Dawson grinned as his younger brother’s voice filled the house.
“Your favorite brother-slash-uncle-slash-cowboy is here!” He appeared in the mouth of the hallway that led from the front of the house, his wife’s hand in his.
“Brandon,” Momma said. “You’re yelling indoors.”
He grinned at her and wrapped her in a one-armed hug. “It’s a party, Momma, and we made it off the homestead, and Lenore isn’t sick today.” He beamed around at everyone in the house. “So I’m celebrating a lot more than my one-year-old nephew.”
Dawson went around the counter and hugged his brother andsister-in-law. “Congratulations,” he said. “Caroline said you’re due in July?”
“The very last day,” Lenore said, and she did wear some extra lines around her eyes. Dawson stopped everything right then and there and said a quick prayer that she’d get the rest she needed, so she could continue to be healthy and could carry her baby to term.
“Dawson, we need a couple of towels out here,” Louis called, and Dawson found himself getting whiplashed back toward the sliding glass door.
“Towels?”
“Here.” Caroline threw him some, but Dawson fumbled them and sent them to the floor. He bent to pick them up as someone else came in the front door, and the very distinct sound of claws on his hardwood met his ears. That meant Mitch and his hearing dogs had arrived.
Dawson left Caroline and the others to greet him and Lacy, and he went out onto the back deck. More cowboys and their families had arrived while he’d been inside, as he found Finn and his youngest son standing with Colt and his little boy. They chatted while Edith walked across the backyard to where Misty had a whole crowd of children around her.
Gal, Sequoia, her own sons Diesel and Dallas, all of Ollie’s kids except his youngest, Sari, and even Wrangler. Angel and Savannah were out there too, and Dawson supposed he should be glad for a nest of snakes if it would keep people entertained.
“We just had a ranch dressing mishap,” Louis said, and he took the towels from Dawson. “I got it.”
“Thanks,” he said, catching sight of another arrival over the railing of the deck. Ty and Winnie had just arrived, and he paused at the end of the cobblestones, a frown between his eyes.
“You can come in the house too,” Dawson said, heading over to the railing to talk to them. “There are tables and chairs out here, but the house is open, and Caroline’s almost ready with the sandwich bar.”
Ty looked up and tipped his cowboy hat to Dawson. “Thanks,” he said. Then he nodded for Winnie to go back the way they’d come, and Dawson simply watched as Ty limped over the uneven surface.
The moment Ty and Winnie went back into the garage, Conrad and Glory Rose came out. She carried their baby, who was only five weeks old now, in a big, puffy blanket.
Dawson left the deck so he could mingle with those who’d come while he’d been begging for peanut butter in his own house. “Hey, you guys.” He hugged Conrad and swept a kiss along Glory’s cheek. “How’s Chance doing?”
“So much better with his new formula,” Glory Rose said, beaming down at her baby. “Caroline said she’d have a playpen for me?”
“Sure, inside,” Dawson said. “But good luck putting him in there.”
“What do you mean?” Glory Rose looked at him blankly.
“I mean, my momma is in there, and so is Arizona. They’re not going to let a newborn baby languish in a playpen.” He chuckled. “My momma would love to hold him.”
Glory Rose’s concern dissolved into a smile. “Sounds good to me.” She looked at Conrad and added, “I’m going to run him inside. It’s still a little windy.”
“Yep.” Conrad kept scanning the backyard as his wife left. “Have you seen Sari? She came with JJ and Ruby.”
“Yeah, she’s out with the snakes,” Dawson said, indicating the large pod of women and children against his back fence.
“The snakes?” Conrad looked at Dawson with concern.
“I guess I’ve got some out there,” he said. “Misty’s boys love snakes.”
“Yeah, I remember loving them too.” He grinned and then yawned. “Tell me I’m going to get more than four hours of sleep at some point.” He started across the grass and then up the steps, and Dawson went with him.
“Yeah, you will,” Dawson said. “They make up for it by being adorable.”
Conrad nodded, his eyes crinkling with happiness. “He is pretty adorable.”
Ty came out onto the deck, a look of relief in his eyes. “Yeah, we can sit out here,” he said. “Look; Dawson’s got a heater.”
