Page 16 of A Heart Falls Cowboy Christmas

The mudroom was full of boots and coats and a scent that had Ginny sniffing tentatively.

Smells good she thought. So far.

“I’m here to take over.” Dustin stood, reaching toward them.

Ginny went to hand him the potato salad but he waved her off.

“Not that. Her. Demi wants Uncle Dustin to be her date tonight.”

Tucker laughed. “Uncle Dustin is in for a treat. Someone is teething.”

“I’ll get her some whiskey for that—kidding.” Dustin waited patiently as Tucker took off the backpack kid carrier but stopped him before he bent to undo the rest. “I can deal with it.”

Dustin expertly undid the safety straps—not as if he hadn’t done it a million times before already, Ginny realized. He pulled out a wide-eyed Demi, who was sucking furiously on the side of her fist.

A year-and-a-half-old Demi considered for a moment then thrust out both arms. “Up”

“At your service, princess.” Dustin tilted his head toward the main room. “The guys are upstairs. The ladies are down.”

“Luke is cooking?” Tucker asked. “Good thing I brought my potato salad. I won’t starve.”

“Potluck, jerk. No one is starving with what I saw go past over the last thirty minutes.” Dustin had Demi in his arms now.

“I thought we outlawed that insult, in light of the little listening ears.”

“Joker? Jellyfish? Like one of those better?”

“I’ll think about it.” Tucker kissed Ginny almost absentmindedly then vanished with the potato salad.

Ginny watched him go with amusement.

“They should have been twins.” When she met Dustin’s gaze he jerked his head after Tucker. “Him and Luke. They both get antsy if they’re apart for more than a few minutes.”

“An exaggeration. But not much,” Ginny conceded.

She slid her feet into the slippers she’d brought, then glanced up.

Dustin was tickling Demi under her chin and making her show off two teeny tooth bumps, but his expression seemed off. It wasn’t a delighted uncle smile, but the same one she’d spotted earlier at the graveside—thoughtful and pensive. Made sense, considering today was the anniversary of the death of their parents.

Only… She’d also spotted that thoughtful head in the clouds look on Dustin more often over the past while. Hopefully it wasn’t something serious or something wrong with him and Charity.

She stepped toward him and leaned into his side. “Your better half ditch you for the ladies downstairs?”

“Not yet. She’s over at Fern and Cody’s for a few minutes. Fern needed help with…something…that I was forbidden to be involved in.”

“Ah, women plotting.”

“Cody is either in trouble or in for a treat.” This time the smile reached his eyes before he looked her over. Really looked her over, and a frown returned. “Are you okay?”

When he wasn’t brooding, he was too observant. Even more observant than Tucker. “I’m great. But I’m sticking with the guys right now.”

She tucked herself on his other side and joined the guys gathered in the kitchen.

Luke was cooking, or at least he was wearing kitchen mitts. As he bent and pulled out a roaster pan from the oven, the scent grew stronger. Thankfully, her mouth decided to water at the idea of roast with carrots and potatoes.

Beside him, Tucker had already moved a hot pad into position and was gathering serving bowls as easily as if they’d been at their own house.

Dustin, with Demi happily singing in his arms, had joined Uncle Frank and Ashton Stewart. Ashton had been part of the Silver Stone family forever, and Uncle Frank had come up from the ranch in the south to join the family remembrance the past couple years. Ginny was glad the tension between the families was no longer an issue.