Read Online A Cowboy Christmas Miracle (Burnt Boot, Texas Book 4) by Carolyn Brown - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Carolyn Brown
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mornings, when he sits on one side and I’m on the other and never the twain shall meet in the middle. I did not get into his truck or go anywhere with him, and I would never, ever do that anyway. Is that good enough? Can I make my smoothie now and go help Eli and Tanner with the chores?”
Naomi gave her a curt nod. “That’s good enough. I swear the gossiping tongues in Burnt Boot are flapping at both ends most of the time. That’s a good thing you’re doing for the preacher. Next time, park your pink truck right there beside the back door and I’ll make sure everyone knows that you are doing something religious. It’ll be a good thing, like you slowing down on the drinking.”
“Yes, ma’am. You sure you don’t want a smoothie?”
“I had fried eggs and ham fifteen minutes ago. And I want you back here to go over books with me at ten o’clock. If the chores aren’t done by then, Eli and Tanner can finish them.”
Betsy hated the office and being inside the house all day, but that’s what Granny would have her doing the rest of the day. Naomi had never entered the modern technology world and still kept a set of books in longhand, but before she gave up her golden scepter and crown, she intended for all the information to be put into the computer. That way, she’d declared, Betsy would be familiar with the past and the present way things were done on Wild Horse.
“Did you hear me?” Naomi asked.
“Yes, ma’am. Ten o’clock in the office. Want me to clean the shit off my boots?”
Naomi’s forefinger shot up faster than a speeding bullet and pointed right at Betsy’s heart. “You take a shower before you come to work with me in the office. And I want the cussin’ to tone down right along with the drinking. Wild Horse needs a heavy hand but also a decent lady to run it.”
“Then ten thirty, since I have to take a shower, or do I work until ten, drive from the back forty to here, take a shower and clean up, and be in there at eleven?”
“Okay, okay,” Naomi said. “Come in at noon—have lunch and take a shower. We’ll work all afternoon getting things put into that computer. It doesn’t like me. It crashes every time I touch it. But I guess everything should be brought up to date before I step down.”
“Time to enter the modern world, Granny.” Betsy poured her shake into a travel mug, screwed on the top, and dropped a kiss on Naomi’s forehead as she headed for the door. She set the shake on the foyer table, put on her work jacket and cowboy hat, and hurried out the door before Naomi changed her mind about the time.
It took five minutes to go from Wild Horse to the church at the right speed. She made it in three, scribbled a note to put into the can telling Declan that they could not meet at the church on Thursday.
The can had held apple pie filling at one time—apples, a symbol for the fruit from the forbidden tree.
Very fitting.
She found Declan’s note, tucked it into her pocket, and rewrote hers to say that she’d be there. Then she picked up the manila envelope with the programs inside and took them to Kyle’s office. The door was locked, so she propped them against it and sat down in the front pew.
The hands of the clock, hanging to one side of the squeaky door, moved in slow motion, and the five minutes she was determined to sit there seemed like eternity. But the early morning gossips in Burnt Boot would see that she was at the church, alone, in her truck, and that she was supposed to be there.
Exactly four minutes and thirty seconds after she’d sat down, her phone rang. She let it go to the fourth ring before she picked it up.
“Want my recipe for a smoothie, Granny?” she asked.
“What are you doing at the church?”
“I came to put the programs in Kyle’s office. I was just leaving to go help Tanner. Do you have a tracker on my truck?”
“I don’t need one. There is a whole town full of folks watching your hot-pink truck. Honey, you can’t sneeze
Naomi gave her a curt nod. “That’s good enough. I swear the gossiping tongues in Burnt Boot are flapping at both ends most of the time. That’s a good thing you’re doing for the preacher. Next time, park your pink truck right there beside the back door and I’ll make sure everyone knows that you are doing something religious. It’ll be a good thing, like you slowing down on the drinking.”
“Yes, ma’am. You sure you don’t want a smoothie?”
“I had fried eggs and ham fifteen minutes ago. And I want you back here to go over books with me at ten o’clock. If the chores aren’t done by then, Eli and Tanner can finish them.”
Betsy hated the office and being inside the house all day, but that’s what Granny would have her doing the rest of the day. Naomi had never entered the modern technology world and still kept a set of books in longhand, but before she gave up her golden scepter and crown, she intended for all the information to be put into the computer. That way, she’d declared, Betsy would be familiar with the past and the present way things were done on Wild Horse.
“Did you hear me?” Naomi asked.
“Yes, ma’am. Ten o’clock in the office. Want me to clean the shit off my boots?”
Naomi’s forefinger shot up faster than a speeding bullet and pointed right at Betsy’s heart. “You take a shower before you come to work with me in the office. And I want the cussin’ to tone down right along with the drinking. Wild Horse needs a heavy hand but also a decent lady to run it.”
“Then ten thirty, since I have to take a shower, or do I work until ten, drive from the back forty to here, take a shower and clean up, and be in there at eleven?”
“Okay, okay,” Naomi said. “Come in at noon—have lunch and take a shower. We’ll work all afternoon getting things put into that computer. It doesn’t like me. It crashes every time I touch it. But I guess everything should be brought up to date before I step down.”
“Time to enter the modern world, Granny.” Betsy poured her shake into a travel mug, screwed on the top, and dropped a kiss on Naomi’s forehead as she headed for the door. She set the shake on the foyer table, put on her work jacket and cowboy hat, and hurried out the door before Naomi changed her mind about the time.
It took five minutes to go from Wild Horse to the church at the right speed. She made it in three, scribbled a note to put into the can telling Declan that they could not meet at the church on Thursday.
The can had held apple pie filling at one time—apples, a symbol for the fruit from the forbidden tree.
Very fitting.
She found Declan’s note, tucked it into her pocket, and rewrote hers to say that she’d be there. Then she picked up the manila envelope with the programs inside and took them to Kyle’s office. The door was locked, so she propped them against it and sat down in the front pew.
The hands of the clock, hanging to one side of the squeaky door, moved in slow motion, and the five minutes she was determined to sit there seemed like eternity. But the early morning gossips in Burnt Boot would see that she was at the church, alone, in her truck, and that she was supposed to be there.
Exactly four minutes and thirty seconds after she’d sat down, her phone rang. She let it go to the fourth ring before she picked it up.
“Want my recipe for a smoothie, Granny?” she asked.
“What are you doing at the church?”
“I came to put the programs in Kyle’s office. I was just leaving to go help Tanner. Do you have a tracker on my truck?”
“I don’t need one. There is a whole town full of folks watching your hot-pink truck. Honey, you can’t sneeze
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