Chapter 7 #3
Lucy rolled her big dark eyes. “He doesn’t care about pancakes. He’s got a date tonight. He has to be skinny.”
“Well, maybe he’d eat a little,” Coop said. “Why don’t you run see?”
She sighed but nodded. “Be right back.”
Brooks pulled down a bowl. “You got mix, or do I need to make some up?”
“I think I got some Bisquick. Don’t know how old it is. We usually go out for pancakes.”
“Philistine,” he teased. “I’ll just make some up. You got a mason jar or two to keep it in?” He’d learned a lot from the various cookies. He hadn’t been someone they needed to gather or go out to check fences and all, so when he wasn’t working horses, he’d helped at the main station.
“I can do better than that,” Coop said. “I got those push-button top canisters…”
The kids watched them like a tennis match, heads turning side to side.
“So, is he going to live here?” Naomi asked in a stage whisper.
Mina frowned over. “Well, I don’t know.”
“That’s kind of important to know, because if he’s going to move away, then you have to know where to send birthday cards.”
“Oh. When’s your birthday, Uncle Brooks? ”
He glanced at Mina. “May third. When’s yours?”
She looked at Coop, her eyes huge. “Uncle Coop? Do you know my birthday?”
“Your birthday, young lady, is November thirteenth. It’s coming up in three weeks.”
She squealed. “Am I going to have a birthday party?”
“Yes. Remember, you were supposed to think about what if you’re going to have Blue’s Clues or Paw Patrol or that Rainbow Unicorn thing. Is any of this ringing a bell?”
“My birthday is in January,” Johnny said. “January twelve, after Christmas.”
Mina must have been doing mental gymnastics in that little head. “My birthday is after Santa?”
“Before,” Coop answered.
“So Johnny’s birthday is next after mine?”
Coop nodded, then shook his head. “No, it was just Benji’s birthday, remember? And then it’s my birthday, and then it’s your birthday, and then it’s Johnny’s birthday after Christmas.”
Brooks glanced at Coop. “When’s your birthday?”
“First of November.”
“What are you going to do for your birthday?”
“Recover from Halloween. Trust me, that’s a thing.”
“Oh! Halloween with the Girl Scouts!”
“AND there’s a big Halloween party at my house on Halloween all the time.” Dani clapped. “We’re going to have the most fun. Daddy says that me and Naomi can be a horse and we get to trade off who’s the front.”
Brooks had lost the thread again. Did they do a lot of Halloween things out here in the country? “Do they go somewhere to trick or treat?”
“Oh man, that’s a whole thing. It’s Kase and Ryder’s anniversary. They have a haunted hay ride, and a haunted-y hay ride. They have trick-or-treating at the ranch. They have a big party with all the things—costumes and bobbing for thises and thatses, and bonfires. It’s a lot.”
“It sounds like it. And all these guys will go?”
“Yep.”
Brooks mixed up flour, some sugar, baking powder, and salt. He didn’t figure Coop had dry milk. So he would use fresh. Coop handed him a big old Mason jar, and he scooped in the mix after he stirred, then stirred again so nothing settled to the bottom.
Then he made up more to use today. There were a lot of kids.
“I could help,” he murmured. “With Halloween.”
Coop gave him a long look. “Sure. I could use the assistance, for sure.”
“Cool.” He added milk and eggs to the dry ingredients. “I haven’t had a Halloween in years.”
“No Halloween!” Nell made sad face.
“I know, kiddo. It’s just not a thing in a lot of Australia, and where I worked was way far away from town.”
“Farther than here?”
“Oh, yeah, luv. Way longer to get anywhere. You even have a pizza place that will deliver sometimes, according to Benji.”
“It’s cheaper to buy the crust,” Coop said quietly.
“I don’t judge. I love pizza.” He winked, getting a surprised grin in response.
“Tell us about Daustralia,” Mina said. “But no spiders.”
“Okay.” He pondered that. “Well, I lived on a cattle station. They don’t call them ranches. And it was huge. There were all kinds of critters, and I worked with horses.”
“Did you get to see the Great Barrier Reef?” Ricky asked when he wandered in.
