Free Rodeo King (Dustin Lovers Book 1) by Cheryl Yeko, Char Chaffin Page B

had followed in her footsteps, taking it even
further and becoming a professional roper on the circuit. Mimi had dropped out
to marry, and her husband Frank moved the family to Cheyenne last year.
    Rosemary had lost touch with both Mimi
and Dwana, catching up only here and there when Mimi and the boys came to town.
    She gave Mimi a quick hug. “Hi, Mimi.
I’ve been good. You?”
    “Been good. Busy.” She blew honey blonde
curls off her forehead.
    “Where’s Frank?” Rosemary hadn’t seen
him walk up.
    “Trucking as usual.” Mimi rolled her
eyes. “Big load to Montana. He’ll be back tomorrow.” Her smile held the
weariness as well as the fortitude of a long-haul trucker’s wife.
    Rosemary stood back and grinned at the
trio of chubby-cheeked faces peering at her. “I can’t believe how big your boys
have grown.” She opened her arms to collect the adorable herd, identical
triplets with their mother’s sky-blue eyes and their dad’s black hair. As the
boys huddled close in a wriggling snuggle, she glanced up at Mimi. “Are you
here for the day?”
    “Yep. There’s nothing like this in
Cheyenne, damn it all. And we promised the boys.” Mimi tousled two heads and
snickered at their indignant groans. “Little buggers are starved as usual. But
they begged to ride first, then we’re going to Sonic.” She looked around curiously.
“Where’s that cutie of yours? Are you here all day, too?”
    “Well, I—” Rosemary didn’t get any
farther, because Mimi’s jaw unhinged in a gape. Tensing, Rosemary looked over
her shoulder as Caleb and Carson strolled along the carousel boundary, hand in
hand.
    “Is that—oh, my—um . . .” Mimi turned a
shocked face to her. “Caleb Johnson.” She flicked him another glance. “When did
he blow in? Are you two together?”
    Rosemary sighed as she released the boys
so they could run to the fence and watch the carousel spin. “He got in about
ten days ago. It’s kind of a long story, Mimi. I guess you could say we’re
trying it out to see if it fits.” She scraped her hair back from her face with
fingers that held a tremble. “Carson adores him.”
    “Does he know who Caleb is?”
    “Oh, yes.” She gestured helplessly.
“What else can I do? I have to give this a chance.”
    “Yeah.” Mimi nodded in empathy. “I get
it, believe me. You remember what Frank and I went through. I knew damned well
the man didn’t want to get married even with three babies on the way. My daddy
threatened him with a shotgun.” She winked. “It wasn’t loaded, thank God. Of
course Frank loved me back then but he was an immature ass. He’s grown up a
lot.” She squeezed Rosemary’s arm reassuringly. “I always liked Caleb even if
he was a wild one. He has steady eyes.”
    Before Rosemary could respond, Carson
spotted them and screeched, “Mimi Moo!” He broke from Caleb’s grip and tore up
to Mimi, flinging his arms wide. With a laugh, she dropped to her knees and
cuddled him tightly.
    “Mimi Moo?” Caleb murmured as he stepped
to Rosemary’s side and slipped an arm around her.
    She had to chuckle a bit. “You remember
Miranda, right? Carson called her that silly nickname because of the calf she
and the triplets raised for 4-H last year. It kind of stuck.”
    Mimi got to her feet, and assessed Caleb
appraisingly. “As I live and breathe, he’s back.” She gave his cowboy hat a tug
and it fell over his forehead. “Good to see you, Caleb. Whatcha think of this
short stack?” She tickled Carson under his ear, making him squeal.
    Caleb thumbed his hat back into place.
His lips twitched. “He’s okay in a pinch.”
    When Carson launched himself against his
legs, Caleb swung him over his shoulder like a sack of feed. “Kind of scrawny
but we’ll take care of that.” He swatted his son’s backside and Carson shrieked
with laughter, hanging upside down. He dug ten mischievous fingers in the
vicinity of his daddy’s ribs and the two of them tussled while Rosemary