Page 110 of Filthy Fae

“I know,” I said. “And I don’t even mind shoveling shit that much. There’s just a few things I think someone with more experience could bring to the table. And I’m not so confident in the business side. I can keep the books, but if he could do the in-depth business stuff, like paying your salaries and the taxes and stuff, that might be nice.”

“So that’s it?” Waylon asked. “You’re all in favor of letting a snake into the nest?”

“I didn’t say we’d trust him,” Sawyer said, his eyes landing on me. “Especially around Amber. You know how he is. But we can’t really stop him.”

“I’ve got a shotgun,” Waylon said. “I can stop him.”

“You better not,” I said. “I might have signed up for horse shit duty, but I didn’t sign up for visiting you in prison once a month. Plus, you know, I don’t want my man to wind up being someone else’s bitch.”

Waylon grunted. “Seeing you and not being able to touch you would be worse.”

“There’s conjugal visits,” Sawyer said with a wink.

“Do they let your brothers attend those?” I asked.

“I’m joking,” he said, holding up a hand. “No one’s killing our brother.”

“He deserves it,” Waylon said. “They might let me off easy, seeing what he’s done.”

“You aren’t seriously sitting around the table debating whether to kill someone,” I said.

“No,” Waylon grumbled. “I guess I’m not.”

“Good, because I definitely didn’t sign up for that. The closest I’ve ever been to a murderer is watching The Sopranos, and I’d like to keep it that way, thank you very much.”

“And you will,” Holden said, taking my hand in his huge paw. “We’d never do anything to threaten what we have.”

“Neither would I,” I said. “I know it might be hard for you to trust again, but just know that no matter what happens with Cody, I’d never cheat on you guys. And besides, I’ve got all of you, so why would I? I couldn’t ask for more.”

“Good,” Sawyer said. “Now that we’ve got all that established, I figure we can let Cody know he’s done his penance by living with Ma. He’ll get his cabin back, but he won’t be living in the house with us. We’ll keep renting out the others to tourists.”

“That sounds good,” Holden said. “And he can take over the books and help with the horses.”

“That frees you up to focus on getting renters in the other cabins,” Sawyer said to me. “You’re a people person. You can do the sales pitch and get renters in here in no time if you can put your energies into that.”

“Great,” Waylon said. “More nosy neighbors. Just what we need.”

“I still want to feed and brush the horses,” I said. “But maybe he can take over the pooper-scooper duties.”

We passed the rest of dinner in a pleasant conversation about how to keep the cows from dying in the upcoming blizzard. I found myself missing Haley and New York and even my mom. If I was back in Manhattan, we’d be shopping in the last-minute craziness, and every storefront would be decorated, and every display inside every store would be bursting with Santas and reindeer and trains and all the other Christmas stuff. Holiday music would be playing in every cab. I even missed the boring holiday galas my mom dragged me to and the grumpy shoppers.

“I think I’ll skip church this year,” Waylon said, pushing back from the table. “I’m in no mood to see Cody, and we can’t afford to lose more of the herd than we have to. At least one of us should stick around here to keep an eye on them.”

“I don’t mind staying with you,” Sawyer said. “Ma will understand, with the blizzard coming and all.”

“You guys better not make me go to church alone with your mother,” I said, gripping my fork. I hadn’t drunk nearly enough wine to handle an evening of sober Lidia, and I didn’t dare show up to church even a little tipsy. She had a nose like a bloodhound and would probably already be able to tell I’d had a glass with dinner.

“I’ll take you,” Holden said, covering my hand with his big one.

“Thank you,” I said. “I guess you all know whose bed Santa will find me in tonight.”

Waylon scowled, but Sawyer just grinned. “I can think of a little gift I’d like to wake up to on Christmas morning,” he said. “You know. If you feel like it.”

“Depends on how tonight goes,” I said, linking my fingers through Holden’s and giving him my most adoring smile.

“This is cute, but we’d better get moving,” Waylon said. “Y’all have a good time tonight.”

He plucked his hat from the back of his chair and stalked out. Sawyer followed, but Holden stayed to clean up the dishes with me before we got dressed for church. The guys rarely dressed up, so it would be a treat to see Holden clean shaven and sporting a button-down shirt.