“I did. And Uluru, which is the big red rock. And the Sydney Opera House, and the zoo, which is super cool.”
“I love zoos!” Lucy was standing near him all of a sudden, watching his every move. He would bet she was teaching herself to make pancakes. “We went to Denver and to Albuquerque.”
Mina scowled. “I don’t remember that.”
“You were too little to remember,” Mason said, surprisingly gentle for the kid who thought everyone was a nail and he was the hammer.
Her lip quivered, and Coop went to pick her up. “What else about Australia does everyone want to know. No spiders,” Coop reminded them all.
“Are kangaroos mean?”
“No, but they can be territorial. And they’re wicked strong.”
“And do you really see koalas on the road sometimes?”
“During fire season? Yeah.”
These kids were thirsty for all kinds of knowledge and kept him cooking and answering questions for the better part of an hour. Which was when the kids all trooped off to watch movies or play video games, respectively, and he and Coop got to eat.
“Thanks, man. That was amazing, how you churned out pancakes and bacon.”
“It’s kind of like feeding a bunch of stockmen at a gather.”
Coop hooted. “I reckon I can see that. You do that a lot?”
“I pitched in to help a lot at the times of year when there were a lot of folks who needed to be fed. I was the high-paid horse guy. If I didn’t go mingle with the lower classes,” he made air quotes, “I could get my ass handed to me. And I like to cook.”
“Well, good deal. I don’t mind it, but I’m limited to what I know and what I got time for, you know? I make a lot of eggs, a lot of meat and rolls and vegetables.” Coop grinned at him. “The older boys aren’t even interested, but Lucy tries, and Mason watches a lot of food shows. ”
“Did you ever think you’d be living with six kids?”
“Nope, but a man has to do what the good Lord calls him to do, right?” There was no doubt in Coop’s eyes, and Brooks had to respect the hell out of him.
“He does. Yes. That’s why I came. I owe that to Andy. I’m the only family these kids have…”
Coop winced but lifted his chin. “The only biological family.”
“Right.” He sighed softly. “I’m sorry. That was a dumb thing to say. You’ve been incredibly good to them.”
“No problem. You love them, I can tell. They are desperate for that connection too.”
“I’m not glad that they’d had it so hard, but I am happy they want to get to know me.
I’ll figure out something as far as housing, though, so I’m not in your pocket.
” He wasn’t going to say he was taking the kids with him, because that pissed off both Coop and Benji, so he would let that come naturally if it did.
He’d learned that lesson.
“If you want to, sure, but if the room suits you, it’s yours for as long as you want it.
It’s fixin’ to head into holiday season, and—” Coop shrugged.
“Well, I’ll be honest, that’s hard on the babies, and only their second without their folks.
It would be a blessing to have another set of hands, another heart. ”
Brooks’s cheeks heated. “Yeah. Okay, I don’t want to have to start from scratch alone.”
“Listen, we have two birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, along with all the school things between now and three months.”
“Jesus.”
“Right. Times six.” Coop finished his pancakes. “Those were amazing. Thank you.”
“My mom always did pancakes and bacon on Saturdays. Always.”
“Are you church folks? Benji said no, and none of the kiddos have asked.”
He shook his head. “Sunday the rodeo runs early. So we had biscuits and sausage and we took them with us to the arena. What about you?”
Coop shook his head. “My dad loves to cook, so we had all sorts of things, when he wasn’t on the road.”
“Yeah? But you never learned?”
“I was the kind of kid who could burn water. I assemble instead of cooking.”
Brooks chuckled. “Well, then I’ll hang about, if that’s okay. I can pay for groceries and stuff for the kids.”
“Okay. But I know you’re not working, so if that’s a hardship?—”
“Shit, Coop.” Brooks laughed. “I had not a damn thing to spend my money on for years in Australia. I’m not worried.”
“Fair enough. Now, before the rest of the crush shows up, you want to go see those barns? Ricky will wash up along with Lucy.”
“I can’t think of anything I want more.” He put his plate in the sink, and he was feeling far more settled.
This might just work.