Because Naughty Holidays Can Be Oh So Nice 2015

by Nicole Edwards

  “Not to mention, where are they gonna store this stuff?” Jessie teased. “I told Braydon that when they’re done, all seven of them should have to pool all their crap together, and next year, they could do a drawing. Whatever they end up with is what they have to work with.”

  “That’s a brilliant idea,” Kylie exclaimed. “I don’t even wanna know how much all this stuff has cost.” It wouldn’t be too hard to check, but she really didn’t want to know.

  “And it’s not just the lights.” Jessie glanced up at her after showing Kate how to drop the ball into the basketball hoop on the toy Jessie had bought her. “The computer program, all the little things they use to hold up the decorations.”

  “The extension cords,” Kylie added. “Oh, I know. It’s extreme.”

  “I think Brendon’s comin’ over later to help Braydon with an idea.”

  “Well, don’t let Travis hear that. He’ll only double his efforts if he thinks the twins are gangin’ up on him.”

  “Bah!” Kate squealed, her chubby fist pointing at the ball on the floor.

  Jessie handed it to her.

  “Well, I’m kinda anxious for it to be over,” Kylie admitted. “At least the adding part. Once they’re set, it’ll be cool. And the kids’ll love it.”

  “Yes, they will.” Jessie watched Kate. “Won’t you?” Her gaze swung back to Kylie. “Did you hear Brendon’s gonna have a concession stand?”

  Kylie nearly fell out of her chair. “Are you serious?” She sobered instantly. “Cheyenne’s not gonna sing, right? If she does, that’s so not cool. The whole town will love them.”

  If Kylie’s famous future sister-in-law gave a live performance… Surely she wouldn’t. The thought made her laugh, though, because at this point, there was no telling how far they were willing to take things. She could totally see Brendon coercing her into doing it so they could win.

  “I heard Sawyer found a place that has retired mall displays.”

  “Holy crap. Seriously?” Okay, so now Kylie knew she was going to enjoy it. As much as she hoped Travis would win—because she knew soothing his wounded pride would take time if he didn’t—she looked forward to all the creative ideas.

  “Yep,” Jessie confirmed. “And”—she lowered her voice—“don’t tell anyone I told you, but Kaleb’s got a train.”

  Kylie’s eyes widened. “A real one?”

  “Track and all.” Jessie’s grin lit up her entire face. “It’s freaking cool.”

  “What’s Braydon’s coup de grâce going to be?” Kylie asked curiously.

  “He won’t tell me,” Jessie huffed. “He knows I’ll tell you, and he doesn’t want the secret out.”

  “Well, that’s probably for the best. That way Travis can’t torture me for information, either.” Although Travis’s sensual form of torture was quite incredible.

  “Good thing we’ve only got a few days left of this madness.”

  “For this year, anyway,” Kylie agreed. “So, tell me this…”

  Jessie looked up at her inquisitively.

  Kylie loved to be nosey, especially when it came to her sister. “Next year … will there be a little Braydon or Jessie here to enjoy the holidays, too?”

  “It’s quite possible,” Jessie said, her smile never wavering. “And I promise, you’ll be the first to know. Well, aside from Braydon, of course.”

  “Of course.”

  What Kylie didn’t tell Jessie was that, if her sister was being honest, then they might just be pregnant together.

  If they were lucky.

  Not that two pregnancies in the Walker family at one time were easy, but Zoey and V had proven it could be done. They were just lucky that they’d been almost a month apart in due dates. Once the babies were born, it had been pure, beautiful chaos.

  So, adding two more to the mix … yeah, it was going to be an interesting ride.

  TRAVIS PULLED UP to Kaleb’s house around five thirty. He’d intended to come snooping after he’d heard a rumor that his brother had some sort of fancy train that he was going to use to give the kids rides on this year. Unfortunately, it was too dark to see much other than the house, so he settled for going up to the door.

  “Hey,” Zoey greeted with a confused expression on her face as she answered, wiping her hands on a towel. “What’re you doin’ here?”

  When she took a step back and motioned him inside, Travis entered the house, took a look around, and noticed that it looked much like his own house. Toys scattered everywhere, television on playing some cartoon show, tree in the corner glittering from the lights. It was cozy and festive, and he suddenly missed his own house.

