The other kids’ eyes lit up. “Ooh, fancy hot chocolate!”
“All right, sure, fancy hot chocolate it is. Let me grab the cocoa. Zane, get the sugar?” Thank goodness they’d bought three gallons of milk.
He heard the stomp of boots on the back porch, which meant Ellis was done with his latest check of the animals. The power had gone out at the bunkhouse, so Ellis was staying with them. He padded in a few minutes later in his socks, looking mostly frozen.
“Whew, it is raw out there.”
“Is it getting any better?”
Ellis brushed some snow from that red-flecked golden-brown hair. “Nope. I figure we’re socked in.”
“This is strange for this early, but we have plenty of supplies, plenty of wood, plenty of board games and books. It’s gonna be fine.”
Allie climbed up on a stool at the bar in the kitchen. “I think it’s exciting. It’s like we can have a big slumber party and play all day.”
Michael shrugged, coming to sit next to her with his elbow on the bar. “At least we have internet still,” he said. “That’s good. Mavis is in here, and nobody has to work except for Ellis.”
And he had a bit of guilt about that. But really, he was working in here trying to keep these hooligans from killing each other and keep water pipes from freezing and everybody fed.
Zane shrugged, even though it was a touch dramatic. “At least I’m not getting any pop quizzes. This school, they like their pop quizzes.”
Ichabod rolled his eyes. “Oh my God, I used to hate those.”
“You weren’t like the world’s best school guy?” Ellis asked.
Ichabod went to pour him a fresh cup of coffee to warm him until the cocoa was done. “Look, I made it into college because I had an art scholarship. I was very into my art. Very, very.” He’d hated math, which was weird because he used it now in his work a lot, but algebra had confused the hell out of him, and he hadn’t liked dissecting frogs. He’d wanted to draw and create things. He hadn’t wanted to have to be practical.
“I waded through school because I had to.” Ellis took off his big jacket to hang it out in the mudroom, then came to stand by the stove. His poor hands were red and chapped with the cold. “But it was important to my momma.”
“Does she live around here? I mean, I’m assuming you’re local, given that you were Chris’s stepbrother’s half-brother.” He winked.
Zane’s head tilted. “Wait, what?”
Ichabod tried to figure out when Zane would have met Rick. “Do you remember when you were five, and you got your bike? We came here for Christmas?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“Okay, so do you remember that there was a guy here with bright blue hair; he was going to college, and he gave you one of his hoodies? It was like way too big on you, but you loved it?”
“Yeah.” Zane nodded, then turned to look at Ellis. “That’s your brother?”
“Half-brother, yeah.”
“Huh, weird. Cool though. I have half-sisters. It’s cool. They’re just like sisters.”
“You’re totally closer with your sisters than I am to Rick.” He grinned at Zane. “We talk on the phone, but that’s about it.”
Ichabod thought he heard the unspoken, “When Rick wants something.”
“But Momma lives over in Trinidad now.”
“Oh nice! I’ve had to drive through there a number of times when we were heading down to Santa Fe.” He and Chris had loved to go to Santa Fe to visit, take long walks, see the art, and sell some pottery. What he did wasn’t the same kind of thing as some of the Pueblos produced down there, but there was still a market for his stuff.
He stirred the cocoa, being careful not to let it boil. Once that was all made and done, he would put it in the crock pot and let it live in there for the day to stay warm, and the kids could dip it out at will. One day of cocoa and sugar wouldn’t kill them, and if they got too rambunctious, he’d throw them outside and have them shovel.
Ellis leaned on the counter next to him, cup of coffee in hand. “It’s decent, for sure. They got a nice spread there, and the Tequilas has good Mexican.”
From the living room, I heard little Chrissy cheer, “Yay, Mexican!”
