Cowboy's Law

by B. A. Tortuga

  “Do you think he’d be proud?”

  “I think he’d be over the moon, honey. I really do.” He put the pasta in a big bowl. “Now, does everyone like sauce? According to Mama Miggliozzi, you have to put it all in a bowl, but I see how salad is.”

  “We all like sauce. Lots.” She rescued the garlic bread. Barely.

  “Cool!” He dumped half the sauce on the pasta and stirred. The other he would freeze after he pulled out a little to wet their pasta if it got dry. “Boom.”

  “We did it!” She squealed and bounced for him.

  “We did.” He hugged her, and they fist-bumped too, for good measure.

  They all sat around the table, and everyone from Seth to Jordan oohed and aahed over their supper.

  Bethany literally looked on top of the world, and when Wiley started clearing dishes, she cleared her throat. “Uncle Seth? Can I talk to you a minute? Like, in my room?”

  Law fought the urge to do a dance.

  “Sure, baby girl. Law, you got this?”

  “I do. I’ll finish up.” Jordan was still eating some noodles, but Wiley was a decent dishwasher, so he would just have to check before the dishwasher was started.

  He was feeling proud as hell of how he’d dealt with Bethany, from food to school. He didn’t know what he could have done better.

  Jordan, on the other hand, was stuffing a noodle up her nose.

  Whoops.

  “No snorting noodles, honey.”

  Jordan grinned at him. God, that was gross. Funny, but nasty.

  “Take it out, please, and let’s take your plate to Wiley if you’re done.” Jordan was supposed to be helping with little things, right? Speaking of, where was Keira?

  “Okay. Can we play Lego after?”

  “We can, for a little while.” He liked to play Lego with Jordan anyway, but it also put him in the front room, where all the kids migrated through at different times of the evening.

  “Thanks!” Jordan ran out, bouncing with her plate. Dawn was already back in her room, but Keira was in the front room coloring.

  She always sang when she colored, and it made his heart happy.

  “What are you making, kiddo?”

  “A color wheel for my art patch at Brownies. I want to get them all like Bethany did.”

  “Yeah? That’s a good goal.” He vaguely remembered the color wheel from high school art. Sort of. Okay, not really.

  “Thanks. What’s your favorite color?”

  “Blue. I like all the blue things. Sky, water, rocks with blue in them. What about you?” He sat on the couch, and Jordan ran in to leap on the cushion next to him.

  “Purple. I like purple because my birthstone is amethyst.”

  “What about you?” He dug his fingers into Jordan’s ribs.

  “Green! Like grass and slime!”

  “Slime is gross!” he teased, and it shocked him to hear Keira protest.

  “Slime is fun! Bethany helps me and Jordan make it!”

  “Really? What have I missed?” He was thinking like, Ghostbusters slime or like the dayglo green stuff that stretched and strung and got everywhere…

  “You want to see? I’ll show you.” She took off running, and he had to wonder what the hell she was fixin’ to bring back.

  What he got was a cup full of blue-and-silver goo with glitter.

  “Huh. That’s actually pretty.”

  “Right? You can touch it.”

  Why on earth would he want to touch it? However, in the name of good faith, he poked it with his finger. Yep. Slime.

  It wasn’t gross really. It was just… wiggly. “What do you do with it?”

  “You play with it.” The duh was unspoken.

  “Right.” He tried not to be all, uh-no.

  “Slime is cool, but Legos are better,” Jordan said. “I’ll bring you some.”

  No one asked him to sit on the floor after the one time Law had tried it.

  Bethany came out, beaming a little bit. “You want to watch videos, y’all? There’s a new slime one.”

  “Cool!” Keira carefully put away her colors, then moved to lay on the floor with her sister.

  Law raised an eyebrow at Seth when he came out.

  Seth rolled his eyes and grinned. “I was wondering when she was going to come clean. Good job, man. Good job.”

  “Thanks.” Of course Seth knew. Lord. The man was prescient or something. Still, he felt ten feet tall about helping.

  “She did a shit job signing my name, so the school called. They know that she’s taking this whole thing hard. She was in pre-K when y’all’s momma passed, and then Pistol. She’s worried. Sweet baby.”

