#Vacay

by Cambria Hebert

  “Then what does she want?” she whispered.

  “I’m assuming you saw the news this morning?” I asked.

  “Rimmel went missing! She was lost in the woods, almost died, and no one bothered to call us!”

  I winced. “Mom, you know the press likes to be dramatic.”

  “So you’re saying it’s all untrue?”

  I paused.

  “Roman Anderson!” Mom wailed.

  “Oh no,” Rimmel said from the couch. “The press found out about what happened?”

  Liam sat on the coffee table. “Yes, that’s why I stopped by. To warn you guys.”

  “Mom, Rimmel is fine. She did have a minor accident while out sledding yesterday, but she’s fine. She’s right here.”

  “I want to speak to her.”

  I handed the phone to my wife, and she gave me an evil look. “Mom wants to hear for herself you’re okay.”

  Rimmel put the phone up to her ear. “Valerie...”

  “Mom!” I heard her correct Rim for like the millionth time. She was forever after Rim to call her mom. Sometimes Rim obliged; most times she didn’t. Can’t say I blamed her.

  “I’m sorry we didn’t call last night to warn you. It was so late, and we didn’t know the press was already all over it.”

  Rim paused in speaking, listening. Then she made a sound and nodded.

  Mom spoke again.

  “I promise I’m fine. Well...”

  Rimmel lifted her eyes to look at me, and I winked.

  “I broke my ankle. But it will be healed in no time!”

  That was my wife, always wanting to make everyone else feel better and not worry about her. Little did she know it only made us all worry about her more.

  “How are the kids? Are they awake?” Rimmel changed the subject. Her hand tightened around the mug. “He didn’t see the news, did he?” She worried, jolting upright.

  I rushed around the side of the couch to take the mug and wrap an arm around her back for support.

  “Oh, that’s good,” Rimmel said, collapsing against me in relief. “Please don’t let the boys watch anything.”

  Mom said something, and Rim made a sound of agreement.

  “Can I talk to him?” she asked a moment later.

  I heard Mom call for Blue, and then Rimmel’s face lit up. “Blue-Jay!” she sang into the phone. “I miss you so much!”

  I leaned down so I could hear him talking to his mother.

  “Hi, Mom! I miss you, too. Is it snowing there?”

  “There’s so much snow! You could build an army of snowmen!”

  “Woah,” he echoed, and I smiled.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Making pancakes with Grandma.”

  “How is your brother and your sister?” she asked, keeping her voice bright even though I saw her lower lip tremble.

  “They’re good.”

  “Are they awake, too?”

  “Not yet... Mom, I have to go. We’re going to put chocolate chips in the pancakes now.”

  “Okay, take a bite for me.”

  “I’ll save you one. I love you.”

  “Bye, Blue-Jay. I love you.” Her voice wavered a bit, but our son was too excited about chocolate to notice.

  My mom came back on the line, and I took the phone from Rim to finish up the call.

  When I was done, I handed her the phone. “You better call your dad and warn him.”

  Rim nodded, and Charlie leaned up to lick her cheek. She smiled.

  Cupping her head, I kissed the top of her hair. “You’ll see the kids soon.”

  She nodded.

  “Well, I think everyone we know has blown up my phone for the past hour,” Braeden announced, coming downstairs. Beside him, Ivy made a sound of agreement.

  I took a minute to study her, making sure she looked okay and wasn’t still upset from last night. I knew Ivy hadn’t gotten lost, but the entire ordeal left her feeling guilty and she damn near went missing herself while trying to find Rim.

  She looked good, though, with her hair up in a high ponytail, patterned leggings, and a thick, black loose sweater over top.

  Still, it was my job to be sure.

  Crossing the room, I stopped in front of her and grasped her chin. She looked up, her blue eyes wide and surprised.

  “What the hell are you doing, Rome?” B bitched, putting his arm around her shoulders.

  “You doing okay this morning?” I asked her.

  She smiled. “I’m okay.”

  I flicked a look at B. “He take care of you last night?”

