Page 16 of Lost and Found Cowboy
“It was so good, I’m surprised there was any left.” Mack gestured at the remaining tables and chairs. “Can I help?”
“You bet,” Ford told him. “The girls are gonna finish packing up the centerpieces and pulling the tablecloths, what’s left of the band is dismantling the dance floor, and we’re stacking all the tables and chairs.” He pointed to an open trailer that had been backed up to the side of the tent. “The rental company is coming in the morning to pick them up and take down the tent. We figured we’d get it all torn down now since we’ve got cattle to take care of in the morning.”
“Sounds good,” Mack said, feeling glad they had asked him to help versus sending him on up to the house as he headed for the nearest table and chairs.
The sun was barely upthe next morning when, freshly showered and dressed, Mack walked into the kitchen to find Duke already at the stove, scrambling chunks of leftover brisket into a skillet of fluffy yellow eggs.
The scent of strong coffee wafted toward him, and Duke nodded to the cupboard. “Mornin’ son. You’d better grab you a mug and get some of that pot of coffee before your brothers get here.”
The front door opened a few seconds later, and Ford and Dodge came in together, the cool morning air whooshing in with them as they stopped to brush off their boots and hang theircowboy hats and gray Carhartt jackets on pegs running down the wall inside the door.
Their two dogs and Chevy’s raced in behind them, tails wagging at top speed as they ran into the kitchen to greet Duke and Mack, probably hoping to get tastes of the barbequed meat filling the air with its delicious scent.
Mack held the pot up and filled his brother’s mugs as Duke pulled a pan of flaky buttermilk biscuits out of the oven. He’d tasted Duke’s biscuits when he’d been here before, and his stomach growled for one…or six.
“Grab a plate and dig in,” Duke commanded. “These biscuits are best hot with butter melting into them.”
Mack didn’t have to be told twice. He grabbed a couple of plates and passed them to Ford and Dodge, hanging back as the youngest and newest Lassiter brother before filling his plate and taking a place at the large kitchen table.
Duke said grace before passing around the pitcher of orange juice and large bowls filled with chunked cantaloupe and wedges of watermelon.
The first bite of fluffy eggs mixed with the smokey brisket and sharp cheddar cheese was like a flavor explosion in his mouth. “So good,” he told Duke in between bites. “Anyone hear if Chevy and Leni got off okay?”
Dodge smirked. “It was their wedding night. I think we can be fairly certain they got off…multiple times.”
Ford threw a chunk of biscuit at his brother. It fell to the floor and the three dogs raced to grab it. “Not while I’m eating.”
“Chevy texted me earlier and said they were headed to DIA,” Duke told them, ignoring Ford and Dodge’s comments as he tossed more biscuit to the two dogs who’d missed the first chunk. “Their plane leaves in about an hour.”
“I’m still having a hard time imagining Chevy sitting on the beach in Hawaii,” Dodge said, reaching for another wedge of melon.
Ford grinned. “I’m having a hard time imagining him in a pair of flip flops. I can just see him walking out onto the sand in his swim trunks, cowboy hat and boots.”
The men laughed together, but Mack knew they were all happy that Chevy and Leni had found their way back to each other after years apart.
“I appreciate you all lending me his room,” Mack said as he buttered his third biscuit.
“It’s your room now, son,” Duke told him. “He cleaned it out last week for you and either moved his stuff to the cabin or stored it in the bunkhouse.”
“Still hard to believe Chevy and Leni are going to spend the whole summer in that tiny hunting cabin,” Dodge said.
Ford huffed. “Sounds like paradise to me. They’ve got the lake and nobody around to bother them.” He was the most introverted of the bunch.
“They’re newlyweds,” Duke said as if that explained everything. “And it’s only for a few months until their house is built.”
The newly married couple had drawn up plans and commissioned a contractor to build their dream house in the mountains on the Lassiter property. Construction had started a few weeks ago, and they hoped to have it finished and ready to move into by the fall.
“Don’t sweat it,” Dodge said. “The room is yours now. For as long as you want it.”
Ford dumped the last of the eggs onto his plate. “But so are the bulk of Chevy’s chores while he’s gone.”
Mack nodded. “I’m happy to do them. I still feel a little guilty that I didn’t get back here sooner. I swear I didn’t know I’d begone that long when I agreed to go back to Texas to help my old foreman.”
Duke shook his head. “Don’t give it another thought. That wasn’t your fault. You were where you needed to be at the time, and I know they appreciated the extra help.”
“I appreciate you saying so, but I’ve already told them I’m done with Texas.” Colorado and this ranch were where he wanted his home to be now. The first real home he’d ever had. “I’m back for good this time, and the only place I’m planning to work is for this ranch.”
Ford stuffed the last of a biscuit into his mouth and spoke around it as he chewed. “Then cowboy up, boys. Daylight’s burning, and we’ve got plenty of work to do.”
