by Pandora Pine
“What’s a Junior Moose Scavenger Hunt?” Tucker didn’t look up from coloring a dinosaur on his breakfast placemat to ask. “I heard a kid ask his Mommy about it in the breakfast line.”
Bronson and Nash exchanged a smile. “A scavenger hunt is a list of things and you have to find all of the items on the list. If you find all of the things on the list, you win a prize,” Bronson answered.
“I want to win a prize! What kind of things are on the list?” Gemma put down her purple crayon.
“I don’t know, Gemmy. I think you get the list when you sign up at the front desk.” Declan smiled at her. “I think it sounds like fun, don’t you, Ben.”
Ben’s blue eyes appeared over the rim of the Boston Globe sports page. “Sign me up.”
“Great! All we need now is Knox and we all can go.”
Ben rolled his eyes. “That was sarcasm.”
“That was a yes! We all heard you, Doctor Ben!” Tucker shot him a toothy grin.
“In that case, it had better be a damn good prize,” Ben grumped.
“Uncle Remy! Doctor Ben said a bad word!” Gemma sounded outraged.
Declan covered a laugh with a badly disguised cough. Their friends said a lot of bad words. It was odd Gemma chose this moment to say something.
“Uh, Ben,” Rem said, barely containing his laughter, “Gemma’s right. You did say a bad word.”
“My apologies, Princess Gemma.” Ben gave her a mock bow before going back to the paper.
Knox nudged Ben’s shoulder. “What crawled up your butt and died this morning?”
“You!” Ben crinkled the paper shut and turned a sharp look to Knox.
“Uh, if I was up your butt, you’d know it.” Knox waggled his eyebrows. “What the heck did I do?”
“You snore.” Ben yawned and folded his arms over his broad chest.
“I do not!” Knox sounded offended.
“You do too. Sounded like there was a grizzly bear sleeping in the next room. Kept me up all night.” The hard look on Ben’s face got colder still.
“So why didn’t you come into my room and poke me?”
“Didn’t want to wake you up,” Ben’s voice was pitched low.
“Aww, Doctor Ben. That almost sounded like you care about me.” Knox fluttered his eyelashes at Ben.
Dec exchanged a wordless look with Rem. Those two needed to figure things out between them. It looked like they didn’t know if they wanted to kiss or kill each other.
At least he and Rem didn’t have that problem. All Declan wanted to do was kiss Rem. He wasn’t any closer to making a decision about what he wanted but it felt so damn good to be back in his arms again.
“Are you two grumpy pants coming on the scavenger hunt or not?” Tucker looked seriously back and forth between the two men.
Knox laughed. “Yes! We’re both coming. I bet we’ll find Ben’s smile in the woods!”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Ben grumped.
**
Half an hour later, Rem and Bronson had gotten the kids registered for the scavenger hunt. Each of the kids got a checklist, a canvas bag with the hotel’s logo on it for their treasures and a plastic magnifying glass. Tucker and Gemma were running around the hotel lobby like miniature Sherlock Holmes’ looking at everything with the glass held up in front of them.
“Okay, kids,” Nash called out. “Let’s get this scavenger hunt on the road.”
The weather was pretty passable for April in the White Mountains with the temperatures in the mid-fifties. Dec figured any weather was good weather, so long as it wasn't snowing.
Rem stepped up next to him, taking his hand and linking their fingers together. "Are you ready to hunt?"
"Rem, this is for the kids, remember?" Declan wanted to kiss Rem, but with the kids around, he couldn't risk the little Sherlocks catching them in the act.
"What's on the list, Uncle Remy?" Gemma took Rem's free hand and started swinging their joined hands in the air.
Rem let go of her hand and dug the sheet out of his pocket. "Okay, it says we need to find an acorn, a pine cone, a smooth river rock, pine needles and a dead maple leaf. We get a bonus if we take a picture of a bird."
"Why does the leaf have be dead?" Tucker ran up behind them and took Gemma's free hand.
"Since it's only April, the leaves are still babies, plus if you took a live leaf off the tree, it would die,” Rem said.
