Home For The Holidays

by Elena Aitken

  “Whispering?” Owen asked with a grin. “What’s that?”

  Exactly. These people had no idea how to whisper. Not that they ever had much need. They all liked to be heard and everyone seemed to always have a lot to say and they all knew each other’s secrets anyway. Whispering wasn’t much use around here.

  “I am not going down to help stall Bailey,” Chase told them.

  “Mitch said you were the best man for the job,” Josh said. His grin said that Mitch had told them more about Chase and Bailey than that.

  “Not true,” Chase said. “She thinks I’m a dumbass. And, frankly, when I’m around her it seems that’s true.” He lifted a shoulder. “I’m not too proud to admit that. But I am too proud to have a repeat performance.” At least in front of other people.

  Now if he could get her alone…

  “We don’t need you to dazzle her with your wit and intellect. Or even seduce her,” Owen said with a grin. “I mean, if you’re not up for any of that.”

  Chase wanted to flip him off. But the truth was, he’d put his foot in his mouth more than once and she’d ducked his attempt to kiss her so…yeah, he might not be up for any of that.

  He still wanted to try.

  He just didn’t want to let on to these guys that he wanted to.

  God knew what they’d say or do in front of Bailey if they knew he had a thing for her.

  “We do need you to distract her though,” Josh said. “For like an hour. Do you think you can keep her busy for an hour?”

  One of them would possibly end up with a black eye. But Chase had to admit that the idea of seeing Bailey again had his gut tightening.. He still had no idea why the woman wouldn’t leave his thoughts, but hell, if she was just down the road, it wouldn’t hurt to see her, would it?

  Actually, that was bad phrasing. It really could hurt. If not physically, then certainly his ego.

  Still, he said, “How about forty-five minutes?”

  “How about you keep her busy until we have all the otters rounded up,” Josh said.

  Chase frowned. “All the otters?” He knew about Gus, but there were more?

  Josh nodded with a grin. “Gus has a girlfriend. And they have five pups.”

  Chase felt his eyes widen. “That’s…wow.”

  Josh chuckled. “Yeah. Tori is over the moon. And thankfully Gus likes Kennedy best, so it’s her house that he’s decided is also his. And thankfully Bennett is into all the animals and stuff about the bayou so he’d putting up with having an otter family shacking up in his back porch and using a kid’s swimming pool in the backyard.”

  “I thought Kennedy lived with Ellie,” Chase said, running a hand over his face. This family was hard to keep up with even when he was here every single day. A few months away and he was completely lost.

  “Now that she and Bennett are together, they wanted a place of their own when they’re here. So even though they spend time in Baton Rouge and here, they bought a house,” Josh said. “Of course, it’s about a block away from everyone else.” He said it with a grin.

  The Landry clan all lived in a cluster of houses that spanned only a few blocks in the little town of Autre. It would have seemed a little weird if Chase didn’t love it so damned much. Plus it was handy for them all, considering they ate each other’s food, borrowed each other’s tools, clothes, and vehicles regularly, and just generally loved being completely immersed in each other’s lives.

  Chase’s family just wasn’t like that. He and Juliet were close, but it was almost as if their older brothers were mere family friends or acquaintances. Chase knew that was part of the reason he loved the Landrys and the way they’d pulled him into their family fold immediately and effortlessly. And yeah, he didn’t want that to change at all.

  Which was why he said, “Okay, what do you need me to do with Bailey?”

  Owen waggled his eyebrows. “Whatever you want.”

  “As long as it’s away from Boys of the Bayou. And Ellie’s. And all of our houses. And maybe even Autre,” Josh said. “We’re not really supposed to have an otter for a pet, you know? And now we’ve got seven. I mean, they kind of chose us, but Gus and Gertie have gotten really comfortable in the beds and shit Kennedy has put together for them. I’m not sure their babies are even gonna learn to fish or anything. They’re all just hanging out in the kiddie pool and eating the stuff Kennedy, Tori, and Maddie are feeding them. It’s ridiculous.”

