Holidays on the Ranch (Burnt Boot, Texas #1)(65)

“Well, I love this bread,” Adam piped up. “I ain’t never eat bread this good. Did you make it, Granny, or did the angels in heaven send it down here for us?”

“He’s a charmer, Callie. We’ll have to watch him closely.” Verdie smiled.

“I still think this is all a dream,” Olivia said. “Oh, look, Angel is under the table and so is Pistol. They look hungry, Granny.”

“Yuck! Joe needs a drink.” The bird spit and sputtered while he sharpened his beak on the perch.

“We don’t feed the animals at the table, and Joe is not getting a drink,” Verdie said. “What we are going to do is start around the table, beginning with Finn, and we’re going to say two things that we really want for Christmas, because tomorrow before the roads get any worse and while you kids are in school, me and Callie are going to town to do some shopping.”

“Ah, shucks!” Martin said. “Payday was Friday, and we haven’t got the money yet, but I know Finn is good for it, and I wanted to buy some presents, too.”

“Payday?” Adam asked.

“Each kid who works on the ranch gets a paycheck on Friday. It’s not a lot of money, and you have to put half of it in savings, but the rest is yours to save up or spend however you want,” Finn explained.

“Are you serious?” Adam asked.

“You can keep my money if you’ll just let us live here,” Ricky said. “I like that bunkhouse room and havin’ my own bed and all them books in there and food like this.”

Callie drank half a glass of tea, trying to get the lump in her throat to go down, but it was in vain. Finn laid a hand on her knee and finally spoke up, but his voice was hoarse with emotion. “Well, son, it’s like this. Good ranch hands are hard to come by, so I pay twenty dollars a week and room and board. But ten has to go into your savings account, which Callie will set up for you. There’s two Fridays between now and Christmas. I reckon that would give you about twenty dollars total to spend if you wanted to do some shopping the Monday before Christmas.”

“I’ll be a good ranch hand,” Ricky said seriously. “But I could work for a lot less since you’re throwin’ in room and board.”

“Me too,” Adam said.

“Are girls ranch hands?” Olivia asked.

“Yes, they are,” Verdie said. “Now pass me that bread, Ricky. And, Finn, send the butter down here. I’m itching to get into that game of Monopoly.”

Callie touched Finn’s knee under the table. “Are you going to play?”

“No, ma’am, I’m having my Sunday afternoon nap. How about you?”

“Sunday nap sounds wonderful.” She smiled.

“Old people take naps,” Martin piped up from Finn’s left.

Verdie sent the bread on around the table. “Not this old person. She’s going to whip four little whippersnappers at Monopoly and try to keep the cat from climbing the Christmas tree again. I’ve got some livin’ to take care of.”





Chapter 20


Callie removed a quilt from the rack under the window and curled up under it on the bed in her room. It wasn’t long until her closet door opened and Finn padded barefoot across the floor. She held the quilt up for him, and he crawled in with her, pulled her into his arms, and kissed the top of her head.

“You smell wonderful, like fresh air and vanilla ice cream,” he said.

“That would be because I stepped out on the front porch for a minute, and I wear warm vanilla sugar perfume,” she said. “You smell like Stetson, and let me see…” She kissed him soundly on the lips, letting her tongue slide between his lips. “And sweet tea and roast with a little bit of chocolate cake thrown in for sexiness.”

His blue eyes sparkled, and she realized that something was different.

“What?” he asked.

She raised an eyebrow.

“I can tell when something is on your mind,” he said. “We didn’t just meet a couple of weeks ago, Callie. We’ve known each other for years.”

“Want me to speak freely, sir?”

“Yes, please, Brewster.”

“The anger at Lala is gone.”

Finn kissed her on the forehead. “I realized last night before I came through the secret door that I had moved on and the anger was gone. I couldn’t stop smiling all day because I’m so damn happy.”

She laid her head on his chest and ran her hands under his shirt. She’d never grow tired of feeling his skin under her hands, of kissing him and sinking into his blue eyes.

“Okay, now what?” she asked.

“I was thinking about a nap.”

“Right now?”

He rolled on top of her and pinned her arms above her head with his fingers tangled in hers. He bent forward and claimed her lips in a hard kiss that answered her question without another word. He moved from her mouth to that soft spot in the curve of her neck. He damn sure knew his way around the female body, and she damn sure enjoyed every second of it.

“Got a house full of kids out there,” she whispered.

“So we’ll be quiet,” he said. “Besides, they’re in the kitchen, and they’re making enough noise to raise the roof.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”