  “Yeah. She’s a great kid.” Poor kids. All of them. Law hadn’t really processed that Pistol was gone, for God’s sake. Being here, seeing his stuff scattered around… sometimes it hit him like a blow to the gut. And then there was Seth—the man had to be lost.

  “She is. But you are made of win for dinner. I’ve never seen her so excited or proud about cooking.”

  Law grinned. “Thanks. Oh, hey.” Jordan had shoved a Lego, uh, thing at him, squealing. “That’s very cool.”

  “It’s a hippocereous!”

  “I see it.” He touched its blocky nose thing. “Good deal.”

  Jordan beamed at him. “Now I’m going to make a giralion. A lioraffe? Maybe a truck.”

  Seth smiled down at the little girl, a bittersweet expression on his face.

  “That sounds great. What color is it going to be?”

  Jordan reminded him a lot of Pistol. He would bet it was the same for Seth. “Green. And blue. With some red. Like Bonner’s truck.”

  “Ah yes, the primer special.”

  Law chuckled. Bonner was always fixing up his truck. Seth assured him this was the third one.

  Seth moved to his chair, plopping down and falling immediately to sleep.

  He grinned. Maybe he was doing some good if Seth trusted him to keep an eye on the kids.

  Jordan grinned over. “TV time,” she whispered. “Shh.”

  “Ah. Gotcha.” In fact, Keira and Bethany turned down the TV, putting on some show, and Jordan crawled up on the couch to slide under his arm.

  Obviously this was Uncle Seth time, which made him even happier. They really were a family. It had been too damn long since he’d felt like part of one of those, and he was gonna just go for it.

  So he settled in and kept his ears open to make sure Seth got his nap.

  Hell, he felt like he didn’t need one for the first time since the bomb.

  7

  Every so often Seth felt like he was running Jurassic Park. Seriously. Between the buffalo crashing through the fence, the neighbor’s ostrich flock moving into his front pasture, Jordan biting her teacher, and the damn swamp cooler going out, he was fixin’ to take the whole friggin’ thing offline.

  He limped into the house, which smelled like… well, it smelled like heaven. It really did. There were fans setup everywhere to keep the air moving, and he could hear laughter coming from the kitchen.

  Thank God it was time to turn the swamp cooler off soon anyway. By the time George could get out here to fix the squirrel cage, it’d be in the high seventies for the high.

  “What’s cookin’, y’all?”

  “Uncle Seth! Law is teaching us how to make Mama’s green chile enchiladas!” Dawn was actually at the stove. On purpose. Stirring something.

  Without being threatened.

  Dawn was the queen of the microwave.

  “Rock on.” He met Law’s eyes. “You mind if I sit?”

  “Not one bit.” Law smiled, then caught a bowl before it crashed to the floor.

  Seth hobbled to the kitchen table and sat, groaning as he settled. Fuck, ostriches were mean motherfuckers.

  “You get hurt, Uncle?” Bethany asked.

  “Little.”

  “What happened?” Law asked, frowning. A cold beer appeared in front of him seconds later, top popped.

  “
Bless you.” He stretched out and lifted his jeans, showing a cut that went from ankle most of the way up his calf.

  “Holy moly. What on earth did that?” Law pulled the denim away gingerly. “Wiley, can you get the first aid kit? Dawn, you can turn off the sauce now, and I’ll show you and Bethany how to roll.”

  “Wow, Uncle!” Wiley gawked at him. “That’s gross. Miss Jean’s ostriches?”

  “You know it. Fuh-reaking birds.”

  “Those things are so mean!” Keira was shredding lettuce like a little machine with a plastic knife.

  “Yes. They have huge spurs, and he just got me.” And he had been in the wrong place at the wrong kick.

  “Ew!” Jordan was counting tortillas. It was adorable. “Like a giant rooster. Bock!”

  “Yes. A giant, grumpy rooster.” And he had been stupid tempted to shoot the damned thing.

  “Here, let me see. The kids have dinner for a minute.” Law grabbed his leg and pulled it up on another chair. “Jesus, buddy. This is ugly.”

  “Yeah. It’s tender.”

  Wiley got hot water running, and damn if everyone didn’t work to get dinner churned out and help get him patched up.