  But Josh didn’t actually look that bothered. Probably because his fiancé, Tori, could do no wrong in his eyes and he’d move mountains for her if needed.

  “So you’re trying to keep Bailey from finding out that you have a whole bunch of supposed-to-be wild otters living the good life over at Kennedy’s?” Chase asked.

  “Yeah. And that would be easier if they were all at Kennedy’s,” Owen said. “But a couple of the pups have gotten adventurous and are missing.”

  “Yeah. One’s over here somewhere, I gather? From what I overheard through my open window while I was trying to sleep.”

  Owen clapped him on the shoulder. “It’s almost noon, sunshine. Time to rise and shine.”

  That was even funnier from Owen, who was in love and lived with Maddie, the least morning person Chase had ever met. “My booze tolerance isn’t what it was a few months ago,” Chase admitted. “Was really hoping for some grits.”

  “Yeah, you should get some grits,” Josh said, taking him by the shoulders and turning him toward the stairs. “Somewhere that’s not in Autre.”

  But Ellie’s place had the best grits and was definitely in Autre. In fact, Chase would be able to see it if he went to the window and leaned out just a bit.

  “But…”

  “And take Bailey with you.”

  “Okay, hang on.” Chase dug his heels in at the top of the steps. “If you want me to have any chance of distracting Bailey for more than thirty seconds, I’m jumping in the shower, getting some caffeine, and brushing my teeth first.” Frankly, he was a little afraid that she’d see him coming and duck around the other side of the building.

  Owen and Josh grinned.

  “You sure that’s enough?” Josh asked.

  “No,” Chase said honestly. “But bedhead and morning breath sure won’t help.”

  “Fair enough,” Owen said. “I’ll make the coffee and Josh will run over for grits.”

  “What about the otters?”

  “You better shower fast.”

  “So you actually helped with the tagging?”

  Bailey smiled at Maddie Allain’s clear horror at the idea of being close enough to an alligator to tag it.

  “I did. It’s quick and painless. As long as we can get their jaws clamped shut for a couple of minutes, it’s done and over fast.”

  “I hate alligators,” Maddie said. “I can’t even express to you how much I hate alligators.”

  “They’re a very important part of the eco—”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Maddie waved that away. “Big, stupid, ugly dinosaur leftovers.”

  Bailey smiled. Actually, they were all of that. Except maybe stupid. You didn’t get to be eight million years old by not being at least adaptable. “So, since no one’s really around right now, maybe I’ll head up to Ellie’s for some lunch.”

  Maddie’s eyes got wide and she straightened. “Oh, um, I was going to ask you about…turtles.”

  Bailey lifted an eyebrow. This was entertaining. As it had been for about a half hour now. Clearly the Landrys were hiding something and Maddie was in charge of stalling Bailey so she wouldn’t find out what. Kennedy had been in charge of the first fifteen minutes of distracting Bailey, but when whatever was going on drug on past the quarter hour mark, she’d headed out to check on “something” and Maddie had come in to take over.

  Bailey had been down here a few months ago, looking into a report of a rabid river otter. It had been a random report from someone who’d been a tourist down here and had overheard Maddie tell someone that the river otter that li
ved under the dock was rabid. Bailey had volunteered to follow up on it, not because she was that concerned—it was uncommon for otters to be rabid and she knew the Landrys’ reputation and knew they’d never put any of their guests at risk—but because she’d hoped to bump into Chase Dawson.

  Which had been completely stupid. The first time she’d spoken to the guy, he’d followed her on her way out to her car and she’d been completely prepared to gouge his eyes out with her car keys if that had become necessary. The second time she’d practically head-butted him when trying to kiss him. That had been mortifying. He’d also been…clumsy. Not just physically, stomping on her foot twice, but also verbally. He’d insinuated that she was a nerd. He’d clearly thought her work with alligators and interest in frogs was weird. He’d offered her money randomly out of the blue. She had no idea what to think of him. But she hadn’t been able to forget him.