"Just like the dinosaurs," Tucker said with a shake of his head.
"The dinosaurs went extinct, Tucker, so that means they are all dead. If we picked a leaf off a tree, a new leaf would grow in that leaf's place next spring," Knox said.
"Do you know all about dinosaurs, Knox?" Tucker dropped Gemma's hand and raced over to the first grade teacher.
"Yup! I teach a whole unit about dinosaurs in my class."
"Daddy! I wanna be in Knox's class next year!" Tucker shouted.
"Me too!" Gemma added, running to join Tucker and Knox.
"We still haven't decided which first grade class we want him in," Nash quietly said to Rem.
"I hadn't even given it a second thought. Knox and Kim Barnes are great first grade teachers. Gemma likes Knox, so I figured it would be a no-brainer to put her in Knox's class."
Nash nodded. "I don't think it would be a bad idea to keep them together, either." Nash pointed to the kids who were listening with rapt attention to whatever Knox was telling them.
"He's so good with the kids," Ben said from behind them.
"So glad you made it, Ben." Declan grinned at his friend. "Knox is amazing with kids. I think he has an easier time relating to them than he does to adults."
"Well, he acts like one, so I guess if the shoe fits..."
Remington stopped dead and turned around to face Ben. "What you see isn't always what you get, Ben. He's been through a lot, but you'd never know it to look at him."
Ben looked crushed. "Wow, I'm a colossal dick, Rem. I didn't mean it like that. It's just that everything is a big joke to him."
Rem set a hand on Ben's shoulder. "You didn't hear this from me, but sometimes the person who laughs the loudest is the one crying on the inside. You might want to cut him a little slack."
Ben nodded and hurried ahead of them toward where Knox and the kids were waiting at the edge of the woods.
"Wow, I had no idea." Declan had never noticed anything wrong with Knox, but then whenever Rem was around, he commanded Declan's full attention.
"He's got some stuff in his past that he still struggles with sometimes. Ben doesn't know it, but he did Knox a favor by not waking him up last night. It's rare he gets a good night's sleep. Makes me wonder if being in the same suite with Ben is making him feel safe."
"Ben's a good man." Declan felt the need to defend his friend. It really wasn't his fault that he didn't know Knox had shit going on in his life.
"I know he is, Dec." Rem pressed a kiss to the back of Dec's hand. "Nash has been trying to push the two of them together for months now. When they first met, they were like oil and water. I think they only tolerated each other out of their mutual friendship with Nash and Bronson. I think these last few months have softened their dislike into a friendship of sorts."
"I think they would be good together if they both loosened the fuck up."
Rem gasped. "Gemma! Dec said a bad word!"
Before Dec could reach out and smack him, Rem took off running toward where Gemma was standing with her hands on her hips, a frown on her face.
XX
"How do we get a river stone?" Gemma asked Rem, as they walked through the woods. The kids had each managed to find pine cones and acorns with no help from the adults.
"According to my trusty treasure map, there is a little brook up the path a bit." Rem pointed down the trail to where Ben and Knox were leading the way. Each man had their phone out and were walking quietly looking for birds.
"I like being on vacation with you, Uncle Remy." Gemma was smiling up at him.
Re
m laughed. "I like being on vacation with you too, Princess Gemma.”
"Can I tell you a secret?" Gemma clasped her hands in front of herself. Her smile was infectious.
"Of course you can." Rem couldn't help wondering what a five-year-old would consider a secret. He got down on his knees so Gemma could whisper her confidence.
The little girl cupped her hand around Rem’s ear. "I like being your princess!" Gemma offered him a bright smile.
"Gemma! You said princess without your lisp!" Rem swung her in the air. He was so proud of the progress she'd made since she started working with Declan.
Gemma yelled with delight.
"Excuse me!" Knox shouted. "How are we going to get the bonus item if you guys keep shouting?" Knox's voice echoed around them.
"Sorry, Knox!" Gemma shouted back before giggling behind her hand. "When we get back to the hotel, can we look at the books in the gift shop?"
