Cowboy Boots for Christmas (13 page)

Martin nodded and removed his coat, hung it on the rack, and kicked his shoes off beside the door.

Finn patted Callie on the back. “It’ll be all right. Don’t worry.”

“Easier said than done,” she said.

Nothing was awkward, and that made everything awkward. One minute Callie and Finn were jogging home through the snow and then boom! They had a houseguest who wasn’t really a visitor because she was part of the ranch even more than they were. Callie could count on the fingers of one hand the times she’d entertained an overnight guest, and not a single one of them had ever moved right into the kitchen and taken over the cooking.

She tried reading a book when she went to bed, but her mind wouldn’t shut off. Next she tried visualizing a black dot and making it bigger like her therapist suggested. That didn’t work, either. Finally, she got out of bed, wrapped the chenille bedspread around her like a cape, and tiptoed across the cold hardwood floor to the den.

Shotgun’s tail thumped on the floor a couple of times, then he tucked his head under his paw and went back to sleep in front of the glowing fireplace with Pistol and Angel snuggled up against him. Callie settled into the corner of the sofa, tucked her feet up under the bedspread, and hoped the warmth of the fire mesmerized her right into sleep.

“You couldn’t sleep either?” Finn’s deep drawl came from the recliner in the shadows.

His voice startled her, but it didn’t surprise her.

“It’s been a crazy day, hasn’t it? It keeps playing through my mind on a continuous loop.”

“Verdie?” he whispered.

She heard his movements before she saw him shift from chair to sofa. The chair popped down, Shotgun raised his head to check out the noise, and then Finn was sitting next to her. The scent of masculine soap and shampoo filled the space between them and sent her senses into a spiral.

It was a full minute before she could get a hold on her emotions and answer. “Not so much Verdie as those poor children. She’ll be gone back to her new place in a few days. Probably as soon as the weather clears up. I overheard her telling Martin while she was helping him with his English assignment that she had to visit with Gladys and Polly before she went home.”

“The kids and even Verdie aren’t kittens or a stray Chihuahua,” he said.

“I know that, Finn.”

He moved closer so he could wrap her in his arms. “But?”

She sighed. “But I’ve never seen Martin so upset. He’s made friends here in Burnt Boot. It would be different if they were snatched away because their parents were moving, but this hits a raw nerve.”

Finn slid farther down the sofa until they were touching, then reached out to take her hand in his. “He have trouble in foster care?”

“Not really, but Lacy was all he had, and then she was gone. She’d left a will of sorts saying she wanted to be cremated, and there was enough of a life insurance policy to make that happen. They let me leave two days early so I could get home, but Martin had to go into foster care until I could prove that I could take care of him.”

“Proves my point, again.”

She snuggled down into the curve of his shoulder. “What point?”

“You aren’t a runner. They don’t worry. They just go wherever the wind takes them.”

“Verdie is a settler, too, Finn. She’s not happy in her new world and is still hanging on to this one. We should ask her to stay until after Christmas. There’s lots of room here, and she and Martin have struck up a granny-slash-grandkid relationship already. She told him to call her Granny Verdie. If his friends get taken away, it might help to have her here. Did you know that she read to him tonight? She’s so happy to be back on the ranch. I hate to think of her down there in that place with no family,” Callie said.

***

A week ago Finn had a dog. Period. Now there was a sassy parrot that never shut up.

“Kill the bastards and kiss the girl!” Joe said.

“Time for his tomato cage and apron,” Callie said.

Finn hurried to the corner and slipped the wire cage down over the bird and tied the apron around it.

“Good night, Irene,” the bird singsonged and then was quiet.

“Simple enough. Verdie is a genius for coming up with it.” Finn settled back into his place beside Callie. “Now back to what we were talking about. I don’t think Verdie will agree. She wanted to sell. Remember when you couldn’t wait to join the army and then after a few days of basic you wondered what in the hell you had done? Then you went home for a visit after basic and couldn’t wait to go back to the army. A visit is one thing; an extended stay is another thing altogether.”

Callie looked up at him and nodded. “So you think she’ll spend a few days here and be ready to leave. I don’t think so, Finn. She’s not a runner. I think she made a mistake when she sold the ranch.”

He could hear her talking, but it was just noise. He cupped her face with his hands, and his lips found hers in a soft kiss that soon deepened in raw passion that yearned to be satisfied. One of his hands moved to her neck; the other to the small of her back to draw her even closer.

