Holidays on the Ranch (Burnt Boot, Texas #1)(67)

Finn strolled over to the boy, picked him off the horse like he was a feather pillow, and set him on the ground.

“My legs feel funny,” Ricky said.

“They will every time you ride,” Finn told him.

“Do yours?” Ricky asked.

“Oh, yeah, they do. You think you can rub Miss Mary down if I unsaddle her?”

“Yes, sir. I’ll work ’til dark if you want me to.”

“I reckon by the time we get these horses fed, we’ll be done for the night.”

“Finn, if we’re still here in the summertime and I used my own money that I save up, do you reckon I could buy a lamb to show at the stock show? I always wanted to be in 4H, but I never could have an animal.”

“I’m sure that would be possible. What would you think about showing a steer? We’ve already got lots of those on the ranch,” Finn asked.

“I’d like that real good, but I’m not big like you. I don’t think I could control one of them in the show ring, but I think I could train up a sheep, and then when I got to be a big cowboy like you, I could show a steer,” Ricky said.

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Finn said.

If he had to move heaven and earth and hock the ranch, he planned on keeping those kids at Salt Draw until he had them raised. In just two days, the whole bunch of them had flat-out stolen his heart.

But Callie was the biggest thief of all.

***

Olivia danced around the kitchen table. “I love my braids. Can I have them for school tomorrow?”

“You sure can. I was thinking maybe we’d take you to the beauty shop and have your hair trimmed and maybe thinned,” Callie said.

Olivia stopped. “Please don’t cut it off. I’ve wanted long hair all my life, but all the places where I lived didn’t want to help me with it. If I could just have braids like this, it could grow long, and I’m learnin’ how to brush it myself.”

“I’ll help her,” Verdie said. “We might have to get up fifteen minutes early, but that ain’t no big deal. Come on over here and get these bowls and set the table for supper.”

“It does look pretty in braids, and when it’s pulled back from your face, your eyes just shine,” Callie said.

“Really? You think my eyes are pretty?” Olivia asked.

“Pretty, damn pretty.” Joe’s wolf whistle was long and drawn out.

“Of course. They’re gorgeous.” Callie hugged her. “Even Joe thinks so.”

“I’m so mad, I could spit tacks.” Martin threw himself on the sofa. He’d changed out of his wet clothes, taken a shower, washed the mud from his hair, and was now wearing pajamas. “I can’t believe that Ricky stayed on that horse, and me and Adam both fell off.”

Shotgun crawled up beside him and laid his head on Martin’s lap. The boy stroked his fur from the tip of his nose down his backbone to his tail and then started all over again.

“At least you fell in mud. I’m glad I hadn’t had my supper. It would have come right up the way I smelled. That cow stuff is worse smelling than what we shoveled out of the stalls.”

Martin scooted down to give Adam room to sit down. “You want something real bad? You ought to fall in pig crap.”

Callie noticed that Adam’s pajamas were faded and a couple of sizes too big. She started a mental list of things they needed before the Christmas holidays. Pajamas and shoes were at the top.

“Pigs.” Olivia stopped in her tracks. “I want a pig to show in the stock show.”

“How about a lamb?” Verdie asked.

Olivia shook her head. “I read Charlotte’s Web, and I want a pig. Not a black one but a white one like Wilbur, so when it’s all cleaned up, it almost looks pink.”

“They stink. You remember when we went to that farmer’s place on a field trip when we lived with the Crowder family? Remember how bad them pigs smelled?” Adam yelled from the living room.

“Animals stink. That’s just the way of it, and I’m going to save my money for a pig,” Olivia said.

Verdie patted Olivia on the back. “I bet you could train a pig to do tricks in the show ring, Olivia. We’ll have to see if the Brennans will part with one of their Poland China piglets next spring, but Adam is right about the smell.”

“Hey, where are you guys? Guess what! Finn says I can buy a lamb and keep it on the ranch, and someday when I’m big like he is, I can show a steer at the stock show.” Ricky came through the kitchen more animated than Callie had seen him yet.

Finn slipped an arm around her waist and squeezed. “We’ve got to keep them, Callie. I’m already attached to the critters.”

“We talkin’ about Angel and Pistol or the kids?”

“The whole lot of them. Verdie included. A ranch is just dirt without kids and animals, even if they knock over Christmas trees and fall in mud and cow shit. But it needs a good woman, too.”

“You callin’ me a good woman, or are you going to put an ad in the newspaper for one?” she asked.

“Open that closet door later on tonight, and we’ll discuss that,” he whispered.





Chapter 21


The air was so crisp that it made its way through the heaviest coats to chill Callie to the bone. She worried that Verdie would freeze as they dashed from the truck into the Western-wear store not far from the outlet mall. Finn held the door for her and Verdie, and the familiar smell of leather, starched denim, and cedar paneling filled her nose. Christmas carols played through a couple of speakers attached to the wall above the boots, a green jar candle burned on the counter, and folks bustled around the racks. Martin would love this store. So would the other three kids. She could picture Olivia in a show ring all dolled up in that cute little pink shirt and that blinged-out pink belt with the rhinestone-studded buckle.