Free (Calahan Cowboys 08) The Cowboy Soldier's Sons by Tina Leonard

said. “No fax machines, no ringing phones, nothing. This is what I need in my life. I heard a coyote last night.” His face held a look of ecstasy. “The sound of the rat race is pretty deafening, bro.”
    “What about the girlfriend?” Kendall demanded, her tone a little desperate.
    He shrugged. “Shaman doesn’t have one. He’s not married. And he’s fine. Gage only just got married, and he’s four years older than me. I’ve reconsidered this marriage thing. I don’t want to jump too soon.”
    “Well, about me having a girlfriend—” Shaman began.
    “What about Mom? Who’s going to take care of her?”
    Shaman and Xav both stared at Kendall. Even Shaman thought she was stretching the pity party.
    “Millicent will be fine. She will outlive us all,” Xav said, “and that’s a good thing. You and Mom can run Gil Phillips, Inc., which will make you both happy. And I,” he said with a contented sigh, “am going to learn to build things, use my muscles and commune with owls. That’s what Jonas said. Spirit owls.”
    “Oh, no,” Kendall moaned. “Look what you’ve done!” she told Shaman.
    He shrugged. “You know, sis, he’s got a point.”
    “He does not!”
    “I do,” Xav said. “I’m going to cede all my shares in the company over to you, sis.”
    “Moratorium on life plans, Xav,” Shaman said, “before your twin’s head pops off. Go easy, bro.”
    “Xav, you and I have been running the company together for years,” Kendall said. “How would I do it all by myself?”
    He kissed his sister on the forehead, drawing a frown from her.
    Shaman grinned. “Kendall, there has never been anything in life you couldn’t face on your own.”
    “That’s right,” Xav said. “Beautiful, smart—Gil Phillips in female form.”
    “That’s just great,” Kendall said. “What if I decide to just take a midlife detour? Go off the deep end? Commune with spirit owls?” Her hands were on her hips.
    “We’d sell the company,” Shaman said, and Kendall gasped. “Anyway, I’m having a baby. Let’s go celebrate my fatherhood and Xav’s decision to commune with nature.”
    “A baby?” Xav and Kendall echoed, sounding like the twins they were.
    “Apparently,” Shaman said, feeling really good about everything except how he was going to get Tempest to marry him. That would be a puzzle, a holy grail in itself. He couldn’t worry about that right now, though; he felt like he was walking on air and nothing could bring him down.
    “Wow,” Kendall said. “With the big blonde?”
    “I prefer to think of Tempest as delicate. Elegant. Just right.”
    “Whatever,” Kendall said. “I guess your kid will always be chosen first for basketball.”
    He laughed and shook from his hair the last drops of water that their wily niece had doused him with. “I am almost the happiest man on the planet.”
    “You see what happens out here. Happiness,” Xav said to Kendall, and she groaned.
    “Moratorium, bro,” Shaman said, but Xav had figured it out. Life was better away from The Family, Inc.
    Now Shaman just had to figure out how to convince Cupertino that she needed him in her very independent life. “I’m going into town to try to drag Tempest out to dinner. Wanna ride shotgun?” he asked Xav. “I’ll introduce you around, since you think you might want to make this your home for a while.”
    “Sure,” he replied. “I’m game.”
    “Lovely,” Kendall said. “Guess I’ll come along and try to remind you two that life is always better with money. And a Nordstrom nearby. At least a Macy’s.”
    The brothers laughed, then picked her up and carted her to Shaman’s truck. Just like old days, Shaman thought. Them against the world.
    * * *
    “I DON’T THINK I’ve ever eaten in a place called Cactus Max’s,” Kendall said as they seated themselves in a booth. “Quaint. When’s the skyscraper going to be here?”
    “Easy, sis,” Shaman said. “That’s the woman who’s having your