AllFreeNovel
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He was on one today. Honestly, what was her problem anyway? He was just having fun. She should relax and stop being an idiot. “You’re on,” she said.
Somewhere to the side of them, a pumpkin catapulted through the air and smashed into the field to the delight of a bunch of teenagers who’d come to crash the party.
The festival was a hit!
Cole brought Eva and his nephews to the baby animals that were separated in stalls near the corral where the races were going. Cole had asked a neighbor, Ray Funches, to oversee the races, and the outlandish rancher was really getting into it. “Snortie has a lead on Babe, but oh, now Pinkie has a leg up on the both of them. It’s anybody’s game now, folks!”
The piglets were racing right now. They’d decided to race the cutest animals in her opinion—the chicks, the baby goats, the puppies. The way her heart leapt around at seeing their bobbing heads, she felt like someone had punched stars in her eyes like that emoji that she used oneverything.
She leaned down and picked up the feistiest of the chicks. “ChugChug is winning this thing.”
“This isn’t a cockfight,” Cole said. “Nothing against ChugChug, but he’ll just beat up on the nearest chick and let Butter win.”
She scoffed. “Butter’s slow.”
“But consistent. He won’t go in circles. Butter’s my man.”
Her eyes narrowed on Cole. He seemed too cocky. “So help me, Cole, if you’ve been racing them on the sly…?”
“Just a feeling,” he said. “Can’t go against the gut instinct.”
Now who was the hustler? “Sure,” she said. “Hmm.” She was starting to get second thoughts on her choice, but Cole could be doing that on purpose. “Yeah, my money’s still on ChugChug,” she said. “I’m not letting you bluff me out of this one.”
“Money?” he asked. “Who said anything about money?” He glanced over at Charlie and Pip. “Pick your winner of the first race, then we’ll figure out what our winner gets.”
Charlie and Pip weren’t about to be left out. They chose Loopy and Clucky as their champions.
Eva hadn’t felt part of something in forever, and here she was actually fitting into a family, a very close-knit, broken-but-healed family. She always knew there was something special about West, but… why wasn’t he here sharing in these memories?
She was sure that Lily would encourage him to do it.
“If I win,” Cole said, “you have to make the turkey for Thanksgiving tomorrow.”
“Noooo!” she complained.
“What?” Cole said. “You think you’re going to lose?”
Ha, he was doing his best to take her off her game. “I’ll win, you cocky cowboy.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
She hedged. “You really want me to be in charge of the main dish? It could be terrible.”
“Bok, bok, bok,” Cole teased her.
Charlie let out an appreciative laugh.
“Oooh, that’s it!” she said. “You’ve got a deal. But if I win…”
His brow went up. “Yeah?”
“If she wins, you kiss Eva,” Charlie cried out.
Cole’s expressive brow went up, and he shook his head at his nephew. “That would be ifIwon. Duh.”
Eva laughed. He’d saved that one. “Smooth,” she said.
“We already worked out what I win,” Cole said. “Think of something else.”
