Hazel grabbed a rag and helped them wipe up the mess.
“Gracias,” one of them said.
She heard the garage door open and a vehicle pulling in. She stood quickly. “I’d better go shower. Thank you, gracias.”
They all gave her smiles, but the young girl was watching her warily, likely wondering why she’d want to run from her hosts. Hazel bowed slightly, then hurried up the stairs, hoping she wasn’t leaving any tracks of baking soda on the pristine wood floor.
Heath was impatient through church, but he tried to relax and enjoy dinner at Mama’s afterward. She wanted them all to come to dinner still dressed up, claiming Papa liked seeing them all fancy, but Heath knew Mama appreciated a nice sit-down dinner with most of her family.
Halfway through dinner, Papa got a FaceTime call from Nick, who was deployed in Afghanistan. Papa loved to FaceTime all of them, and it’d been a great way to keep up as their family was spread out. There were shouts of happiness, and Mama was distracted cooing over how handsome and tan Nick was and how she was missing him. Nick was grinning and looked pretty great. He was almost as big of a tease as Austin. Heath had been surprised when his next youngest brother had picked the military. Gavin would’ve been a great general and seemed much more suited to the military life. Nick had thrived, though, and moved up the ranks. Heath wondered if he’d ever retire or if he would make a career out of it.
Austin took one of the first turns snuggling into Papa’s side and answering Nick’s questions about school and what he wanted for Christmas and how many girlfriends he had; one hundred twenty-seven was the latest count. Then, while the rest of the siblings took their turns, Austin snuck into Mama’s kitchen next to the dining area and returned with a stack of napkins and some small Ziploc bags and a large grocery sack. Heath watched the little man carefully put rolls, ham, veggies, fruit, and even chocolate cake into the small Ziplocs. Luckily, Mama was distracted and didn’t notice, but Cassie did.
Heath saw her bend down close to Austin and say, “What are you going to do with all that food, sweet boy?”
Austin’s head snapped up and his eyes widened. “Um, don’t tell Mama,” he whispered.
Heath’s stomach dropped as Cassie caught him looking at them. He shrugged as if to claim he didn’t know what was going on.
“Heath’s hiding a girlfriend,” Austin said from between his teeth.
Heath gave a nervous chuckle as Cassie’s gaze swung to him, filled with surprise. Heath had been the rule follower growing up. He hadn’t gotten into much trouble and never disobeyed Mama. Of course Cassie would be suspicious of him hiding a girlfriend. Why couldn’t Austin have claimed Gavin was starving him?
Heath stood and gestured with his head to Mama’s fancy living room. Gavin watched them go, but most of the rest of the group was eating and chatting or focused on Nick and the screen.
“What’s going on?” Cassie asked when they were alone.
Austin held up his bag of goodies. “Hottie Hattie is hiding from a bad boyfriend. Heath’s helping her. I didn’t want her to miss out on Sunday dinner.”
Heath was overwhelmed by his little brother’s thoughtfulness, but he was also sick to his stomach. This was getting out of control. How much longer could he hide Hazel and lie to his family?
“That’s really thoughtful of you, Austin,” Cassie said. She cocked an eyebrow at Heath. “What’s going on?”
Heath gave her a tight smile. “I’m just trying to help a girl out who’s in trouble.”
Cassie stared at him as if trying to read between the lines. Her entire life was about helping people, so Heath was pretty certain Cassie would be the last person on earth to rat them out. “That’s sweet of you.”
“I hope so.” He pushed a hand through his hair. “I don’t like lying to Mama.”
“You can’t trust Mama with this?” Her dark eyes narrowed. Cassie didn’t come home much, traveling the world, but they all trusted Mama.
“It’s safer for Hattie if I don’t.”
She nodded. Cassie wasn’t one to do drama … ever.
“Can we take my food to Hattie yet?” Austin asked, holding his bag aloft.
“Let me go stash it in the car,” Heath said, “then we’ll tell Mama goodbye, drive over to Gavin’s, and give it to her.”
Austin held up his fist to bump it and handed over the food. Heath hurried outside with the food, carefully set it in the back of the car, and then looked wistfully at Gavin’s house, wishing he could be there with Hazel right now.
