Ranch Manny - B.A. Tortuga Page 0,70
raised an eyebrow, Pop looked innocent. The girls brought Mom back in, chatting at her ninety to nothing, one on each hand.
Wiley popped his head in. “Boss? I hate to interrupt, but Nanny Goat is having trouble.”
Brent handed him Daisy, who crowed as he took her. “I’ll be back, y’all. Momma goat needs love.”
“Oh no!” He’d been loving on that goddamn goat for weeks.
“Don’t worry, babe. She’ll be fine.” Brent nodded to him and grabbed his hat.
“Holler if she needs me.” He loved Nanny.
“I will.” Brent disappeared, and he heard the patter of raindrops out there.
“And it’s raining again.” He grinned and shook his head. “Would you like some cookies, girls? Mom? Tea?”
“Oh, tea, yes please. What kind of cookies?”
“There’s lemon and chocolate chip.” Brent had turned out to be obsessed with his lemon cookies. He kept a store of them in the jar at all times.
“Oh? Are they homemade?”
“Yes, ma’am. Granny Ivy’s recipe.”
She grinned and shook her head. “Sounds delicious.”
“I’ll grab you a glass of tea. I thought I’d make pizzas for supper. The kids love that.” He did miss delivery, though. He’d kill for a slice of Saccone’s New York style. Pepperoni and green olive. Uhn.
“That sounds great.” His mom stroked Suzy’s hair. “What do you all like on your pizza?”
“Pepperponies!” Susannah cried out.
“Sausages!” There was Jakob, and then Caro was going to say—
“Black olives and mushrooms!” And there she was.
Pop blinked. “Yes, please. Can I have all of the above?”
“That’s called a preem!” Jakob looked so proud that he didn’t have the heart to correct.
“We all get to help make our own, Pop. So yeah, you can have what you want.”
The back door slammed open. “That God—” Curly stared at the assembled company. “—durned tractor. Trace, I need some Band-Aids, please, sir.”
“On it. Hand?” He was up and moving, handing Daisy off to Mom and grabbing a kitchen towel.
Curly came to him, thrusting over his gnarled old hand, which was scraped up to high heaven.
“I’ll get Band-Aids,” Jakob said.
“And peroxide, please. The brown bottle.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Come on, man. Let’s get you under the water.” He turned on the cold water and got Curly soaked. “Curly, this is Allison and Jack, my folks.”
“Pleased to meet you, folks. Sorry about that entrance. I’m trying to get one of the old tractors running to bring in some fill dirt.”
“No problem,” Pop said, while Mom sort of blinked. His folks were doing a lot of that.
“Do you need a doctor?”
“No, ma’am. Trace here’ll fix me. He’s a decent ranch medic.” Curly managed to not even crack a smile. Hell, he had glued together cowboys a bunch now.
“That’s not too bad. No butterfly bandages required.” Trace smiled reassuringly.
“Bald Harold says Nanny is having her babies,” Caro piped up.
“No sh—kidding? Well, we’ll all have to go see, huh?” Curly looked a little sheepish.
“Can I go help, Dad-O?” Jakob asked.
“Uh— Why don’t you show Poppy the puppies.”
Brent didn’t need Jakob out there, and he didn’t need Jakob tracking in mud and manure.
“Okay! Want to see now, Poppy?” Jakob took Pop to the mudroom.
“My puppy is named Silver Star Fairy Twinkle!”
“Mine is Rosie,” Caro put in.
“And mine is Marigold,” Curly added with a wink.
He got Curly cleaned up and bandaged, then got the man a couple of Tylenol and a glass of tea.
“Thank you, son. Lord, this rain.”
“Trace was telling us it’s been going on and on,” Mom said. She was staring a little as if Curly was something out of a movie.
“It’s endless. We’re all waterlogged.” Curly sighed softly. “I’m going to get back out there. Is it pizza night?”
“It is.” He needed to get the dough started in a few.
“Good deal. I do love me pizza night. Ma’am.” Curly clapped his hat back on his head with his bandaged hand. As he went out, Wiley came tromping into the mudroom.
“Jakob! I need towels from the rag bag, buddy.”
“Yes, sir!” Jakob went running.
“How’s it going out there?” Trace asked.
“Wet. It’s real wet.”
“Yeah.” Trace made a sympathy face. “Here, let me pour you a thermos of coffee for everyone. I have those no-melt cups.”
“You’re a star.” Wiley took the cookie Caro offered. “That’s my fairy-cow baby.”
She giggled. “Suzy! We need to put on our fairy-cow princess outfits.”
Mom blinked. “Fairy cows?”
Jakob ran back out, boot heels clicking on the floor. “Can I come help?”
Wiley looked at Trace, who rolled his eyes and nodded. “Get your slicker and mud boots, kiddo. And no making a mess when you come back in.”
“Yes, sir. I promise.” Jakob’s eyes lit up.