Page 22 of Deck the Halls with Cowboys
“I did. Except he was the only one who referred to himself as the fun uncle. I still remember when the sheriff had him arrested for trying to steal fireworks from that stand that used to be off Main,” I rambled, holding the hot glue gun in the air. “Of course, that was before the last time I saw him. He’s in federal prison now for selling deadly bacteria on the dark web.”
The silence was deafening, and by the time I lifted my head, realizing what I’d said so casually, both of their mouths were hanging open. Mason was also behind them, jaw on the floor and NJ on his shoulders.
“I didn’t know Gary did all that shit,” he said.
The sound of cowboy boots came down the hall, and then I heard Beau’s smooth voice. “Gary was a total whacko. He tried selling bubble gum to kids at school after stealing it from the dollar store.” He appeared at the mouth of the hallway then, his arms loaded up with firewood. “He even tried to convince me that he was my cool uncle one time—in front of Abbie.”
Oh, yeah. I’d forgotten about that.
“Wasn’t Gary the guy who tried to set the football field on fire?” This came from Denver, who also had his arms full of firewood. He followed Beau into the living room as Mason replied, “Wait—what?”
Denver looked at his brother like he’d grown two heads. “You don’t remember that shit?”
“I do,” I chimed in.
The ranch owner shot me a look. “Of course you do, Lois Lane. You remember everything.”
“That she fuckin’ does,” Beau muttered, coming back into the kitchen, wiping his hands. He grinned at Mason. “So, where’s the ham?”
Harmony covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking with laughter.
“Why is everyone on my case about the damn ham?” her husband asked, looking at NJ. “Do you see what I have todeal with in this house?”
“Is the ham in the house?” Beau pressed, moving to me. His hand went to my lower back as I propped my hip against the island. Valerie tucked a lock of her dark hair behind her ear as she bent it, muttering, “I should’ve listened to Mags.”
“What was that?” Mase barked.
Harmony doubled over, howling with laughter as Denver entered. His brows snapped together, his head tilting and he watched his sister-in-law. “I take it, I missed something.”
“Mase, sweetie, just tell them,” Harmony pushed out through her laughter. “It’s okay.”
“There’s nothing to tell, Little Song,” he grumbled. “And why in the hell are you laughing at me?”
Val let out an overdramatic groan as both of her hands went into her hair. “Mase, you told me you could do it!”
“And I will,” he assured as Denver came up to him, eyeing his daughter.
“She just had a snack, you know.”
“I guess the role of the fun uncle just flies out the window every time the princess eats,” he shot back, eyes wide.
“You’re going to be the one flying out the window in a minute if you don’t tell me where the ham is,” Beau drawled from beside me. I put my hand in the back pocket of his jeans, giving his ass a squeeze as I laughed.
The bull rider quirked a brow. “Is that right?”
Beau chuckled. “Been looking forward to this ham for weeks.”
“I would lower your expectations,” Denver deadpanned, causing his little brother to do a double take.
Harmony wiped her eyes before clapping her hands. “Okay, give me the child. I need to hold her before Diana gets here and NJ wants nothing to do with me.”
When Diana was around, NJ stuck to her like glue. It had been like that for a few weeks now, but since I’d moved in with Beau, I noticed Valerie and Denver’s little girl went through phases. At one point, sheclung to me, and to be honest, I was still bitter that she had no interest in me anymore.
Mason looked offended. “No,” he told his wife.
Harmony moved closer to him, forcing him to back into the fridge as NJ started clapping. “It’s my turn.”
“And?”