  “Kaleb here?”

  Zoey nodded. “He’s finishing up the dishes. Want some coffee?”

  “I’ll never turn down coffee,” he told his sister-in-law, following her into the kitchen.

  There was a baby monitor sitting on the kitchen table, but there was no noise coming from it. “Kellan asleep?”

  “Yep,” Kaleb said with a smirk. “What brings you by?”

  “Just wanted to chat,” he lied.

  Kaleb clearly caught on to his fib, though, because his grin turned wicked. “You came by to snoop around, didn’t you?”

  Zoey laughed, taking a box of baby wipes over to the high chair, where Mason was playing with what appeared to be mashed potatoes.

  “I’m surprised you can keep him in that thing,” Travis said, changing the subject as he nodded toward Mason. “Kate’s already tryin’ to get outta hers.”

  “It’s not easy. He thinks he’s a little man,” Zoey said, tapping Mason on the nose and making him laugh. “But he’s so rambunctious, if we didn’t, we’d never get to eat.”

  “You hear about the train?” Kaleb asked, dragging the subject back around.

  “I heard,” Travis said. “The kids are gonna ride it?”

  “If I can get it runnin’ right, sure.” Kaleb frowned. “They used to use it at a Christmas carnival a few years ago. Got some problems with the engine, though.”

  Travis knew that the train was likely going to put Kaleb at the head of the pack when it came to the contest, but he liked the idea of the kids getting a chance to ride it.

  “It’s too late tonight,” Travis told his brother, “but why don’t we get Ethan and Beau over here tomorrow. Have ’em look at it.”

  “That was gonna be my next step.” Kaleb lifted the tray off the high chair when Zoey finished cleaning Mason up. “You wanna see Uncle Trav?”

  Mason started squealing as Kaleb lifted him up and practically tossed him toward Travis. Catching the little boy in his arms, he tickled him in greeting. “What’s up, little man? Where’re your cowboy boots?”

  “Oh, crap,” Zoey said, spinning around.

  That was when Travis realized he’d brought up a sore subject.

  “The B-O-O-T-S are gone. No salvaging those bad boys.”

  Mason put his hands on Travis’s face. “Boots.”

  Travis smiled. “Looks like Santa’s got somethin’ at the top of his list this year, huh?”

  “Boots!” Mason hollered.

  “Go get your horse,” Kaleb told Mason.

  Travis set the boy down on the ground and watched as Mason torpedoed out of the room with Kaleb fast on his heels.

  “How’s Kylie and Kate?” Zoey asked, wiping down the table before bringing two mugs of coffee over.

  Travis took a seat. “They’re good. Kate’s keepin’ her momma busy.”

  Zoey laughed. “I know the feelin’. And Gage? How’s he doin’? I heard there were some issues this mornin’.”

  “Nothin’ major,” Travis told her, sipping his coffee. “We had a couple of journalists who tried to sneak in. It ain’t easy keepin’ that place a secret anymore.”

  “Oh, I know,” Zoey told him. “And I’ve got the easy part with the hotel and all.”

  Zoey was spending more and more time at the resort these days after having taken off time when Kellan was born. She’
d taken back over the task of managing the hotel among other things. When they’d gone into business together, Travis hadn’t really known what to expect from the woman who’d been a long-time neighbor to his parents, but it was obvious, when Zoey put her mind to something, she was like a dog with a bone. And the hotel ran like nothing he’d ever seen.

  But she was right. Keeping the hotel running smoothly was a hell of a lot easier than managing the fetish side of things. With the clubs and the interaction areas … Travis and his brothers had their work cut out for them, even now, after being open for nearly two years.

  “So, who’d you hear about the train from?” Zoey asked, her eyes glittering with mischief.

  Travis smirked. “Ain’t tellin’. But you can let your husband know he can’t keep a secret for shit. He was sittin’ on a gold mine with that train.”

  Kylie laughed. “I tried to tell him that. You know him, though. He’s more interested in the kids gettin’ to ride it than winnin’ this thing.”