  B bristled. “You saying I can’t handle my own wife?”

  We ignored him.

  “Of course he did.”

  I smiled and patted the top of her head. “Coffee’s in the kitchen, princess.”

  B tugged her away from me and closer against his chest, then guided her toward the kitchen. “You can’t have any of that swill he made. I’ll make you some, baby. God knows what the hell he did to it.”

  I gave him the finger behind his back. On cue, he lifted an arm over his head and gave me the finger, too.

  It was good times.

  “You sure it ain’t you two who are married?” Alex asked from behind.

  I spun, surprised to see him there.

  “I let him in,” Liam said, smiling.

  Alex turned to Liam. “Bro, I think we gotta up our game. Their bromance is putting ours to shame.”

  “No one can top my bromance with Rome!” B yelled from the kitchen.

  “It’s true,” Trent said seriously. “I’m gay, and even I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “I’m insulted, frat boy,” Drew grumped from the bottom of the stairs.

  Trent popped up and turned toward Drew. “What the hell are you doing awake?”

  “The bed was empty,” he muttered. Then he seemed to realize what he said, and his sleepy eyes snapped open wide. Embarrassment filled his face, and I laughed.

  “They’re shy,” I whispered very loudly to Liam and Alex.

  “No need,” Alex quipped. “We cool with man love.”

  “Hey!” Braeden yelled again. “That’s my line!”

  “How do you all live with him?” Alex asked. “Dude’s annoying as hell.”

  There was a loud bang from the kitchen, and Rimmel giggled.

  “How the hell was I supposed to sleep when my phone was blowing up?” Drew bitched. There were still red spots on his cheeks, but I didn’t say anything.

  Trent pushed off the chair and went over to Drew. He slung is arm over his shoulders and handed him his coffee. “Here, Forrester. Next time, I’ll turn your ringer off when I get up.”

  Drew took the coffee begrudgingly. “Next time, don’t get out of bed without me,” he bitched.

  The lower half of Trent’s face pulled into a smile, and the way he looked at Drew just then sort of made me feel like we should give them the room.

  Dudes had chemistry.

  Trent leaned in to press his lips against Drew’s temple. Drew choked a little on the coffee, and both guys realized, once again too late, they weren’t alone and we were all watching them.

  Clearing his throat, Trent pulled back but stayed close enough his side brushed against Drew’s. “I had to get up. Rome abandoned Rim, and I had to carry her downstairs without her pants.”

  Drew’s face screwed up. “What the fuck...?”

  “You ain’t wearing pants?” Alex cracked.

  “What the fuck did you just say to my sister?” Braeden grumped, coming into the room.

  Ivy sighed loudly and sat on the other side of Charlie.

  Alex chuckled, plucked the coffee out of Braeden’s hands, and took a drink. Braeden stared at him, incredulous.

  Alex made a face. “You put creamer in this.”

  “It was for me.” Braeden glowered.

  “I thought they called you Hulk on the field. They must not know you need sugar in your coffee.”

  “Only
serial killers drink their coffee black,” B retorted.

  Something cold dropped over the room. Alex’s piercing eyes seemed to turn to ice. But then he blinked, and the frigid look was gone.

  Braeden didn’t miss a beat. “It’s cool. You ever need help hiding the body, give me a call.”

  Alex laughed. “You’re all right,” he told my best friend and handed him the coffee back.

  B tossed a thumb toward the kitchen. “Hot bean water’s in there.” Then he handed his mug to Alex. “And take this with you. I can’t drink it. You probably got cooties.”

  “It’s because I’m black, ain’t it?”

  B widened his eyes. “You’re black?” he whispered. “I just thought you needed to take a shower!”

  “Honestly! You both are idiots,” Ivy declared. “I don’t know if I should laugh or be horrified.”

  “But, baby, I love you,” B said.

  Rimmel snorted.

  B leaned over the back of the couch toward Rimmel. “You, too, sis.”

  “I came to see if any of you ladies would like to take a trip to Caribou to my family’s candy store. My mom makes some epic chocolates.”

