Aurora's Cowboy Daddy. Melinda Barron

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      Chapter 3

      Aurora took a deep breath and knocked on the French doors that led to the main part of the house. To her relief Holt answered. He still wore jeans but his chaps were gone, and he had on a different shirt.

      “Come in,” he said. “You don’t have to knock, you’re pretty much family now.”

      Her heart swelled at his words. Even her parents didn’t think of her as family anymore. “I’ll remember that,” she whispered.

      “Good.” Holt indicated the room. “You know Austin, and this is Hawk, my second in command, and there are the triplets, Reed, Kyle, and Wyatt.”

      Every one of them nodded in her direction and tipped an imaginary hat, since they weren’t wearing any. Hawk wore a lawman’s uniform, and she had to admit it startled her a little. Men in uniform were not what she liked to see. She thought all the Coleman brothers worked on the ranch, and only the ranch.

      “So I’ll give you the breakdown,” Holt said. “Reed and Kyle are the local veterinarians. They are good and attract clients from several towns over. Hawk is the local constable. Wyatt and Austin work the ranch, as I do when I’m not working on paperwork for the rescue part of the ranch. Hawk helps me with a lot of it. Guys, this is our new den mother.”

      “Welcome,” they all seemed to say at once. Everyone stepped forward to shake her hand, except for Wyatt, who stared at her as if she were about to set the house on fire. Finally, Wyatt inclined his head in her direction and said, “Ma’am.”

      Aurora figured that was as close to a welcome she was going to get from Wyatt. She glanced at Holt, to see him glaring at Wyatt. When Holt started to turn his head in her direction she glanced away.

      “Dinner’s ready,” Austin announced loudly. “Hawk, would you take the potatoes out of the oven for me? And the asparagus is in the top oven.” He pointed tongs at her. “I hope medium rare is okay with you. If not I’ll leave yours on the grill a little longer.”

      “That’s fine with me,” she said.

      “Which one?” Holt asked. “And don’t say medium rare’s fine if you don’t care for it.”

      Aurora cleared her throat. “Medium is better for me.”

      “Got it,” Austin said. He went to the kitchen, then came back and exited the French doors with a platter and tongs in his hand. Hawk went into the kitchen, and the triplets stayed where they were.

      “So you trade cooking duties?” Aurora said when the room grew quiet. Who said she couldn’t use her words?

      “The only day we don’t cook is Sunday,” Holt answered. “We take Sundays off from each other. We all feed the animals, and then try to stay away from each other as much as possible.”

      “Which isn’t easy to do when you live in the same house,” Kyle said.

      “And work together,” Reed said with a snort.

      Kyle tossed a throw pillow in Reed’s direction, and Aurora couldn’t help but smile.

      “Could one of y’all come help me?” Hawk called out from the kitchen. Kyle and Reed both stayed where they were, but Wyatt took off for the kitchen like his rear end was on fire. It was obvious the two of them were not going to get along, at least not at first. Hopefully, she would be able to avoid him as much as possible.

      “We’re ready!” Austin called out as he came back inside.

      Kyle and Reed stood, and Holt came up next to her and offered his arm. She took it and he escorted her to the dining room where a table was set with enough food to feed an army. There was corn on the cob, asparagus, twice-baked potatoes, baked beans, and dinner rolls the size of dessert plates. All of the brothers were taking a seat, and she imagined those were their assigned places. Holt led her to the end of the table where he let go of her arm and pulled out the chair next to the empty seat at the head of the table. She sat down, and once he’d pushed in her chair he took the head.

      Austin came in with his platter, then placed steaks on plates, starting with her. After he’d distributed one to each person he set the platter in the middle of the table. There were still seven steaks there. Aurora stared at the meat on her plate, and wondered how she was going to eat it all at once; it looked to be at least fifteen ounces.

      “Reed, it’s your turn,” Holt said.

      Aurora looked up to see all of them bowing their heads right before Reed started to pray. After he’d asked God to bless the food and said thanks for the blessings they had, they reached for the food and started to pass around the bowls. Once she’d taken a little of everything she stared at her food; she felt full just staring at it. She glanced around the table to where five men were eating. When she glanced at Holt he was staring at her.

      “Please don’t tell me you’re looking for steak sauce.”

      The clatter of cutlery and plates came to a halt.

      “You want steak sauce?” Austin asked, obviously offended. “Without tasting it?”

      “No, I was wondering how I was going to eat all this,” Aurora said.

      Austin let out a breath of relief, and they all went back to eating.

      “Just eat what you want,” Holt said. “You don’t have to sit here until your plate is clean. Not tonight anyway.”

      Aurora turned her gaze to him. The stern look on his face made her mouth drop open. Then, to her surprise, he winked at her. He was flirting with her, at least she thought that was what he was doing. It had been forever since it had happened, more than ten years. She wasn’t sure how to respond. Should she wink back, or just stare at him like she was doing now?

      Their gazes locked, and he didn’t give her any indication of how she should act now. Luckily, Austin spoke up.

      “But don’t forget there is dessert.” She turned to see the handsome young man waving a fork in her direction. “Chocolate trifle that I worked on last night. It has been chilling all day.”

      “Austin’s our master chef,” Hawk said. “Which is good because he can’t shoe a horse worth a damn.”

      “Uh-hum.” СКАЧАТЬ