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“Where do you want me to put all the boxes?” She dished up the pancakes and poured batter for three more.
“I’ll take care of those and set up the bed, too. You’1l have your hands full just getting your things packed and moved over here today, not to mention fixing supper. Remember you invited your uncle to join us.”
Actually, Cat had forgotten that, but she didn’t admit it. “Here. You can start with these.” She set the pancakes on the table between them. “The others will be done in a minute.”
“Mom makes the best pancakes.” Quint leaned over the table and forked one onto his plate.
“They are good,” Logan said after he’d taken a bite.
“Surprised?” Cat gloated a little. Light and fluffy pancakes had always been one of her specialties, one she prided herself on.
“Let’s just say I wouldn’t have been surprised if you didn’t know how to cook.”
“Thanks to my mother, I do,” she replied. “She enjoyed cooking and made certain that I knew my way around the kitchen.”
“In that case, I’ll look forward to supper tonight.”
TWENTY-ONE
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Cat pressed Tiny Yates and the ranch electrician Mike Garvey into service to load and transport the spare bed. She pulled into the ranch yard just as they dragged the box springs off the truck bed. Quint and her father were on hand as well, to supervise the unloading.
“Where do you want us to put this?” Tiny asked when she climbed out of the Suburban, dressed in a red University of Texas T-shirt and fashionably tattered jeans, clothing more suitable for the rigors of moving than a blouse and slacks.
“For now, we’ll just put everything in the living room. I’ll sort out where it all goes later.” She walked to the back of the vehicle to start unloading it. “Quint, go open the door for them.”
When he ran to the porch, her father came to give Cat a hand. “Let me carry that bag.”
“Thanks.” She gladly passed him a suitcase. “I never realized Quint had so much stuff. I hate to think how many trips we would have if we brought it all. This is worse than when I was hauling all my things back and forth to college.”
“True.” He ran an inspecting glance over the house. “The house looks to be in good shape.”
“The house is fine.” Cat dragged a box out of the back end. “It just needed another bed.”
In short order, both vehicles were unloaded, the contents piled in the living room. “Do you want me to find my stuff and take it to my room, Mom?” Quint asked.
“No, I want you to go back to the ranch with Grandpa. You still have to get your saddle and gear from the tack room and make sure it’s in the trailer with Molly before they bring her over.”
“Grandpa can do that.”
“What if I picked up the wrong one?” Chase asked, with an indulgent smile.
“You can’t miss it, Grandpa. It’s the smallest one.”
“You’d better come with me just the same,” he said. “Besides, I think your mother will make a bigger dent in this if she doesn’t have you underfoot.”
“I wouldn’t be under her feet. I’d be in my room.”
Cat caught him by the shoulders and steered him toward the door. “Go. You can unpack your things when you come back.” She walked him across the porch and stopped at the steps. Head down, he plodded out to the truck.
Pausing beside her, Chase observed her half-worried look when she gazed after Quint. “You should be glad that he’s looking forward to moving in here.”
“I thought he’d miss the Triple C more,” Cat released a long breath of disappointment. “I guess this is still an adventure to him.”
“He also knows he still has his own room at The Homestead, and that he’s welcome to come stay in it any time he wants.”
“I guess.”