He hurried back into the house and announced that he and Austin were going to change out of their church clothes. Papa wanted the boys to come back and watch the football game with him while whoever wanted to could decorate sugar cookies and gingerbread houses with Mama. Heath liked football and sugar cookies, but he knew he’d be making an excuse so he could be with Hazel.
Austin, Trey, Gavin, Heath, and Stetson piled into Gavin’s Lexus SUV to drive over to Gavin’s house. It wasn’t that far, but they were in church clothes and none of them wanted to walk it. As they pulled up to Gavin’s house and Gavin opened his garage, Heath spotted an Angel Falls Retreat work van parked around the other side of the house.
His stomach churned and he turned to Gavin. “Do you have … workers coming by?”
Gavin’s own eyes widened. “The cleaning ladies come by whenever they have it on the schedule that I’m not home, so they won’t disturb me.” He drove quickly into the garage, pressed the button, and jumped out.
Heath was ahead of him. Had the ladies discovered Hazel? Would any of them recognize her? Her picture had been on the news and was on several online media sites. Heath suspected that might be Brigham’s influence more than the police, which meant Hazel would be painted in the worst possible light.
Banging through the back door, he saw four women standing in the kitchen, gathering up supplies. They all smiled and nodded to him. He waved and forced a smile back. “Hi,” he grunted out. His eyes were darting around for Hazel, but he didn’t see her. Would they have found her in her bedroom?
“Hola,” several of them said.
“Hi,” the youngest and smallest one said. She looked like a teenager.
Gavin came in behind them. “Gracias,” he told them, nodding. “Any trouble? Everything’s going good?”
The young one’s smile froze and she shared a quick look with one of the older women. They’d seen Hazel; Heath knew it. As the other men and Austin came in behind them, the women’s gazes became more guarded. Whatever Hazel had said to them had made them almost protective of her. Heath’s neck muscles relaxed. Maybe these women wouldn’t betray her or turn her in to the police if they saw her face on the news.
He pulled off his tie and muttered, “I’m going to change,” giving the women another nod and rushing past them up the stairs.
Hazel. All that mattered was getting to her and making sure she was all right. He wanted to knock on the door and not just walk in on her, but Trey was right behind him on the stairs and he didn’t want his future brother-in-law getting suspicious.
Heath turned the door handle and slowly pushed it open. Hazel wasn’t in the bedroom. He could hear the shower running. Oh. He didn’t know what to do now. His clothes were in Gavin’s bedroom. Could he sneak in there and change, then sneak back in here without Trey or Stetson noticing? He’d just ask Gavin to make excuses for him that something had happened with work so he could stay with Hazel. It was surprising that he wasn’t worried about work. Even though it was the holiday season, it was a busy time for him, but Hazel was more important than anything with his resorts.
Now if only his family would leave. Trey would be anxious to get back to Ella, and Stetson would be anxious to not miss any of the bowl games. His team had won a mid-December bowl, so they were done for the season. Stetson had played well, and Heath thought he was okay with the results, but of course he would’ve liked to make a more prestigious bowl closer to Christmas or New Year’s Day.
&nb
sp; As he waited, the shower turned off and his nerves ratcheted up. He could hardly wait to see Hazel and spend some time alone with her.
Hazel walked out and her face lit up. Her hair was wet and slightly longer without the curls dry and bouncy. Her beautiful face was scrubbed clean. She was wearing a fitted running shirt and tights. Was she planning to go outside without him? Heath simply stared at her, wanting to ask if the cleaning ladies had discovered her, what she’d said to them, and so many other things, including if he could kiss her again.
She strode right up to him, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him soundly. Heath grinned against her lips and returned the kiss. She was impetuous and adorable, and he was falling so hard and fast for her.
A knock came at the door. “Heath?”
He lifted Hazel off the ground and rushed her to the wall next to the door. Releasing her, he hurried to open the door.
Trey and Gavin stood there. “Hey, we’re heading over to Mama’s. You coming?” Gavin asked, his eyes darting around the room.