  “Yes!” Ivy and Rimmel exclaimed.

  “No,” B and I declared.

  “I’ll just leave that to y’all,” Alex commented and disappeared into the kitchen.

  Liam cleared his throat. “I’m heading into the office. I’m going to call a staff meeting and reiterate the importance of not speaking to the press and protecting our guests’ privacy.”

  “That’s really not necessary,” Rimmel said. “We don’t know how the press found out. I don’t want anyone to get in trouble.”

  “Still, this is my resort, and if my employees can’t remember the rules, they’ll be out on their ass,” Liam said, his voice unbending. He turned toward me. “If you have any problems at all, call me.”

  “Thanks. We’ll be fine.”

  “Let’s all meet tonight at The Tavern for dinner,” Liam suggested. Glancing at Rim, he amended. “If everyone feels up to it.”

  “For sure!” she said, smiling. “We’ll be there.”

  Ivy nodded.

  Trent and Drew also agreed.

  “Sounds good.” I agreed, then walked him to the door. “Thanks for the heads-up,” I said before he left.

  He whistled for the dog, who came running, Rimmel calling out a good-bye behind him.

  “Anytime.”

  When I came back into the living room, Alex was sitting between Rim and Ivy, his arms around them both. “Now, I have to warn you. My mom likes to feed people. And she’ll take one look at both of you and think you’re underfed.”

  Rimmel giggled.

  “I like her already,” Ivy told him.

  “What the fuck is this?” B asked, stalling beside the couch with a fresh coffee in his hand.

  “We want to go to The Confectionary,” Ivy told him.

  Rimmel glanced at me. “We can bring some home for the boys. And...” She held up a finger. “There’s a shop in town that has apple cider, too.”

  Warmth suffused my chest. How the fuck did I get so lucky?

  Walking over, I lowered on the arm of the couch and leaned down to look in her eyes. “How are you feeling today? Tell me the truth.”

  “Just a little stiff and sore. Nothing some pain reliever and a kiss from you can’t fix.” She punctuated her words by kissing the end of my nose. Her wild, uncombed hair poked me in the cheeks, and I laughed under my breath.

  I really couldn’t say no to her.

  Tucking some of it behind her ear, I smiled. “Fine. We can go. But you have to put on pants.”

  “WTF, Rome?” Braeden wondered. “What about the press?”

  “We’ll handle any press that comes sniffing around,” Alex answered, his voice quiet and still. I glanced down at him, and he nodded once.

  I shrugged. “What he said,” I told B, then bent down and lifted Rimmel off the couch to take her upstairs.

  Daniel

  I wasn’t expecting a crowd on my doorstep, but that’s exactly what I got.

  I’d been a loner for a long time, and after that, I’d basically been a ghost. Even though I’d been at BearPaw for a while now, sometimes it still felt weird to have so many people around.

  Especially when those people didn’t want to kill me.

  “I don’t think this house can hold all of you,” I deadpanned the second I opened the door and saw them all waiting.

  Rimmel, who was firmly on Romeo’s back, bounced up. “We came to see how the wolf is doing!”

  All I could see of her was eyes to chin. There was a yellow and blue striped hat on her head with a giant blue puff ball thing on top. The rest of her body was hidden by Romeo’s, except for her feet, one of which was totally ensconced in a giant boot.

  “Broken, huh?” I gestured to the boot.

  She nodded, and the pompom on her hat bounced. “You were right.”

  “Bro! I know Brina taught you better manners than this,” Alex cracked and pushed through everyone to come in the house.

  “Come in,” I muttered, stepping back. Romeo waited for Braeden and Ivy to go past before stepping through the door with Rimmel.

  “Is she here?” Rimmel asked, hopeful.

  “Over by the fireplace.” I pointed toward the living room.

  Rimmel patted Romeo on the shoulder, but he didn’t budge.

  “Romeo,” she said, tapping him again as if he could have forgotten she was there.

  I suppressed a smile.