“Callie, where are you?” Martin’s whisper cut through the darkness.

Finn quickly moved to the recliner, and Callie tucked the bedspread back around her body. His heart thumped in his chest and his breathing was still labored as he grabbed a throw to cover his lap.

“I’m right here, Martin,” Callie called out softly. “On the sofa by the fire.”

He curled up beside her and she wrapped the edge of the spread around him. “It was the dream again, Callie. I couldn’t get back to sleep.”

Like
mother
and
child
, Finn thought.

“That man was looking right at me, and he chased me. When I got to our apartment, the police sirens started and he ran the other way,” Martin said.

“I’m right here. Shut your eyes. We’ll rest awhile on the sofa. Shotgun is here, too. Nobody can get past him. And you can’t see him, but Pistol is curled up right at his back. Remember, he’s our alarm dog.”

“Granny Verdie made it past both of them. I like her just fine, but what if she’d been one of them bad people, and what if they’re still looking for us? I wish Finn was in here. Nothing gets past him,” Martin said.

“I’m right here in the recliner, son,” Finn said.

“I’m glad. You know what I want for Christmas, Callie? I want Finn to always be here, because he’ll keep us safe.”

***

All the tension left his small body as he stretched out beside Callie and went back to sleep. She wiggled down and used the wide sofa arm for a pillow.

“Is he asleep?” Finn whispered.

“Out like a light. He thinks he’s too big to crawl into bed with me, so when he has the nightmares, we sleep on the sofa the rest of the night.”

“So you are the nightmare whisperer.” He chuckled.

“What?”

“Like the horse whisperer. Only you banish nightmares with your presence. Damn, Callie! I wish I’d have known that two years ago. I would have looked you up and slept on the sofa with you,” he said.

“You are full of bullshit.” She giggled. “Go back to bed, or else pop up that footrest and go to sleep. We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow. There must be six inches of snow out there by now. There are cattle to feed and a truck to tow home, and Verdie says we’ll be putting up more decorations after we do chores.”

She heard the recliner pop as it went back. Shotgun moved away from the fire, checked on Finn, and then hopped up on the other end of the sofa.

She awoke early the next morning when sunrays had just begun to filter in through the mini-blinds, creating stripes of light across Finn’s face. She’d seen him with scruff on his face when they went out on a mission, but that was before they’d shared kisses that tilted the world off its axis.

Pots and pans rattled in the kitchen, awakening Shotgun, who cocked an eye that way and growled deep in his throat. The hackles on his back stood up, and his ears laid back.

“It’s just Verdie,” Callie whispered.

Shotgun peeked over the arm of the sofa and caught a glimpse of the newcomer. His tail set up a drumbeat on the leather, and that woke Martin, who hopped up and grabbed the dog around the neck.

“Where’s the other two?” Martin asked.

Pistol waddled in from the utility room, and Angel slunk down the hallway from Finn’s bedroom.

“Here we are. One big old happy family. I wish my friends could be here with us this morning. I know that would make them so happy.” Martin sighed.

Verdie yelled from the kitchen area of the great room, “Well, good morning. Looks like I missed the party, but I’m not bitchin’ a bit. I slept like a baby. I called the school, and it’s canceled for today. Weatherman says this will melt by Sunday and we got another front moving in on Monday. Biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast this morning and an oven omelet to go with it. Y’all goin’ to sleep all day, or are we going to make this house look like Christmas after chores are done?”

“Did Polly call?” Martin asked.

“Not yet, but the office where she worked don’t even open until nine, and since this bad weather has hit, it might take her awhile longer to get ahold of her friends who work there.”

Martin looked over Shotgun’s big head at Finn and then back at Callie. “What? Did I do something wrong?”

“What are you talkin’ about?” Callie asked.

“Y’all was talkin’ to each other with your eyes.”

“We were?” Finn asked.

Martin nodded. “Grown-ups do it all the time. They’ve got a secret language us kids can’t understand. Can I help you with the chores this morning, Finn?”

“I’d appreciate a good hand. Dress warm and put on two pairs of socks.” Finn stretched, flipped the lever on the side of the recliner, and sat up.

“We’re burnin’ daylight,” Martin announced. “And I’m starving. Granny Verdie, you will tell me when Polly calls, even if it ain’t good news.”

“I’ll be honest,” Verdie said.

