Page 76 of His for the Holiday

35

HAWK

It had been a busy day but a good one. I leaned back on David and Mindy’s couch, listening to David and my dad talk about the good old days while the kids played a board game on the carpet and the women got dinner on the table.

I’d tried to help. So had David and even my dad, but all three of us had gotten kicked out pretty quickly. Drinking a beer, I watched all four kids completely destroy the time-honored rules of Monopoly. I chuckled and tried not to ruin their fun by showing them how the game was actually played.

It was the wild west on that board, though. That was sure.

Winnie grabbed some more money out of the box and handed it over to Sawyer. “I want one of those big houses please, Mr. Bank.”

Sawyer glanced at the money and shrugged, plucking two hotels out and dropping them into her waiting palm. “I think you paid enough for both of them.”

“She did not,” Logan complained, eyeing the wad of cash in his brother’s hand. “You have to at least pretend to count it.”

“Nah,” Duncan intervened, grinning at Winnie like he was about to be her knight in shining armor. “Winnie’s putting up theaters. We’re building Broadway, remember?”

“No, we’re building Narnia,” Logan argued, his lips twisting as if he was disgusted by his brother’s misunderstanding of their game. “That’s why I’m the lion.”

“It’s not a lion,” Sawyer said as he leaned over to inspect the token. “I think it’s a dog.”

“It’s a lion.”

I laughed as I wondered if perhaps I should intervene after all, but then my dad changed the topic he was talking to David about and I tuned in to their conversation instead. “Do you think the Scottish dickhead is going to show?”

“Pay up, Grandpa,” Logan said immediately, beaming at my dad as he turned to him and held out his hand. “You said a bad word.”

Dad sighed but slipped his grandson a dollar bill for cussing. David chuckled, winking at Logan before he looked back at Dad. “I don’t know, but I hope⁠—”

He cut himself off when he glanced at Winnie, who was now busy setting up a theater camp, but even though he’d cut himself off just in case she overheard him, the message was clear.

None of us were comfortable with Calen coming here after everything he’d done to Sutton and Winnie. Nobody wanted him here and we were all hoping he wouldn’t show.

Dad nodded at David, also understanding what the other man hadn’t said, but before he could comment, Mindy’s voice rang out from the dining room. “Food’s on the table, guys! Come and get it.”

“I’m going to be first.” Duncan shot to his feet and nearly fell over the board in his rush to get out of the room.

Logan scowled after him for half a second before he was on his feet, too. “No fair! You didn’t give us any warning.”

“I never win,” Sawyer said as he slowly rose to his feet, even stopping to hold out a hand to Winnie. “Want any help?”

“Sure.” She smacked her palm into his and let him pull her up. The two of them brought up the rear as they left the room. “You’ll win one day, Saw-saw. We’re just bigger than you for now.”

Once they were gone, David glanced at the front door as if he was waiting for the doorbell to ring, and when it didn’t, he smirked. “Guess he didn’t have the balls to come over after all.”

Dad laughed, clapping David on the back. “I’m not surprised. After that shit he pulled last night, he has no business anywhere near them.”

“Do I get a dollar if you say a bad word?” I asked lightly as we strode out of the room together.

Dad arched an eyebrow at me, a slow grin spreading on his lips, and he shook his head. “You should be giving me a dollar every time you say a bad word. I’d have your whole fortune in my bank account in a matter of weeks.”

I chuckled. “Only when said Scottish dickhead is involved.”

“Amen to that,” David agreed, flashing me a wide and easy smile for the first time in years.

Mindy waved us all into our seats and I was happy when I was told to sit next to Sutton. She smiled when I took my seat. Her hand brushed mine under the table. I glanced at her. Our gazes connected and I saw the warm, soft emotion in hers, so I wrapped my fingers around hers, moving her hand over to rest on my thigh.

For a moment, I couldn’t look away from her. She was stunning in a dove gray knitted dress with her blonde hair pulled up into a messy ponytail, but that look in her eyes was what really got to me.