“Yeah, Gav needed to hold my hand to ask that question, apparently,” Trey said. “I knocked on your door, and he hurried to stand right by me.” Trey glanced at his friend like he was a few bricks short of a full stack.
Stetson appeared in the hallway. “You guys ready? Why aren’t you changed?” he asked Heath.
Heath could see Hazel from where he stood. She looked him up and down and winked, then mouthed, “Don’t change.”
Heath could hardly contain his grin. “I got caught with some work stuff. I’ll be over in a while.”
“Why are you grinning like you just won the Super Bowl about work stuff?” Stetson asked suspiciously.
Gavin’s dark eyes were wary. “Come on, you know Heath loves his work. Did you get some great news about the expansion of your resort?” He nodded encouragingly.
“On a Sunday?” Trey asked.
Heath scrambled for an answer. “Well, um …”
“He was grinning like he just kissed the woman of his dreams,” Trey interrupted him. “Nobody grins that much about work.”
Heath felt like he’d been punched in the gut. He could see Hazel out of the corner of his eye, smiling broadly yet looking nervous. Were they going to get found out?
“Only you’d know about that,” Gavin said, countering Trey’s comment.
With what he hoped was an easy laugh, Heath said, “It actually is great news. One of my favorite employees had her baby early. So I’m thrilled for her, but now I need to make sure her replacements are up to speed; she pretty much runs my Targhee resort.” At least part of that lie was true. Brenna did pretty much run his resort, and she was expecting—in March.
“Oh, okay.” Trey sounded strangely deflated that Heath wasn’t kissing on someone. If only he knew.
“It’s okay, Trey.” Gavin arched his eyebrows at his friend. “Someday soon Heath will get bitten by the love bug, and you can both be miserably ecstatic about it together.”
Heath wondered if he already was bitten by the love bug. He glanced at Hazel. Her cheeks were darkening becomingly. He wanted his brothers and Trey gone so he could kiss her good and long.
“Get your work done,” Gavin said. “We’ll see you soon.” Gavin turned, and Trey and Stetson were inclined to follow his example. Heath thought he was going to get his wish.
Austin pounded up the stairs and hurried toward Heath’s door with the sack of food.
“What do you have?” Stetson asked.
“Um …” Austin’s eyes got wide. “Some food.”
“Didn’t you just eat?”
“I’m always hungry,” Austin protested. “So I saved some for later. Don’t tell Mama.”
Stetson smiled. “I remember how that was. I could never get full.”
“Can you get full now?” Gavin teased. He wrapped his arm around Stetson’s neck and walked toward the stairs. Heath knew that was a sacrifice; Gavin wasn’t huge on physical touch. “Run over to Mama’s after you hide your food,” Gavin told Austin.
“Yes, sir.” Austin saluted him.
They were only a few steps down the wide staircase when Austin rushed past Heath into the room. “Hottie Hattie?” he called, searching for her.
“What did he just say?” Stetson whipped around.
“Who knows?” Heath laughed and raised his hand. “Funny kid.” He swung the door shut and prayed Gavin could get Stetson and Trey out of here.
His latest update from Jed hadn’t been too encouraging. He had nothing new to report, and most of the department seemed to think Hazel was to blame. He hadn’t found anything to prove any past crimes on Brigham or that there was infighting in the family. At least Jamison was still holding on. If only he could wake up and tell who really pushed him—but maybe he’d be too afraid of Brigham to tell the truth either. Jed also said that Hazel’s parents were throwing up a huge stink, bringing the British consulate into it and flying over from London. Maybe the British government could protect her if Heath couldn’t. How Heath wanted to protect her, and stay close by her side.
Hazel came out from behind the door, and Austin whipped around. “Hottie Hattie, I brought you Sunday dinner.” He held the bag aloft, a huge grin on his face.
“That was so thoughtful of you,” Hazel gushed. She bent down and gave him a hug. Heath liked seeing her hug his little brother—which was interesting, since he hadn’t liked seeing her hug his big brother.