  Law had a surprisingly gentle touch, and Seth did his dead-level best to not feel it, because damn, he hadn’t had a familiar touch since way before Pistol got sick.

  Having a traveling partner as young as Pistol tended to keep guys from coming on to a man, even the ones who knew what he liked.

  “There you go, man. Birds can really mess you up, but I got it cleaned out good.” Law lowered his leg gently. “Okay, oven! They go in to melt the cheese, Dawn. Wiley, can you wash up so you can help me with the rice?”

  “Yes, sir!” Wiley saluted, going to a half-assed, goofy version of attention.

  Law laughed out loud, shaking his head. “I would tell you I worked for a living, but I actually was an officer, so…”

  Seth chuckled softly, shook his head. “Yeah? What was your rank?”

  “Captain. I was going to try to retire as a major.” Law shrugged. “Then I got hurt.”

  “I’m sorry, but I’m glad you’re here with us.” It was the truth, when it came right down to it.

  “Me too.” That smile was totally unexpected and kind of gorgeous, and he found himself blushing. Like seriously blushing.

  Thankfully, Law was teaching Wiley about annatto seeds, so Seth didn’t have to feel like a weirdo.

  Jordan came to sit with him. “I helped with the cooking. Did you see?”

  He nodded. “I did, sweetheart. You are rocking it.”

  She was still in big trouble for biting, though.

  “Thanks, Uncle Seth!” Jordan leaned against him from the chair right beside him. “Tortillas are kinda hard to count.”

  “How many did you give us each?”

  “Two, plus two for the pan and two for the house spirits.”

  Ah, so three each for him, Law, and Wiley, with one left over for the girls to split. Nice.

  “I like the smell of hamburger meat cooking. I didn’t help with that part.”

  “No. Soon, right? Knife safety and kitchen safety at Scouts, huh?” That was the only reason Jordan was still a Brownie. The promise of camping and a pocketknife.

  “Right.” Jordan kicked her feet, but managed not to hit his hurt leg. “Did you know that our mama liked to cook?”

  “I did. I ate with her a lot. Did you know I was there when y’all came home from the hospital?”

  “No!” Jordan’s eyes went wide, and he saw Dawn roll her eyes. He told this story a lot, and every time, Jordan said no.

  “I did. Pistol and I were working horses, and your daddy’s truck broke down right outside the ranch here. We brought you and your mama here to rest, and we worked on the truck.”

  “And me and Keira were born here!” Jordan squealed it.

  “You were meant to be here, yes ma’am.” He loved Jordan’s excitement.

  “I love it here. It smells so good. Law said he made sure the green chile wouldn’t make my tummy hurt.”

  “Excellent.” He hoped there was a spicier sauce on the side.

  “Don’t worry, Uncle.” Bethany called out. “He put the terrible stuff aside for you!”

  “Rock on. I like the burn!” He roared, raising his hands into claws, and Jordan giggled madly.

  “I heard that about you. I also enjoy some spice.”

  “So does Keira. She’s a fiend for spicy.”

  “I smelled the green salsa, Uncle. Yum yum.” Keira grinned.

  “We’ll share, the three of us.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.

  “Yay.” She put lettuce and tomato on the table. “Law chopped some onions for you guys too. They made Wiley’s eyes water.”

  “That was your BO,” Wiley shot back.

  Keira looked teary, and Jordan leaped to her sister’s defense. “Maybe it was your ball sweat!”

  Wait. Wait, how did the seven-year-old know about ball sweat?

  “No ball sweat at supper,” Law said smoothly. “Got it?”

  “Sorry, Law.” The twins totally didn’t sound sorry.

  “Uh-huh. Okay! Rice is almost done. Is the cheese melty?”

  Dawn checked the oven. “Two more minutes.”

  “Excellent.” Law beamed, and Seth found himself staring a little. Happy was a good look on the man.

  The kids were working like a well-oiled team, and Seth knew it was beginner’s luck, but he was tickled. If Law kept this up, he was going to get to take over cooking, and Seth would just be the guy who grunted and grilled meat once in a while.

  Although he had liked inventing weird shit to tease the kids with.

  So maybe he would take one night a month. Or conspire with Law. Now that sounded fun.