  So she’d come down to Autre to… she wasn’t sure. To see if he was always that strange? To see if daylight made either of them less awkward? To show him that she might be nerdy but she was also serious about her job? She wasn’t sure. And it hadn’t mattered because he’d been gone. He’d left to go to medical school at Georgetown.

  Yeah, she hadn’t been expecting that.

  She’d then been unable to help but do some Googling. It turned out that Chase Dawson really was rich. Or his father was, anyway. He was from a very prominent Virginia family. Now she wanted to know all about what had brought him to Louisiana, even though it had been, obviously, short term.

  It made no sense to her, but Bailey was fascinated by Chase and was hoping to see him again.

  After their awkward encounter in the bar in August, she’d had every intention of forgetting about him. He was clearly a playboy, they obviously had nothing in common, and it wasn’t like she could claim that she couldn’t get over his kissing or something. They hadn’t even actually kissed. So why couldn’t she stop thinking about him?

  But she couldn’t.

  Maybe she was here to figure out what that was really about. That made some sense. She was a scientist. She liked figuring things out. Especially anomalies. And Chase Dawson was definitely an anomaly in her life.

  That had to be it. That’s why she was here hoping to see him again.

  Georgetown was out for Christmas break and since Juliet was now living here in Autre, Bailey had taken a chance that Chase would be here for at least part of his break.

  She hadn’t realized that the Landrys considered her a bit of a threat.

  She should have. The last time she’d been here looking into the rabid otter thing, she’d found out that Tori Kramer, Josh Landry’s girlfriend and a veterinarian, was rehabilitating a bald eagle and a gray wolf. Who had pups. Both were endangered animals and were not to be kept domestically. Of course. It was complicated because both were injured and Tori had actually been doing a fabulous job of caring for them and had insisted that she intended to re-release them when they were ready.

  Bailey had given her the benefit of the doubt. But she’d also had to issue a warning. She couldn’t shirk all her responsibilities just because she’d actually shown up hoping to see Chase.

  And now they all thought she was keeping tabs on them and showing up just to monitor things.

  It was a good cover, if she didn’t want them to know about her stupid crush on Chase, but she didn’t love that they were wary of her.

  It was obvious that they were now up to something—likely hiding some animal that they didn’t want Bailey to know they were taking care of—but Maddie was running out of excuses.

  “What about turtles?” Bailey asked.

  Maddie cleared her throat, her wheels clearly spinning. “Um, are there any endangered turtles in Louisiana?”

  Baily fought a smile. “There are,” she said seriously. And it was serious. The turtles were actually endangered. But she didn’t think that Maddie was really dying to know all about them. “A few, actually.”

  Maddie frowned. “Really? That’s too bad.”

  Okay, maybe she could convert Maddie into a turtle ally. “Sea turtles are—”

  “I thought donating to the alligators was the way to your heart. You mean it was sea turtles all along?”

  Bailey felt a shiver dance down her spine at the sound of the male voice behind her.

  Chase Dawson was here.

  She was stupidly happy to have been right about him visiting.

  She watched Maddie’s mouth curl into a smile. A seemingly knowing smile. What did she know?

  “Hey, Chase,” Maddie greeted.

  “Hey, Mad,” he said. “But seriously, don’t let her get you call caught up. She got me all excited…about alligators…and then sent my donation back to me. Without so much as a note.”

  Bailey swallowed hard. He hadn’t really paused before ‘about alligators’ as if insinuating he’d actually been excited about something else. She’d heard that wrong. Dammit, what was with this guy’s effect on her? She’d come down here to see him. Or at least hoping to run into him. And now she had this weird urge to just run. Away. There was a door on the other side of the office that led out to the docks as well.

  But she made herself turn.

  Which was a huge mistake.

  She couldn’t get him out of her head. It made no sense. His attempts at flirting had been awkward and her attempt to kiss him had been horrible.

