“It’s a bull, Unca Jason. Like the ones you ride. Can’t you see it?”
“No, dummy. Uncle Jason cain’t see nothing no more.”
They all stared over at Janie a second before Missy snapped her fingers, eyes just flashing.
“Jane Marie Gardner! I don’t care if you’ve been sick. You apologize to your brother rightnowand then you get your butt into your room and think about what you’ve done!”
“M’sorry.” Janie ran off sniffling and Ben stared and Jason looked like he wanted to crawl away.
Bax opened his mouth, but Ben beat him to it. “It’s a bull, Unca Jason. With horns. You want maple or molasses?”
“Maple, please. Molasses sticks to my tongue.” Jason grinned and leaned toward Ben, bumping shoulders.
Dalton looked over at Jason’s plate. “Can I have bull, too, Poppy? I’m gonna ride ‘em, you know?”
Coke chuckled, rolled his eyes. “You mean you ain’t gonna be a bullfighter like me, son?”
“Daddy says I’m as slow as Uncle Candy, Poppy.”
“Oh, Lord.” Jason grinned huge. “You’d best hope one of your cousins grows up to be fast like Coke.”
“Ha. Ha.”
His pancake ended up looking like a penis. Bax stared at it for a minute before glaring at Coke.
Coke looked over at him, just grinning like a horse. “Well, you know what they say…”
“What’s that? Never trust a bullfighter outside the arena?”He covered the damned thing with butter and syrup, very deliberately cutting off the head first.
It was worth it, to see both AJ and Coke wince. Missy busied herself getting Jimmie in a high chair with some Cheerios and little Daisy a bottle. That woman was something else. Bax admired her for a minute, just enjoying the way she was so much like Jason’s momma. Took tough women to deal with cowboys. The pancakes were surprisingly good, and Bax snorted. “You cook better than Beau, Coke.”
“Shit. A blind toothless Yankee with no arms to stir could cook better than Beau. No offense, Jason.”
“None taken.”
Bax stared for a second or two, and then he lost it, laughing until he was bent over double, holding his middle. The baby started to squeal, banging her little hands, making a ruckus.
“Lord have mercy.” Missy dumped little Daisy into AJ’s arms, laughing along with him, with all of them.
All things considered, Bax figured he’d made it through his first scare with Jason pretty damned well. Hell, give him the nap Jason was promising, and he might just live.
Until the next time.
Chapter Thirty
He’d gone from barrel to mechanical bull to horse. He’d wandered the pasture, worked the arena. Now it was time. Today.
This morning.
He sat on the sofa, thinking. Smoking. Listening to the sounds of shit outside.
“You ready, Mini?”
Bax came and sat next to him, hand landing on his thigh.
“I don’t know. I think so, yeah. I mean, it’s a level one. I did that fifteen years ago.”
“Just keep your eyes open, yeah?”
