Operation Cowboy Daddy Read Free

dark-eyed man had never seen before.
    “What are you going to do if Amy never comes back?” Flint McCay asked.
    All of the worries that had kept Tony up all night crashed into him again. What on earth was he going to do? “I don’t have answers to any of those questions. I’ve just got to have some time to figure things out.”
    Mac McBride leaned down and grinned at Joey. “Aren’t you the cutest little buckaroo we’ve ever had in this dining room?” he said in the musical voice that, along with his guitar, often entertained the men in the evenings.
    Little Joey, who had remained silent and somber until that moment, suddenly laughed. The infectious giggling filled up the entire room and all of the men stared at him in awe.
    Tony steeled his heart. There was no way he was going to get attached to Joey. He refused to be moved by Joey’s smiles and antics. All he had to do was figure out exactly what he was going to do with the baby until Amy returned.
    * * *
    “Big changes coming,” Halena announced.
    Mary Redwing turned around from the scrambled eggs she’d been preparing to eye her grandmother curiously. “And you know this how?”
    “I dream-walked last night in my sleep.” Bright morning sunshine poured in through the windows to sparkle on Halena Redwing’s long, thick silver braids. She was clad in a pair of red-and-black polka-dotted sleep pants and a ruffled bright pink blouse.
    “And where did you go?” Mary’s heart filled with love as she gazed at the woman who had raised her, a woman who at eighty-six years old now shared Mary’s home. Halena had always been eccentric but had grown even more so with each year that passed.
    “I went to Kansas.”
    “Oh.” Mary blinked in surprise. Normally Halena dream-walked to strange and foreign places she didn’t recognize. “Hang on and you can tell me more.”
    She turned back to the eggs and scooped a portion out on each plate that waited with bacon and toast already on them. She carried the plates across the room and joined her grandmother at the table.
    “Okay, now, what did you find in Kansas?” Mary asked.
    “A tornado and a tin man.”
    Mary thought back over the past week and tried to remember what movies her grandmother might have watched. A month ago she’d gotten up early one morning and had announced that robots would soon be taking over the world. That had occurred after the previous night’s Terminator marathon.
    “So you dream-walked in a terrible storm and met a heartless man,” Mary replied.
    Halena nodded. “The tornado is a portent of great change coming and we have to beware of the tin man who comes. Now, let’s eat.”
    Mary picked up a piece of bacon and chewed thoughtfully. She didn’t have to beware of any man. Her future had no place for a man and at thirty-two years old she’d come to terms with the fact that she would live her life alone, without a husband...without a family.
    She was fulfilled by her work, by the friendships she shared and with the often amusing and always wise company of her grandmother. That was enough for her. It had to be enough.
    “What’s on your agenda for today?” Mary asked after they’d eaten and as they cleaned up the breakfast dishes.
    “I’m going to try to finish up that turquoise skirt so I can get started on another one. I’d like to sew at least ten more before the craft show,” Halena replied.
    Despite her advancing age, Halena still made beautiful skirts with beaded detail that was stunning, along with the more traditional Choctaw dresses. They always sold well at the annual Oklahoma Days Craft Fair.
    “Ten skirts in two weeks, that’s a pretty tall order,” Mary replied.
    “The more skirts, the more new movies I can buy,” Halena replied.
    A year ago, when Halena had been recovering from a mild heart attack, a friend had given her a DVD player and a handful of movies. Since that time she was movie-obsessed.
    “And I’m going to work on some baskets out on the back