Rem knew there were a few books that Gemma had her eye on but hadn't asked for. He was going to buy them for her anyway, but he'd been hoping she'd be brave enough to ask. "Of course we can."
"They have books about mooses, you know."
"I didn't know that!' Rem knew that, he’d seen several books about moose. He just loved seeing the look of surprise on Gemma's face.
"Maybe we could get one?" There was a hopeful tone in her voice.
“Maybe we could get two!”
Gemma looked like she was going to scream again, but instead whispered, "Thank you, Uncle Remy."
"You're welcome, sweetheart." Rem pressed a kiss to the side of Gemma’s head.
“I like being your sweetheart too!”
Rem gasped. He felt tears pricking his eyes. He'd never forget Gemma's words. He could still remember back to the day when Gemma had screamed back that she wasn’t his sweetheart.
"Hey guys! I found the brook!" Tucker shouted.
"So much for our bonus bird picture." Declan sighed.
Rem laughed. "No so fast. Turn around slowly and look at the clearing behind you."
Dec did what Rem asked. "Holy shit! Wild Turkeys!"
"It's a good thing we don't have a swear jar or you'd go bankrupt." Rem laughed and grabbed his iPhone out of his pocket. Bonus item, check. His little girl was going to find every item on the scavenger hunt, even if it meant staying out here all day.
After they'd taken a bunch of pictures of the turkeys, they all headed to the brook, which was actually a slow moving river. The banks were strewn were smooth rocks, worn smooth over time by the rushing water.
"This is a weird rock! It's got little holes all over it." Tucker ran to his new best friend, Knox, to show him his find.
Knox took the rock from him and rolled it around in his hand. "Tucker, do you know what this is?"
"It's a rock,” Tucker deadpanned.
Knox laughed. "I know it's a rock, but take a look at the holes in it. What do they look like?"
Gemma ran to them to take a look too.
Tucker studied it closely. "The holes look like little shells we find at the beach."
Knox's face lit up. "That's exactly right. This rock is a fossil. All of those little holes are where the tiny scallop shells used to be."
"I found a fossil?" Tucker's eyes bugged out.
"You sure did, buddy!”
"I want to find a fossil too!" Gemma shouted.
Rem's heart sank. It was a stroke of pure luck for Tucker to have found a fossil on the rocky beach. There was no way in hell they could get that lucky twice.
Knox clapped a hand on Rem's shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll find another one." He turned back to Gemma, "Come on, sugar plum. Let's go look over here. It looks like a good place to find a fossil." Knox winked at Rem before starting off with Gemma.
"He found a whole bunch of them earlier," Ben said from behind them. "He was going to lead the kids over there if they didn't find them on their own.
"I saw you guys talking earlier,” Rem said quietly.
"I had no idea Knox was such an outdoorsman. He knew the name of every tree and bird we saw." Ben sounded awed.
"Knox is a huge bird geek. Has feeders all over his tiny apartment balcony and helped Peg McKinnon plant flowers and trees that will attract more birds to her yard."
"I like birds," Ben said softly.
"I think you like Knox." Rem patted his shoulder.
"Uncle Remy! I found one! I found a fossil!" Gemma shouted, jumping up and down.
"Looks like Knox is the hero of the hour. I want to find a fossil too." Rem headed off toward his daughter who was still jumping for joy and holding her treasure in the air to show him.
Two weeks ago, Gemma would have run to Declan or one of the other guys to show them something this special. His heart felt full to bursting over the thought that she wanted to show him.
Thanks to his little girl’s amazing progress, Gemma was going to get every damn book in the bookstore.
15
It felt to Remington like the rest of the week flew by at light speed. Between nature walks, a million trips down the waterslides and sleepovers with both kids, it was Saturday and time to pack up. It had all gone by in the blink of an eye.
Gemma had spent their last night with Tucker. Their plan had been to stay up late and watch episodes of Jake and the Neverland Pirates. According to a text from Nash, both kids had been asleep by 8:30pm. Rem and Dec took advantage of their last night alone to spend some quality naked time together.
