationship already. She told him to call her Granny Verdie. If his friends get taken away, it might help to have her here. Did you know that she read to him tonight? She’s so happy to be back on the ranch. I hate to think of her down there in that place with no family,” Callie said.

***

A week ago Finn had a dog. Period. Now there was a sassy parrot that never shut up.

“Kill the bastards and kiss the girl!” Joe said.

“Time for his tomato cage and apron,” Callie said.

Finn hurried to the corner and slipped the wire cage down over the bird and tied the apron around it.

“Good night, Irene,” the bird singsonged and then was quiet.

“Simple enough. Verdie is a genius for coming up with it.” Finn settled back into his place beside Callie. “Now back to what we were talking about. I don’t think Verdie will agree. She wanted to sell. Remember when you couldn’t wait to join the army and then after a few days of basic you wondered what in the hell you had done? Then you went home for a visit after basic and couldn’t wait to go back to the army. A visit is one thing; an extended stay is another thing altogether.”

Callie looked up at him and nodded. “So you think she’ll spend a few days here and be ready to leave. I don’t think so, Finn. She’s not a runner. I think she made a mistake when she sold the ranch.”

He could hear her talking, but it was just noise. He cupped her face with his hands, and his lips found hers in a soft kiss that soon deepened in raw passion that yearned to be satisfied. One of his hands moved to her neck; the other to the small of her back to draw her even closer.

“Callie, where are you?” Martin’s whisper cut through the darkness.

Finn quickly moved to the recliner, and Callie tucked the bedspread back around her body. His heart thumped in his chest and his breathing was still labored as he grabbed a throw to cover his lap.

“I’m right here, Martin,” Callie called out softly. “On the sofa by the fire.”

He curled up beside her and she wrapped the edge of the spread around him. “It was the dream again, Callie. I couldn’t get back to sleep.”

Like mother and child, Finn thought.

“That man was looking right at me, and he chased me. When I got to our apartment, the police sirens started and he ran the other way,” Martin said.

“I’m right here. Shut your eyes. We’ll rest awhile on the sofa. Shotgun is here, too. Nobody can get past him. And you can’t see him, but Pistol is curled up right at his back. Remember, he’s our alarm dog.”

“Granny Verdie made it past both of them. I like her just fine, but what if she’d been one of them bad people, and what if they’re still looking for us? I wish Finn was in here. Nothing gets past him,” Martin said.

“I’m right here in the recliner, son,” Finn said.

“I’m glad. You know what I want for Christmas, Callie? I want Finn to always be here, because he’ll keep us safe.”

***

All the tension left his small body as he stretched out beside Callie and went back to sleep. She wiggled down and used the wide sofa arm for a pillow.