Austin beamed. “I know. I’m a thoughtful guy.” He set the food down on the table next to the love seat and looked up at her with a cunning look in his dark eyes. “I’m also very appealing to the ladies. I could let you be one of my girlfriends if you wanted to.”
Hazel laughed.
“All right, little brother, that’s enough.” Heath came up and put his arm around Austin’s shoulder. “Hazel already has a boyfriend.” He gave her a significant look.
The smile on her lips changed to something softer and more meaningful. He loved his brother, but he needed him to go to Mama’s, now.
“No!” Austin protested, pulling from Heath’s arm and glaring up at him.
Heath’s eyes widened in surprise. “You already have over a hundred girlfriends,” Heath reminded him. He’d thought he’d be competing with Gavin for Hazel’s affections, not Austin.
“It’s not about that.” Austin folded his arms across his skinny chest and glowered like he would take on the world to protect Hazel. “No way are you letting that jerk guy who hurts her be her boyfriend. No way.” He nodded to Hazel. “I’ll fight for you.”
Heath had forgotten about the fictitious ex. How he loved his little brother. He was half a man’s size, but he was willing to step up and fight for Hazel.
“Thanks, Austin,” Hazel said. “That means the world to me, but I think Heath had someone else in mind.” She stepped closer, and her green eyes lit up. “Am I right?”
Heath nodded, suddenly nervous. He hadn’t known her very long, but he wanted to make something of their newfound interest. He’d protect her from Brigham, and somehow they’d be free to have a relationship. Could he talk her into relocating? The thought of leaving his resorts, and his family, made his stomach squeamish. How could he ask her to leave the world she knew?
Hazel looked to Austin. “Are you okay if Heath is my boyfriend?”
Austin’s cute face lit up. He punched a fist in the air and yelled, “Yes! I mean, you’d be much happier with me, but Heath is the best second choice you could make.”
Heath laughed. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“No problem, man.” Austin stood there, grinning up at the two of them.
Heath wanted to pull her in tight and kiss her, but he didn’t need to be teaching his little brother any more moves with women than the kid already had. Mama was going to be upset enough with Heath for hiding Hazel and lying to her.
“Well, let’s see it,” Austin encouraged. “I need to watch all the kissing examples I can get. You know, so I’m r
eady to do it myself soon.”
Hazel laughed and stepped up to Heath. “He did bring me all that food. Maybe we owe him a little kiss.”
Heat rushed through Heath’s body. He wrapped his arms around Hazel and figured that if Austin wanted a show, he’d give him one. He was already going to be in trouble with Mama. What was a little more? He bowed his head and captured her mouth with his.
Hazel grabbed on to his suit coat and pulled herself closer still. She responded so fervently to his kiss that he could hardly think straight for the pleasure and heat rushing through him.
“Sheesh,” Austin piped up from much too close. “This is rated PG-13. I’m out!”
Heath forced himself to release Hazel from the kiss and turn to call to Austin’s retreating back. “Thanks, bud.”
Austin raised a hand but didn’t turn around. “It’s why I’m the favorite.” He pumped down the stairs and out of sight.
Heath turned back to Hazel. He needed to slow down a lot of things: the kissing, the commitments he wanted to make with her … She was incredible, but even if they sorted out this mess with Brigham, would she want to change her entire life simply to date him?
“Do you want to eat while I deal with some work stuff?” he asked.
“Oh, sure.” Her green eyes flashed disappointment. He wasn’t trying to back away from her, but more kisses like that alone in the house probably weren’t smart. Committing himself to her for life and beyond when she was wanted by the mob and the police probably wasn’t smart either, but he couldn’t stop himself from falling. He hadn’t known her long enough to be feeling this strongly, and there was no way he could give up any of his many work commitments to pledge himself to a woman he hardly knew.
“Then we could snowshoe up to the lake.” He tilted his head toward the rear of the house.
“Can I bring my camera?”
He nodded.
“Man, I wish I had my good camera.” She bit at her lip but said decisively, “Never you mind. It’s great. This will be amazing. My first pictures of the snow and the trees. Well, I took a bunch through the window, but it’s not quite the same. Thank you.”
The Strong Family Romance Collection Page 42
