Page 14 of Cowboy SEAL Homecoming

“How about I make breakfast?” Becca asked.

“We should probably come up with some sort of chore schedule,” Alex offered. Of course, he’d already made one, but he didn’t think it’d do him any good to mention that.

When Alex glanced over his shoulder, he caught Gabe and Becca exchanging a look. Which didn’t irritate him. He was not irritated they could share a look already. He was glad. Glad everyone was getting along. It was great.

Great.

“I’ll take breakfast today and that’s how we’ll start. You guys did dinner last night. It makes sense,” Becca said, moving to the fridge. She was wearing heavy jeans and a thick thermal, and she was bent over the fridge and her ass was pretty much right there. Which was something he didn’t even notice.

He flicked a glance to Gabe, who was looking at the exact same place. Alex glared, but when Gabe looked at him, Gabe only grinned.

Alex jerked the coffeepot out of the coffeemaker. He opened the cabinet door, but where coffee mugs had been his entire childhood, there was now an assortment of colored vases, colorful bowls too big for single servings, and place mats.

Place mats.

“Coffee mugs are in the left one.”

“Thanks.” Alex took Becca’s instruction and found the mugs. He was certain the pressure banding in his chest was a need for caffeine. Not discomfort.

He didn’t care if things had changed. Of course things had changed. That was what things did. They changed. Things could look exactly the same on the outside and be completely different on the inside.

Which was a metaphor for jack shit. And it didn’t bother him in the least.

He filled three mugs, leaving the fourth empty for when Jack appeared. He set one on the counter next to where Becca was scrambling eggs and then took his and Gabe’s to the table.

“You, uh, said something about Dad rehiring Hick, right? Does he do the morning chores?” Alex asked.

“He handles most of the stuff with the cattle. I see to the horses. I’m sure Hick’ll be glad to have help though. He’s been hiring some seasonal staff, but it’s hard when we don’t have a place for them to stay.”

“Obviously…” Alex trailed off at the sound of a—actually, he didn’t know what that sound was. Gabe was looking around the kitchen trying to find the source of it too.

Becca cursed and wiped her hands on a towel before tossing it onto the counter. “Damn it, Ron Swanson.”

Alex exchanged confused glances with Gabe. Gabe shrugged. Becca hurried out of the kitchen and Alex followed her. She went straight toward Dad’s office, which caused Alex to pause.

Before she could get to the hallway that led to the office and the mudroom, an animal clopped forward.

Becca fisted her hands on her hips. “You know you’re not supposed to do this,” she scolded.

The animal was not a dog or a cat or any normal inside, domesticated pet. It was a goat. And it bleated at her as if in answer.

What the fuck?

Becca glanced over her shoulder at him. “Ron Swanson here figured out how to use the doggie door. When he’s feeling particularly mischievous, he tends to try and sneak in.”

“Why…” So many whys. “Why do you have a goat who sneaks in through a dog door?”

“Long story. Will you finish with the eggs while I get him back outside where he belongs?”

“Yeah. You grab the goat, and I’ll fix the eggs. This is totally normal.”

She laughed. Such a pretty sound. Oddly comforting. Strange to realize it was something he hadn’t had enough of in the past ten years—pretty women laughing.

“If you came here looking for normal, boy, you came to the wrong place,” she said, sounding mostly amused.

She lunged for the goat then, and Alex watched with morbid fascination. She got her arms around its neck, but it bleated and kicked and Becca swore.

“You’re feisty today, Ron. I really don’t like it when you’re feisty,” she muttered to the goat.