  “You look wicked, cowboy. Are you having evil thoughts?” Somehow Law’s question felt like an innuendo.

  “Huh? Oh, well, I was thinking you could breathe new life into bizarre food night.”

  “Ah, we gonna be in cahoots?”

  “We could cahoot.” He couldn’t stop grinning.

  “Cahooted. I like it.” Law winked. He noticed the kids staring, then grinned broadly at him. “Stewed monkeys and boiled rats.”

  “Oh, stewed monkeys are my favorite! I also love cockroach and pig tail salad.”

  “Ew!” Keira moaned it. “We’re about to eat?”

  “Y’all are ranch kids. You should be able to hang.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Dawn pulled the enchiladas out as soon as Wiley left the stove with the rice, and suddenly the whole kitchen smelled like memories that made him blink hard.

  Oh, he could be right in his granny’s house, just waiting for his bowl of green chile stew.

  Everyone gathered up, and it was Wiley’s turn to bless it, and that was nowhere near as fun as when Jordan did it.

  He was going to miss that lack of self-consciousness soon, he thought, and he was going to hold on to each memory.

  “Looks so good, Law,” Wiley said. “I remember this.”

  “Pistol and I ate a lot of it as kids.”

  “Yeah. Me too.” Wiley looked at Seth, cheeks a little red.

  He winked at the kid. Come on, boy. You can do this.

  “Well, I want to try it!” Jordan piped up. “But no hot as fire sauce.”

  “No hot as fire sauce for you, young lady.” He put his sore leg down and sat up. “Y’all have some milk to drink?”

  “Yes, sir.” Jordan waited for her plate, and they all dug in not long after that.

  Oh, damn, that was tasty.

  They all fell on the food like ravening beasts, and it was the best damn food they’d had in a long time. He had to admit, it was infinitely better than hot dogs. Way better than his attempted aloo gobi.

  Wow.

  He grinned, taking another serving when Keira only took one enchilada and a ton of rice. Now she did mix the green chile sauce on everything, so he thought it was the corn tortillas. She liked flour.
>
  “I think it tastes like Mom’s, don’t you, Wiley?” Law asked, and Wiley nodded.

  “It does. You did good.”

  “Thanks.” Law nodded gently at Wiley. “That means a lot. Thanks for all your help, everyone.”

  “It was fun!” Keira said. “Can we all cook together again? All of us?”

  “Sure, kiddo. Maybe next time there won’t be ostriches, huh? And Uncle Seth can help.” Law winked at him, no censure in the words.

  “Yes. And I’ll do the dishes tonight, huh? Since y’all cooked?”

  “Nope.” Wiley looked pointedly at his leg. “Dawn and I will. We had the easy jobs. Keira, Jordan, and Bethy did the hard stuff.”

  He half expected Dawn to grumble, but after sharing a look with Wiley, she nodded. “True.”

  “I’ll run out and make sure the chickens are in, Dee,” Wiley offered.

  “Thanks, man. You rock.”

  Seth wasn’t about to argue. “Thanks, guys. I appreciate the help.”

  “You can help me with my reading, Uncle?” Jordan brought him her little reader. “I have to do twenty minutes.”

  Oh, she was trying to get her TV time back hard.

  “I’d love to, baby girl. Let’s do this.” He brought Jordan up on his lap.

  “Thank you!” Jordan beamed at him, looking like she was actually happy. “Today we read about Annie and her dog, Bingo, right Keira?”

  Keira climbed onto his other thigh without asking. “Yep. B-I-N-G-O!”

  “Bingo is a great name for a dog.”

  “I like Fuzzy,” Jordan said.

  “He likes you.” Fuzzy had been no help with the ostriches.

  “He does. Maybe someone can write a book about me and Sister and Fuzzy.” Jordan had the best ideas.

  “I bet someday Bethany will. She loves books.” His talented babies. “Y’all should draw the pictures.”

  “Okay. Later. I need to read now so you can sign my folder.”

  Excellent. Good focus. That would serve Jordan well in the future.

  “Mine too, Uncle.”

  “Yours too, Keira-Leira.”

  They read about Bingo, and he really worked hard to let them do their thing too and not help too much. Law sat with them, sipping a cup of coffee, while Bethany did homework.