Holidays on the Ranch (Burnt Boot, Texas #1)(54)

“A lot.” Martin poured himself a glass of orange juice and plopped down in a kitchen chair. “I’m worried about my friends, Callie. Why can’t they come here? If we can’t afford it, I don’t need nothing for Christmas now that Granny Verdie gave me some boots. I’ll even wear them butt-ugly shoes to school when my black ones wear out.”

“It’s complicated,” Finn said. “There are laws and things that have to be done for kids to be placed in foster care.”

“‘Complicated’ is just a word big people made up to say no.” He pouted.

Finn laid a hand on Martin’s shoulder. “It’s like this, son. There’s lots of paperwork involved before folks can be foster parents, and they prefer the people who are going to be foster parents to be married. Even if we wanted to take the kids, the law probably wouldn’t let us.”

“Then the law needs to be changed. You and Callie are the best parents in the world, we even got Verdie to be the grandma, and we got lots of beds for them.”

“It would take a miracle,” Verdie said.

“Well, then, I want a miracle for Christmas,” Martin said.





Chapter 16


“What do you think, partner? Shall we feed cows or take care of the horses first thing this morning after breakfast? Or would you like to stay in and read and let me and Callie do the work?” Finn asked.

“Cows. They’ll be hungry,” Martin answered quickly.

“Smart move. That’s what I would have said, too, because once the sun melts the snow, it’s going to get muddy, and we could get stuck out there,” Finn said.

“What are you going to do this morning, Callie?” Martin asked.

“There’s always Saturday cleaning that has to be done,” Callie said.

“Well, don’t go in my room. I’m working on a Christmas present, and I don’t want you to see it until Christmas day,” he said.

“Oh, really?” she asked.

“Promise you’ll stay out of my room,” he said.

“I promise.” She agreed, but she was a bundle of mixed emotions that morning. And the churning deep in her gut had a hell of a lot more to do with this new relationship with Finn than whatever Martin had in his room.

Ever since she had awakened, she’d felt like the other shoe was about to drop. Add that to the heat between her and Finn, and she had jitters that had nothing to do with black coffee that morning. Then there was Verdie, bless her heart. Callie had only known her for three days, but it felt like they’d been a part of each other’s lives forever—as if she was the grandmother Callie never had. A hell of a lot of change going on, and it was unsettling.

“Oh no!” Martin pushed his chair back so quick that it fell on the floor with a thud. He took off for the bathroom with a hand over his mouth, and Callie followed right behind him.

“Open this door,” she yelled when she heard the lock click.

“I’m not going to upchuck. It’s going the other way. Would you take my place this morning with the feeding? I’ll be better in a little while,” he hollered.

“I can’t leave you here alone if you’re sick,” she said.

“Granny Verdie is here,” he said. “I’ll be fine, but it would be awful if this happened out there in the pasture.”

“Are you sure?” Callie asked.

“Finn needs your help,” he called out.

“I’ll have my phone. If you need me, you’ll promise to call, right?” she asked.

“I promise. Just go help Finn, and tell him I’m sorry,” Martin said.

She turned around to find Verdie right behind her. “Probably nerves over his little friends. We’ll be fine. I’ll give him a dose of that pink medicine. Raised my boys on it, and there’s a brand-new bottle in the medicine cabinet.”

“I’ll take it,” Martin yelled.

“And it will make you all better by noon. You’ll probably be ready to build a snowman after dinner,” Verdie shouted through the closed door.

Finn peeked down the hallway. “Hey, is my partner sick?”

“That one is. I’ll be standing in this morning,” Callie said.

“Does he need to go to the doctor?” Finn asked.

“I think it’s a case of nerves,” Verdie whispered. “He’s so worried about those children that it’s upset his stomach. He’ll be fine.”

Cassie dressed in jeans, a sweatshirt, and her new coat and met Finn in the living room. Shotgun got up slowly from the front of the fireplace, shook his fur, and ambled toward the door. Pistol looked up, shut his eyes, and went back to sleep.

“Pistol isn’t much of a cow dog.” Callie laughed.

Suddenly, as if he understood what she said, a low growl came from his throat, and he set up a yapping that would have raised the dead all the way down in Fort Worth. He ran to the door, hackles standing up like porcupine quills and carrying on until Angel trotted across the floor sideways, her fur puffed out like a dandelion to put the fear of a limping yellow kitten in whatever was on the porch.

Finn opened the door to find Sheriff Orville with his finger headed toward the doorbell.

“Good morning. Guess that noisy mutt announced my arrival.” Orville sent a bright smile toward Callie.