Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Bax went to the bathroom as soon as they got back to the main house, leaving Jason with Coke, who was making pancakes in the shapes of all the kids’ names.
He didn’t make no noise, didn’t have the screaming fit he wanted to have. Bax just stood there with his hands clenched into fists and shook. Like a leaf in a fucking blue norther wind. Jason had scared him near to death when he’d started awake at dawn, and Jason was gone.
Taking a deep breath, Bax splashed some water on his face, and then flushed the toilet, just in case. Jason had done good and none of the disasters he’d imagined had come to pass. He needed to cowboy up and go out there and be decent.
He ran right into AJ on the way out of the bathroom, whacking his chin against the tall bastard’s shoulder. That was when he exploded.
“Goddamn it, AJ, would you fucking watch where you’re going?”
“Don’t you snarl at me, asshole. I was watching!” AJ puffed right up like a big old frog.
Missy’s voice cut through both of them growling. “You watch your mouths, both of you. There are five little ones in this house listening to you!”
His ears got hot, and Bax felt duly chastised. Not sorry, but chastised. Somewhere he had to have a pack of cigarettes. He’d just go out and smoke.
“Sorry, baby.” AJ rolled his eyes, offered him a grin. “Sorry, man. It was a fucking long night. Janie’s sick with an earache and the baby kept getting woke up. Is it too early for a beer?”
“Yeah.” Shaking his head, Bax clapped AJ on the shoulder. “Coke’s making pancakes.”
“Heaven help us.” AJ leaned close. “Man, is it time to get on the road yet? I mean, damn.”
“Coke says Saturday.” Jesus. He didn’t want to think of Coke and AJ leaving, didn’t want to do all this with just him and Mini.
“You wanna come? You could room with me. Hell, they’d love to have you at the meet and greet.”
“No. No, Aje, I have to stay here.” He thought he did good with that, biting back his instinctive rage at how AJ just didn’t think.
“Yeah. Missy said you’d say that.” AJ clapped his shoulder, grinned. “Y’all oughta take the horses out while we’re gone, exercise them.”
“I will.” That he could do. Riding horses would be good for his leg, and good for Jason’s sense of balance. “Come on, let’s get some food.”
“Yep. If you’re lucky, Coke made you a pancake shaped like AWOL or Berry Pickin’. I hear he does a mad Brahma.”
“You’re a sick man, buddy.”
They got to the kitchen just in time to see Coke turn out pancake that looked like a rooster with a giant hard-on.
Good Lord.
Ben and Dalton were flanking Jason, who was sitting at the breakfast table almost asleep, nodding between them.
“What the he-heck is that supposed to be, Coke?” Bax pulled out a chair and grabbed the orange juice, staring at the weird blob of dough.
“Scooby Doo. Cain’t you tell?”
“Maybe Jason could.”
AJ whapped his head hard, but Missy just cracked up, turning to bury her head in the fridge. Then they all started laughing, even the little ones who couldn’t know what the fuck was funny.
Jason perked up a little, eyes moving a little wild, and Bax poured himself some juice. “You get fed yet, Mini?”
“Nah. The kids were first, you know?” Jason grinned at him. “Man, I might need a nap this afternoon.”
“You think?” He could so do that. Wake up the right way this time. Of course, he hadn’t been invited yet.
“I do.”
He got a grin, slow and wicked and just… Damn. Man, that was one hell of an invitation.
“Oh.” If he wasn’t careful, he’d choke to death. “Cool. Uh. Orange juice?”
“Sure. You want some, Ben? Dalton? Jimmie? Janie?”
Missy looked over. “Jimmie gets the sippy cup, Andy. Half full.”
“Nope. We got milk. It makes you strong so you can ride bulls.” Dalton was his daddy’s son, through and through.
“You just don’t want it because it makes your throat hurt, weenie.” Janie stuck her tongue out at Dalton before her momma’s growl stopped it all.
“I want some.” Ben smiled and held out his cup. Lord, that boy had himself a bad case of hero worship. It was something to behold.
He poured half a glass for Ben, half a glass for Jase, both blond heads bobbing in thanks. Then he got the sippy cup filled.
Lord, how all these gals did this all day, every day, with them all out working, he didn’t know.
Bax bit back his smile, but he couldn’t hold his chuckle when Coke winked at him and slapped a bull shaped pancake down in front of Jason.
“What are they laughing at, Ben? What did Coke make for me?”
“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 right now and 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.