Cowboy Valentine by Mia Hopkins Read Free Book Online Page A

purpose in life was to make fun of him, and they lived lives rich with purpose.
    “So, have you got the post driver, Clark?” said Daniel, nice and loud for the benefit of the unseen girl in the loft.
    “Sure do, Dan!” said Clark, smiling.
    “Great!” said Caleb, trying to herd them out. “I’ll close up for you on your way out.”
    “Thanks, Caleb!” Clark said. “Hey, Dan, remember when Caleb was twelve and he used to sneak up here by himself to jack off?”
    Caleb shoved Clark into a pile of cardboard boxes.
    Clark stifled a laugh as he got to his feet.
    “Oh, man,” Daniel said, “he couldn’t get his hands on porno so what did he used to use?”
    Overloud, Clark said, “Our mom’s old JCPenney catalog. He’d yank it to the old ladies’ nightgown section.”
    “Remember when he tried to deny it? We showed him that the pages were stuck together.”
    “Motherfuckers, I swear,” Caleb hissed.
    Laughing, Daniel and Clark left the barn and started to pull the doors closed. “Dinner’s in twenty minutes, Caleb!”
    “Tacos tonight! Don’t be late!”
    “Yum! Tacos!”
    Caleb rubbed the bridge of his nose as he listened to his brothers’ laughter fading away in the distance. Once again, he felt the particular pain of being born not only the youngest, but also an “oops”, as in, “Oops, we had a baby ten years after our last one”. Caleb sometimes felt like he had five parents instead of two.
    He climbed back up the steps to where Cora was waiting on the sofa, completely dressed, with her legs crossed. Her cheeks were flushed, but she was covering her smile with her hand and shaking her head slowly.
    “Oh my God,” she said, laughing.
    “Sorry about that.” He sat down heavily next to her and took a gulp of beer. He’d gone half-staff, but his balls ached like they’d been stomped on. “They can be assholes sometimes.”
    She leaned over, wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed his cheek. “It’s all right. And I completely understand. Some of those JCPenney models are kinda hot.”
    He kissed her back, glad that she was a good sport about it all. The sun was still out, but no one would be in the orchard this late. They could still finish what they started. “How about a drive?”
    “Actually,” she said, raising her eyebrows, “how about some tacos?”
    He frowned. “Are you kidding?”
    “No, I’m serious. I’d like to meet your family. Could I have dinner with you guys?”
    There was always enough food to go around, even when unexpected guests showed up at the table. But he’d never brought a girl to dinner before. And none of his brothers had ever brought a Mexican girl to the house. Unexpected anxieties crept up on him. “After all that? You still want to meet my family? My douche-bag brothers?”
    “Of course I do.” She stood up and straightened her tank top. “I’m not embarrassed. We’re adults. We don’t have anything to be ashamed of.” She smiled sheepishly. “Although, if it’d been your mom, I might’ve shriveled up and died.”
    He turned his ball cap backwards, reached forward and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his forehead against her warm stomach. After a long time, he said, “You know, sometimes I forget.”
    “Forget what?”
    “How mature and smart you are.”
    “I’m not that smart.” She stroked his cheeks. “But I am pretty hungry.”
    It shouldn’t have surprised Caleb that his family loved Cora. Brainy, articulate, polite—she was great. His father asked about her plans and she talked about her scholarship to Brown and how she was leaving in a couple of days. She fielded all of his brothers’ stupid-ass questions and even helped his mother and sister-in-law clear the dishes. Daniel’s kids were on their best behavior. Not used to seeing a young woman at the table, Caleb’s nephew Derek stared at Cora with eyes big as platters, falling irrevocably in love with her as soon as she said hello to him. Caleb smiled,