AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Before Eva could suggest anything, Charlie was shouting out, “Bok bok bok!” Pip joined in. The boys were getting into this, and even funnier, they were actually making their uncle lose his cool. His jaw tightened as he stared down at them.
Now it was Eva’s turn to get him back for his trash-talking earlier. “You think you’re going to lose to me, is that it?”
He stilled at her challenging tone. His eyes went to Butter then to ChugChug before they narrowed on her. “You’re on, hon.”
Her face went warm as she just realized where her teasing had gotten her, and yet? A kiss on the cheek wasn’t shocking in the least, certainly nothing to what she’d livestreamed with him in the barn. And now her whole face was on fire at the memory.
That kiss had been, in a word, amazing, but now that she knew him so well, it felt like something more.
They should never repeat that!
Cole swiveled on his nephews. “If you boys win, then you get the teddy bear forever. We won’t even take turns with it.”
That seemed only fair. Eva stifled her smiles as they nodded in determination. Each of them picked up their champions, coddling them with seeds and trying to train them before the big match.
Funches called them out on it. “I see you, Slades! No coaching your animals over there. I don’t care how much you’ve got riding on this race, put those chicks in the arena and let’s see what they’ve got.”
Charlie and Pip exchanged glances and set Loopy and Clucky down at the starting line. Eva edged Cole aside and carefully set ChugChug on his feet. Her contender was fast, but undisciplined. Already he pecked at the other two birds. Cole was right; Butter could claim victory just by its slow and steady advancement. The race hadn’t even started yet, and Cole had to keep picking up his bird and putting him back at the start.
She giggled. Her chick had no chance of winning… though it was definitely for the best not to collect on that kiss.
“Last race of the night, friends!” Funches cried out. The small children shrieked out in complaint. Eva grinned over at Cole. This really was a success. No one wanted to go home, including herself. She still needed to pick out the perfect pumpkins for their Thanksgiving table.
“We’re getting you kids home for an early night,” Funches announced in his no-nonsense way. “Your parents are going to need their sleep so they can make you a delicious Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.”
Martha Slade, Cole’s elderly great-aunt, stood at the other end of the corral. She dropped the birdseed. That was the signal for the beginning of the race. The birds whipped around at the sound. Cole had trained them well, but that also meant that he knew which one would be the fastest.
Eva wouldn’t let that intimidate her. Having every intention of pretending she cared about winning this race, she clutched the railing, cheering on her bird. “Go, ChugChug! Go!”
ChugChug started out in the lead, but just as Cole had predicted, the bird noticed Clucky edging in on him and turned and got into a fight. “No!” Eva shouted.
That kiss certainly wasn’t going to happen. It was a relief, of course, though she was torn between her competitive spirit and the price of winning. She pointed at the birdseed. “That’s what you want! Leave Clucky and go!”
“Butter!” Cole shouted beside her. “Win me that turkey dinner!”
Butter passed ChugChug and Clucky as they bopped heads. Loopy, true to his name, ran in circles around Butter. She could win that way, but it just depended on what part of her rotation Loopy ended on when those two crossed the finish line.
Butter was so slow… if ChugChug would just stop being so aggressive. Eva pointed at Butter gaining on the bird seed. “Butter’s going to get it first! ChugChug, stop him! Stop him! He’ll eat it all and there’ll be nothing left for you!”
ChugChug miraculously turned, strangely, like he had somehow understood what Eva was saying. He let out a squawk and chased after Butter this time. “Go, go, go!” Eva egged on her bird.
Cole froze as ChugChug gained on Butter. The question was whether the bird would go for the seed first or tackle the competition… and that could be Loopy or Butter!
Eva scrambled onto the railing, trying to guide ChugChug with her hands. “For once in your short life,” she cried, “stop fighting yourself and go for what you want!”
Cole pushed up beside her on the railing to watch the action for himself, and then something absolutely crazy happened. Loopy, in her mad circling, brushed Butter too close with a wing and the two collided. They rolled through the hay in a cute, yellow blur.
ChugChug slowed, and then realizing that the competition was no longer worthy of his attention, charged for the birdseed. He crossed the finish line first.
Eva was beside herself with joy. “Yaya!” She pushed Cole’s arm with her own. “Take that! My bird is the champion of all champions!”
She honestly couldn’t believe it herself. It really went against all the odds. She hopped down from the railing, noticing all the phones recording the match. She hadn’t realized what a ruckus they’d caused, not that she wasn’t used to being a show woman in these situations. She turned and curtseyed to their audience before accepting the boys’ hugs as they congratulated her.
Their momma was at their side, smoothing Pip’s hair, declaring how amazing the whole race was. River held their baby, whose head bobbed from side to side as the little guy watched on with vague sleepiness.
“ChugChug was our dark horse!” Charlie said with admiring eyes; they took on a wicked gleam. “Cole!” He turned on his stiff uncle. “You have to kiss Eva!”
Liv actually gasped in horror. “Charlie! They can’t!”