For the first time in days, Declan hadn't wanted to shower with him. Instead, he told Rem he could take the first shower. Twinges of worry worked their way through his body. Gemma was still with Nash and Bronson, so if it wasn't being interrupted that made Dec want to shower alone then what was it?
"You about ready to go down for breakfast?" The cheer Rem had gotten used to hearing in Dec's voice was gone.
Rem moved away from the king-sized bed, still messy from last night to face Declan. He looked like hell. His dark coppery hair was still damp, but combed neatly and he was dressed in jeans and a sweater. It was the dead look in Dec's usually animated green eyes that was the most troubling. "What's wrong, babe? You look like you barely slept."
Dec shoved his hands into the pockets of his faded Levi's. "I didn't really get any sleep at all."
"You should have woken me up. We could have gone for round three." Rem slipped his arms around Declan. He was shocked when his lover stiffened beneath his touch.
"I couldn't sleep because I was thinking." Dec’s voice was barely above a whisper.
Nothing good ever came out of those words. Rem dropped his arms from Declan's shoulders and took a step back. "What were you thinking about?"
Dec nibbled on his bottom lip, his gaze focused on his bare feet. "This last week with you and Gemma has been amazing."
Rem knew the start of a brush off when he heard one. "Was it, now?"
"You and Gemma have made so much progress, Rem. She actually looked sad to be leaving you last night. I never imagined she could come this far in such a short period of time.”
"Us, Dec. She looked sad to be leaving us." Rem had noticed Gemma's touch of reluctance to spend the night with Tucker until Bronson mentioned microwave popcorn.
Dec shrugged, rocking back on his heels. "The point I was trying to make was that the two of you are closer than ever."
"You're right. I've noticed the same thing, but what does that have to do with you looking like shit from not sleeping?" Rem had a bad feeling about the direction of this conversation.
Dec offered Rem a sad smile. "You and Gemma don't need me anymore, Rem. You're a family now."
"What the hell are you talking about? The three of us are a family." Rem's head was spinning. What was Declan saying?
"No. You wanted me around so that I could help you and Gemma get along better, so that you weren't angry at each other all the time. Look at her Rem, all she did this week was smile and laugh."
"Did you ever think she was that happy becaus
e we were all together?" He left off "like a family."
"I'm sure that had something to do with it. Now that you're happy together, neither one of you needs me anymore." Declan looked resigned to that fate. There didn’t seem to be an ounce of fight in him.
Rem had plenty of fight for both of them. "So that's it, Mary Poppins? You're off to play savior to another family now?"
Dec shook his head sadly. "No Rem. I'll go back to my life and you and Gemma can start yours with a clean slate."
"Oh we can, can we?" Sarcasm dripped from his voice. How the hell had they gone from fucking like rabbits just a few hours ago, to this?
"Rem, don't make this harder than it has to be." Dec took a step backward, wrapping his arms around himself.
"Harder than it has to be?" Rem shouted. "You spent the week fucking me and acting like you gave a fuck about us and all this time you were planning to leave us like a thief in the night?" Rem was beside himself. His emotions were in a tangle, with anger and heartbreak vying for top honors.
"I wasn't planning anything. You wanted me to come on vacation to smooth the way with you and Gemma and that's what I did."
"So fucking me was just a bonus?" All Rem wanted was for Declan to be gone. His heart was breaking so badly that he couldn't bear to look at his ex.
"No, Rem. I never said that." Tears pooled in Declan’s green eyes. He swiped angrily at them, not seeming to want them to fall in front of Rem.
"What are you saying?" As angry as Rem was in this moment, he still wanted to go to Declan and hold the impossible man until he stopped crying.
"You said you wanted this week to be a trial run. The week is over. Trial run is over. Now we have to go home and get back to reality."
"You dirty son of a bitch!" Rem shook his head, his hands fisting on his hips. "I fucking trusted you. Every fucking nerve in my body told me to stay away from you, that you'd only break my heart again, but I didn't listen. I thought this time would be different, but it wasn't. Make sure you ride home with Ben and Knox. I can't even stand to look at you." Grabbing the key to the room, Rem ran. It was the only thing he could do.