  Romeo backed up until he nearly ran into Braeden. B seemed to understand what was going down because he grabbed Rimmel and lifted her off his back.

  “Hey!” she squeaked.

  Romeo stepped up to me. “I didn’t get the chance to say this yesterday.” He held out his hand. “Thank you for finding my wife and for keeping her safe until I got there.”

  “It’s no big de—”

  “It is,” Romeo replied simply. “You know that. If you ever need anything—I don’t care what it is—call me. I owe you.”

  “Same.” Braeden spoke up as well.

  I agreed, and we shook hands. Doing anything else would be disrespectful, and I wasn’t about that. Besides, I would react the same way if someone found Sabrina.

  “So how is she?” Rimmel asked.

  “Better. Doc came and patched her up, gave her some meds. I’m going to keep her here for a bit while she recovers and gains some weight.”

  “I wish I could bring her home.”

  “Hell no!” Braeden declared. “I don’t care what Rome says, sis. This time, I’m putting my foot down. You ain’t bringing a wolf home. We got kids to think of.”

  Rimmel made a face.

  “I don’t mind having her around,” I said, partially surprising myself.

  “I told you. You need a girlfriend.” Alex nagged.

  “Ivy, who do we know who’s single?” Rimmel asked instantly.

  “No,” I burst out.

  Everyone looked at me, and Alex laughed.

  Clearing my throat, I went over to Rimmel. “C’mon then. Let’s see the wolf.”

  She glanced at Romeo when I held out my arm for her. He nodded once, and then Braeden set her down beside me. I had to bend to put my arm around her waist, then straightened, lifting her off her feet.

  “How have you not broke her?” Alex whispered loudly when I hauled her out of the room.

  “That’s what I said!” B declared.

  Romeo laughed.

  The wolf lifted her head when I approached. I went slow, gauging the way the animal would react.

  “Hi,” Rimmel whispered, unconcerned.

  The wolf’s tail beat against the floor, surprising me.

  “Look what a pretty girl you are,” Rimmel crooned. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out some beef jerky. “I brought you a snack.”

  “I already gave her some this morning.” I informed her.

  She glanc
ed at me and smiled. “You like her.”

  “I was trying to get her to come back inside after she went pee in the yard,” I refuted.

  Rim started to move closer on her own, so I lifted her a little higher and carried her the rest of the way.

  She bent low, the boot sticking out from beneath her, and held the jerky out to the animal. “She needs a name,” Rimmel declared after a few minutes.

  “A name,” I echoed.

  She glanced around, nodding. Her eyes went from me to someone who moved up beside me and then lit up. “Romeo, what should we name her?”

  “Whatever you want, baby,” he said without a beat.

  She smiled and turned back to the wolf to gingerly reach out to stroke it.

  Beside me, Romeo stiffened a bit.

  “It’s still pretty relaxed from all the meds,” I whispered.

  He nodded and leaned closer. “You better not let her name it. She picks horrible names.”

  “I heard that!” she said, offended.

  There was another knock on the door, and I groaned.

  “I got it!” Alex called out. Then a second later, he yelled again. “Bro! When did you get a girlfriend and not tell us?”

  I spun around and marched into the kitchen to see Meredith standing there in the doorway.

  “Alex,” she said, giving him a dry look.

  “Meredith, long time no see!” He went forward and hugged her. The muscle in my jaw ticked.

  Reaching out, I grabbed the back of his jacket and hauled him away from the vet.

  “Someone’s jealous,” Braeden quipped, and Alex cackled.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked. I hadn’t expected to see her so soon.

  “I wanted to see how she did last night.” When she spoke, white puffs of air floated out around her head.

  “Come in,” I said, realizing once again I’d left her standing outside in the cold.

  “Thanks,” she said, slipping by.

  After I shut the door, I felt her eyes and glanced around. She had on a hat this morning. It was white with a black pawprint on the front. Her long black hair hung over her shoulders like a waterfall against her light-colored coat.

  “Is she in the same place as last night?” she asked.

  I nodded.

  “Last night?” Alex echoed. “What happened last night?”