Connor was pretty sure he’d slept, but he didn’t feel like it. It was a strange bed in a strange house that belonged to a dead man and that all added up to serious weirdness. He didn’t know how the heat worked, if there was any, but they’d packed coffee so he started by making a pot and tugging his robe tighter around him while it brewed.
In true control-what-you-can fashion, Early had insisted on driving the whole way, all six-plus hours, and they’d driven straight through to Durango without stopping so the kids would sleep. That seemed to have worn the man out a bit, so Connor hoped Early had gotten a little sleep too.
He looked out the window over the kitchen sink and he could see part of a barn, some fencing and animals he wasn’t going to come close to identifying without his contacts. Cows maybe. Horses possibly. Or, knowing Rick, they could be llamas or alpacas.
Something split off from the animals and moved closer. It was wearing a cowboy hat, which was unusual for a cow. The thought occurred to him that he might be seeing ghosts, but that was too creepy for before coffee, so he decided it must be Demming.
Early came padding through a dark, wood-framed door in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. “Need to pop up the heater, huh?”
Connor hadn’t ever seen so much wood. Ever. Every single room in this huge place was raw wood, huge logs crossed the ceiling, even the bathrooms were all wood. The only things that weren’t were the kitchen and bathroom counters, which were stone. He couldn’t imagine the amount of work that went into a place like this.
“I guess. The kids will complain when they wake up. Do you know how? There’s coffee. Also, there’s a cowboy in the yard.”
“Demming. He’ll be up for coffee, no doubt. And the thermostat’s in the hallway. I’ll start a fire when I know we’ll be here for more than an hour.”
“I better get dressed.” He slipped his arms around Early and kissed him. “Demming shouldn’t see me in my robe.”
“He’s seen way me in less, but this is mine to gaze upon, hmm?” Early grabbed his ass and squeezed. “I need to find out what’s what, you know? I’m assuming all this is going to Pop, but I don’t know. We might be staying in Demming’s house.”
“Oh, geez. Well I don’t want to be half naked in Demming’s house either.” He grinned and hurried off, finding jeans and a sweater in his suitcase and dropping in his contacts. He needed to know what animals were out there. By the time he was back in the kitchen, Early was cooking breakfast. He had the best husband in the universe.
“Daddy! Can we have a fire?”
“Daddy! Can we ride a horse?”
“Daddy! When is Papaw coming over? Is Mamaw coming too?”
“Daddy!”
“Daddy!”
“Daddy!”
Early just let it all flow over him and kept making sausage and biscuits.
“Boys. Why does it sound like there are four of you in here instead of two? Sit down. At the table.” He started herding, and there might as well have been four of them. They were so excited to be here, excited to see their grandparents. “Sit.”
“Daddy’s making sausage!” Jaxson explained, like he hadn’t noticed. “And there’s biscuits.”
“And he says if we’re super good, we can go on the train!” Jayden joined in.
“Well, Daddy is in charge here, so if he says so, then I’d think about being super good. Starting now.”
Jayden sat and scooted his chair in, and his brother followed.
Go Daddy.
“You guys want some juice? I saw some in the fridge.” Early’s Mom must have done a little shopping for them.
“Yes, please!”
Ooh. A “please.” Score.
He needed coffee.
“Your coffee’s all fixed, babe.” Early handed him a mug with a dollop of sweet cream in it, offering him a wink. “I invited Demming for breakfast. He’s finishing the feeding and all.”
Then his cowboy was on the move, getting five juice glasses down.