  But damn.

  He was even better looking now than he had been in August.

  How was that possible? Maybe the lighting in here was better than at the bar. Maybe she knew he wasn’t a stalker this time.

  Maybe she’d missed him.

  That’s kind of how it felt, but how was that possible?

  Could you miss someone you barely knew? That didn’t seem like a real thing. But she had no idea how else to describe what she was feeling.

  Besides really happy to see him.

  And horny.

  Bailey sighed.

  “I told you that I didn’t want your money,” Bailey said.

  Chase nodded. “You did. But I’m not a very good listener.”

  She snorted. His grin grew.

  She was wearing a dress. Not her uniform. That meant she wasn’t here to check on the otters. Which not only meant that the Landrys were all running around for no reason—which was hilarious—but also meant she was here for something else.

  He hoped like hell that something else was the same reason he was so damned happy to see her.

  Stupidly happy.

  This woman was nothing like the women he usually dated, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this happy to see a girl he wasn’t related to.

  “Happy holidays,” he said.

  She inclined her head. “Same to you.”

  “How’s the swamp?” he asked.

  She gave him a little smile that said his small talk was ridiculous. “Warm and wet.”

  Nice. She was in a dress and flirting with him. This time he was sure of it. Yeah, she wasn’t here about any otters. “Just how I like things.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  It was so very unfortunate that he had yet to kiss this woman.

  He was definitely going to fix that this time. If he couldn’t use mistletoe to his advantage, he didn’t deserve to kiss her.

  “I was wondering if you could help me with something,” he said.

  “Well, Maddie and I were just in the middle of a conversation here.”

  Of course she wouldn’t just say, Sure, Chase, whatever you want.

  “Oh, hey, it’s fine,” Maddie piped up. “It’s really cool. We can talk later. If Chase needs you, then you should go with him.”

  Her attention flickered to something over Chase’s shoulder, then back to him and Bailey. He could only imagine the scene outside the window. Some crazy Cajun was probably running after some kind-of-but-not-really-wild critter.

  Bailey started to look in that direction, but Chase moved in front of h
er, taking hold of her upper arms. Her eyes went wide as she looked up at him, clearly surprised—and now adequately distracted.

  He knew she wasn’t here for the otters. But would he use the otters as an excuse to take up her time and attention? Absolutely. Without a single question.

  “I like your dress,” he told her. It was white with purple and blue flowers and was a light, floaty material. She wore a white sweater over the top, but it was clearly a summery dress. Not Christmasy at all. In fact, it was nice and short, showing off the toned legs that she normally hid inside baggy khaki pants. But he didn’t mind that she was out of season. At all.

  She blushed. Bright pink. “Oh…thanks.”

  Yeah, she’d worn it for him. Somehow that reaction confirmed that to him.

  “Very pretty,” he added.

  “Thank you.”

  “I’d assumed that you had great legs, but I like knowing for sure.”

  She swallowed and her cheeks got even brighter. “Um…”

  Maddie’s phone rang. Chase glanced over to find Maddie watching him and Bailey with an amused and slightly confused expression. She reached for her phone, her eyes still on them. “Yeah?” she answered it a moment later. “They are.” She paused. “Yes, both of them.” Another pause and a frown. “Is that real thing?” She rolled her eyes. “Oh, of course. Silly me.” A pause and she looked out the window behind her. “That’s perfect.”

  When she hung up, she gave Chase and Bailey a big grin. “Ellie and Leo need a favor. They’re out on dock two.”

  Chase grinned back. Ellie and Leo were Owen and Josh’s grandparents. The matriarch and patriarch of the Landry family. The people who had adopted Chase this past summer and showed him that people could love you, be exasperated by you, have high expectations of you, and support you right where you were all at the same time. He hadn’t really had that before. Except from his sister, Juliet. But definitely never from strangers. Of course, people were only strangers to Leo and Ellie Landry for about ten minutes.

  “We’re on it,” he told Maddie.