“You came to the memorial service,” Ellie said. “I remember. Thank you.”
“Dad’s making chili for lunch.”
Jesse inhaled. “That smells incredible.”
“Damn straight,” said Jack.
“Damn,” said Daisy.
“Uh-oh.” Jack gave Ellie a sheepish grin. “I’d best watch my mouth around her. She’s a smart little cookie.”
“Like you watch your mouth around your grandkids, Dad?” Nate chuckled. “The rest of the family is in the playroom. Let me show you around.”
In short order, they’d gotten a tour of a home that out-classed even the luxury suite at the Scarlet Mountain Resort and met Nate’s wife, Megan, and their kids—Emily, who was eight, and Jackson, who was nineteen months old. Nate also introduced them to Jack’s wife, Janet, and their little girl, Lily, who was eighteen months old.
Emily was fascinated with the twins. “Can they play with me?”
“I think they’d like that.” Ellie set Daisy down.
Jesse did the same with Daniel.
“Why don’t you and I go out and get started?” Nate said.
Jesse followed Nate outside. “Have you done this before?”
“I’ve done it on both sides of the horse.” While Jesse loaded his gear into Nate’s pickup truck, Nate went over the basics. “You’ll want to keep your mouth shut and wear ski goggles. A couple dozen horses running down the same stretch of road means a lot of horse shit. Sooner or later, a clod is going to fly up and hit you in the face.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“You don’t want to wrap the rope around your arm. That’s how you end up with a broken wrist. Just hold onto it.”
“Got it.”
“And no slack. Make sure the rope stays tight, or you’ll get jerked off your feet and maybe dislocate your shoulder.”
“No slack.”
“I’ll ride straight down the middle. You’ll use the edges of your skis to control your direction back and forth. Based on prior years, there will be three jumps, three gates to move through, and three rings at the end that you need to catch on your arm.”
“I watched last year.”
Nate grinned. “You’re going to love it. One last thing. The road is hard-packed snow with asphalt beneath, so if you fall, the pain is real. Don’t fall.”
They climbed into the pickup and drove a short distance from the ranch house, past a small stone building that looked like a picnic shelter. In the distance, he could see a ranch hand holding the reins of a big palomino horse and…
Jesse stared. Nate had put together a full-sized skijoring course complete with two six-foot jumps, a four-foot jump, a couple of gates, and even rings. “Holy shit. You never do anything half-assed around here, do you?”
Nate chuckled. “Not if we can help it.”
* * *
Ellie satin the playroom talking with Megan and Janet while Emily played with the twins and the two littlest ones parallel played on the floor near their mothers. “She’s really good with them.”
Megan smiled, her gaze on her daughter. “She’s had a lot of practice. She was so excited when she found out there were going to be two babies in the house.”
“Does she understand that Lily is her aunt?”
Megan nodded. “She understood before Lily was born that the baby would be her daddy’s little sister or brother. She’s always just accepted that as normal, though she was a little jealous at first when Janet came into Jack’s life. She adores Jack.”