  “Well, we’ll get it runnin’. And he’ll still probably win,” Travis said with a smile.

  Mason chose that moment to run back into the room, trying to keep a small stick horse from tripping him up.

  “Horse!” he yelled, running right into Travis’s leg.

  “Lemme see that thing,” Travis told him. He peered down at the horse while Mason watched him carefully. “You know how to ride it?”

  Mason nodded, then took the horse and ran back into the other room again.

  “He’s learnin’.” Zoey chuckled. “But now Kaleb’s talkin’ about gettin’ a real horse.”

  “Yeah? That’ll keep him busy.”

  “There’s not enough minutes in the day as it is,” Zoey huffed.

  Travis knew the feeling.

  “Well, I better get back home,” he told Zoey, getting to his feet. “Kate’s goin’ to bed early these days, and I wanna spend some time with her before she goes down.”

  “Thanks for offerin’ to help with the train,” she told him, holding her coffee cup between her hands.

  “My pleasure,” he told her.

  On his way back through the living room, Travis saw Kaleb coming down the stairs, Kellan cuddled in his arms. Travis stopped for a minute, admiring the little boy and, not for the first time in the last few months, wishing for another one of his own. He’d never thought he’d be a dad, but now that he was, Travis found that the most important thing in the world to him was his family.

  “Leavin’ so soon?” Kaleb asked, keeping his voice low.

  “Yep. Gotta get home before Kate goes to bed.”

  “Give her a kiss for me,” Kaleb told him, walking Travis to the front door.

  “I’ll talk to Ethan in the mornin’,” Travis told Kaleb. “Then we’ll all get by here tomorrow before it gets dark. Get that thing workin’.”

  “Thanks, man.” Kaleb looked sincerely grateful for the help.

  “Not a problem. See ya tomorrow.”

  With that, Travis headed out to his truck, suddenly anxious to get home to his husband, wife, and daughter. He wasn’t sure what it was, but these days, the longer he was away from home, the more he wished he had more time to spend with them.

  Chapter Six

  GAGE WAS THE last to arrive at Kaleb’s the following night. He’d been stuck back at the resort handling an employee issue with one of the nightly security guards. Gage had heard a rumor that the guy had needed some time off to be with his kids on Christmas, and Gage had wanted to ensure he got what he needed. He could still remember the guy’s wide, startled eyes when Gage told him how he’d already reworked the schedule so he could spend Christmas with his boys.

  It was the little things that made the holidays so worthwhile.

  “There’s the man of the hour!” Sawyer called out when Gage approached the group huddled around the front end of a rather impressive miniature locomotive. Ethan was on the ground, half under the train, while Beau was leaning in, talking to him from above the motor.

  “You bring the beer?” Zane hollered.

  “Didn’t know I was s’posed to,” he said, taking them all in.

  Kaleb, Zane, Travis, Ethan, Braydon, Sawyer, and Brendon. And of course, Beau. Yep, they were all there.

  “Wanna beer?” Travis asked when Gage came to stand beside him.

  Nodding, he smiled over at his husband. Although they saw one another damn near all day at Alluring Indulgence, he found that times like this, when they weren’t burdened by the job, were what he looked forward to most. If Kylie and Kate were there with them, he would’ve been complete. However, he was grateful for this, too.

  “Sure,” he answered.

  Travis sauntered off but then returned a moment later. “Kylie took Kate over to Cheyenne’s with the others.”

  “Oh, hell.” Gage smirked behind the lip of his beer bottle. “It’s always a gamble when the women get together.”

  “You’re tellin’ me,” Brendon offered, moving closer to the two of them. “Last week, after Chey spent an evening with your wife, she was talkin’ about teachin’ me to cook.”

  Travis laughed.

  “Y’all are settin’ the bar way too high,” Braydon noted, stepping closer.

  “Don’t get your feathers all ruffled,” Travis said with a rumbling chuckle. “It doesn’t happen as often as you think.”

  “No?” Brendon asked, clearly curious.

  “No. We’ve just gotten good at making takeout look like we made it.”

  “Where’d you learn that trick?” Sawyer inquired.

  Gage laughed, then glanced over at Travis.