He took off for his room in a run, yelling back over his shoulder that Callie promised they could make snow ice cream if there was enough snow.

The coffeepot gurgled its last, and Verdie carried two full mugs to the living room. “Polly told me this morning over the phone that Beth Layton is sick, but they didn’t tell the kids that she’s only got a few weeks to live. Stage four liver cancer. And Arlan is taking her home to Kentucky, where their people are from, to live out her last days. He doesn’t plan to come back to Texas.”

“I hope someone around here is willing to step up and take them in,” Callie said. “Martin has never made friends like he has here.”

“It’s Christmas. Miracles do happen,” Verdie said. “The biggest one is that I haven’t killed that damn bird. Which reminds me, it’s time to uncover him and let him start his perpetual speechifyin’ again.”

By the time Callie brushed her teeth and dressed in faded jeans, a clean sweatshirt, and a pair of socks, breakfast was waiting on the bar. Finn came from his end of the house just as she pulled four plates down from the cabinet. Verdie brought out orange juice and milk from the refrigerator.

“Y’all don’t say the blessin’ without me,” Martin yelled.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. It’s your turn,” Finn said.

“It’s Verdie’s turn,” Martin said.

“Be my pleasure.” She bowed her head. “Dear Lord, thank you for the life inside this old house and for this wonderful little family who is sharing it with me. Thank you for the good food and for the company. Amen.”

“Amen,” Joe said. “Now pass the biscuits, Mary.”

When Callie raised her head, her eyes caught Finn’s and, in that secret language that Martin had talked about, she told him that she’d been right—Verdie was a settler and she had come home.

“Okay, now dig in before it gets cold. Ain’t nothing worse than cold gravy or eggs, neither one,” Verdie said. “The decorations are up in the attic and you get up there through an opening in the nursery closet, so when you cowboys get done with chores, we’ll send Finn to get them. They ain’t been brought down since Patrick died twenty years ago, so there’ll be some dust. I lost the desire to put them up and”—she leaned forward and lowered her voice—“there are spiders up there, and I do not go where there is a spider.”

“They ain’t all bad. Some of them eat other bugs,” Martin said.

“That’s all fine and good, but I don’t like any of them.” Verdie straightened up.

“I didn’t think you’d be afraid of anything.” Callie smiled.

“Spiders and snakes,” Verdie said.

Martin shivered. “I understand about snakes. Callie is afraid of mice. What are you afraid of, Finn?”

“I’m not real fond of mountain lions. One cornered me when I was out huntin’ wild hogs one time. I was about fifteen, and that big old cat with green eyes let me know he sure wasn’t afraid of me,” Finn answered.

“Will you take me huntin’ for wild hogs sometime?” Martin asked.

“We’ll see when you get old enough to get a huntin’ license,” Callie said quickly.

Martin dug into his breakfast. “I won’t be afraid of mountain lions. Shotgun will protect me.”

After breakfast, Callie found herself in the living room alone, warming her hands by the fire, when Finn came out of his bedroom. He crossed the room, pulled Callie close to his chest, and said, “I wanted to hold you all morning and tell you that I slept better in that recliner last night than I do in my big king-sized bed. I believe it’s because you were right there and you kept the nightmares at bay.”

“You’re welcome.” She rolled up on her toes and kissed him hard. Someday they were going to take the next step, but she had decided to be patient and enjoy the sweetness of kisses, hugs, and touches until that time.

***

“Okay, now they’re gone and the kitchen is cleaned up. Let’s talk,” Verdie said.

“In here or the living room?” Callie asked.

Verdie pulled two glasses down from the cabinet. “The living room over drinks.”

Callie raised an eyebrow. “It’s only ten o’clock.”

“Like the song says, it’s five o’clock somewhere.”

She set the glasses on the coffee table and went to the bookcase beside the fireplace. “This old house has lots of secrets, Callie. This morning I’m going to show you the first one. Patrick’s daddy liked his liquor, so he built a safe place back during prohibition days.”

She pulled a book from the case and threw a switch located behind it. The whole thing moved to the right three feet, and there was another bookcase, only this one would put some liquor stores to shame. “We’ll have a shot of Jack Daniel’s this morning. Mainly because I’ve been craving it, and those folks at the funny farm don’t sanction drinking. They didn’t bother to tell me that when I signed a six-month lease with them. It might have been in the small print, but, hell, I can’t see that shit.”