  “Dad,” Travis admitted.

  “Holy shit,” Brendon barked. “How’d he manage to hide that?”

  “Doubt he did,” Gage said. “Do you really think your mom would fall for that?”

  “No,” Travis stated. “But I can see her goin’ along with it so she could get him to cook dinner every now and again.”

  “True,” Brendon agreed.

  “How’s the train comin’ along?” Gage asked, tipping his bottle toward Ethan and Beau.

  “They’re almost done,” Kaleb told him, moving into the huddle. “And if they can get the engine to turn over, then we’ll be set.”

  “Keep your fingers crossed,” Travis said.

  “Are you doubtin’ my abilities?” Ethan yelled from beneath the train.

  “Not at all,” Travis called back. “But you have had a coupla beers.”

  “One!” Ethan shouted. “I’ve had one beer, Mom.”

  Gage had to admit that the interactions between the brothers still made him laugh. They ranged in age from twenty-six to thirty-seven at this point, and they still acted as though they were all twelve. But he’d been around long enough to know that the dynamic within the Walker family was rare. They supported one another when it counted, and that was something Gage admired in them. Lorrie and Curtis had raised their boys with a firm hand, but they’d given them what they needed to succeed, and that was what mattered most.

  Gage was honored to be a member of that family.

  “Beau,” Travis called out. “We’re dependin’ on you here.”

  Beau’s head lifted and he grinned in response. He had streaks of grease along his cheek, and Gage had to wonder if that was from tonight or if they’d come right from work. If he had to guess, it was the latter. These days, Walker Demolition was getting busy. They’d even hired Reese Tavoularis, the brother of a friend of Brendon and Braydon, recently.

  “Where’s Zoey?” Gage asked Kaleb.

  Nodding toward the guest house, Kaleb said, “She took the boys to hang with her dad for a bit.”

  “How’s he doin’?” Gage knew that Carl Stranford was getting up there in age, but he was still getting around, for the most part. Last week, Gage had heard Kaleb tell someone that Carl had finally caved and agreed to wear the hearing aids they’d bought for him. Most of the time, anyway.

  “Ornery as hell,” Kaleb answered with a snor
t.

  “So, still goin’ strong?” Travis inquired.

  “Yeah. So far so good.”

  “What about V? Where’s she tonight?” Gage asked Zane.

  “Oh, she’s with the girls. Probably plottin’ a way to get me to buy the house down the street from Cheyenne.”

  “Y’all do need a bigger place,” Sawyer told him. “You don’t have any bedrooms.”

  Brendon bumped shoulders with Zane. “On top of that, that place is a steal.”

  Zane looked sheepish for a moment. “Don’t I know it.”

  “So? What’s the holdup?” Travis asked.

  “No hold up. But it’s supposed to be a surprise.”

  “You did not!” Sawyer hollered, jerking around to face Zane fully, his beer sloshing out of the bottle. “You bought your ol’ lady a house for Christmas? What are you thinkin’?”

  Gage couldn’t help it, he laughed. He knew exactly where Sawyer was headed with that one.

  “What’s wrong with that?” Zane asked, the epitome of innocence.

  “Bro, if you buy her a house, the others’ll want one.”

  A roar of laughter erupted from the group, and Zane’s face turned bright red.

  “Let’s see if this bad boy starts!” Beau yelled, hopping down to the ground with an audible thud.

  They converged on the train, Travis giving Ethan a hand when he rolled out from beneath it. Beau leaned in, his brow furrowed. A twist of his hand and…

  The engine roared to life.

  Cheers erupted, splitting the otherwise silent night.

  “Hot damn!” Kaleb shouted.

  “You know he’s gonna win this one, right?” Gage asked Travis, nudging his arm lightly.

  “It’s possible,” Travis replied. “But it’ll be worth it.”

  True. Watching the kids’ faces light up when they got to ride on that train would definitely be worth it.

  And if Kaleb did win, then Gage and Kylie would get the opportunity to console Travis.

  Another win, as far as he was concerned.

  KYLIE HAD WALKED in the door only a few minutes before Travis and Gage appeared. She was getting Kate ready for bed when both men came into the kitchen grinning like fools.