The Hat Trick Box Set

by Samantha Wayland

  While Rhian shrugged that off, Garrick subtly turned face down the picture on the desk of Rhian and his sister Chelsea. It wasn’t, in fact, a room that guests were welcome to use. But then, Rhian wasn’t a guest, and this wasn’t even the first time Garrick had been dragged in here for a private conversation tonight. He hoped this one went as well as the one he had with Seamus earlier.

  “I have something to tell you both,” Rhian said instead of explaining anything at all about Seamus, and Garrick got a glimpse at how good he’d gotten at avoiding lying when he could. It made him sad, and all the more resolved that this was the right thing to do.

  Noel immediately turned to Henri. “And he’s not telling you?”

  “I know already,” Henri said mildly.

  Jean-Michel huffed indignantly. “Why does he get to know first?”

  “Not important,” Rhian said long-sufferingly.

  Noel seemed to get that what Rhian did have to say was important, so when Jean-Michel opened his mouth to say something else, Noel silenced him by grabbing his wrist and squeezing.

  “What’s up?” Noel said. He seemed calm and receptive.

  “I want to explain my apartment and a few other things, but what I’m going to tell you is not something you can ever share with anyone else. Ever. Is that cool?”

  Noel nodded immediately. Jean-Michel shrugged.

  Henri knocked him in the back of the head.

  “Yeah, it’s cool. I swear. You want to do pinky promises or something?” Jean-Michel said.

  Rhian looked for a moment as if he was questioning all his life choices.

  “Go on, Rhi. You can trust us,” said Noel, and that seemed to settle something for both Rhian and Jean-Michel. Garrick definitely liked Noel, at least.

  “I’m in a relationship with Savannah.”

  “I knew it!” Jean-Michel crowed.

  “And Garrick.”

  Jean-Michel’s mouth snapped shut. He turned to look at Garrick, then back at Rhian. “What?”

  “We three,” Rhian continued determinedly, “are in one relationship together. We’re in love.”

  “Huh,” Noel said, then he lifted his fist. When Rhian bumped it, albeit hesitantly, Noel smiled. “Nice.”

  “I don’t get it,” Jean-Michel said.

  Henri looked at the ceiling as if it might grant him patience before turning to Jean-Michel. “What part don’t you get?”

  “Do the three of you…I mean, all at the same time, like…”

  Rhian’s cheeks turned pink and Garrick thought he looked fucking adorable. He took mercy and went to put an arm around Rhian’s shoulders. “We all share one bedroom, with one bed in it. Does that answer your question?”

  Jean-Michel’s eyes widened in what could only be described as awe. He gave Garrick a once-over that made Garrick blush and Henri laugh.

  “Dude, you are one lucky sonofabitch!” Jean-Michel announced.

  Garrick supposed he’d take it as a compliment, anyway.

  “And I’m so glad you’re not a spy,” Jean-Michel continued.

  “Oh my god,” Henri muttered.

  Seamus circulated through his house, greeting guests and catching up briefly with friends. He didn’t stay in one place too long, however, because he was keeping closer track of who was there and who had yet to arrive than he normally did.

  As soon as he felt sure that most of his guests, which included family, friends, and business associates, had arrived, he found Chelsea and pulled her away from her friends from college.

  “You ready?”

  She positively beamed at him. “Yes.”

  They’d spoken earlier and were in immediate and absolute agreement. Nothing seemed to have changed in the hours they’d had to think about it.

  “Go get your brother, then,” Seamus said.

  Chelsea disappeared into the crowd. Seamus made his way to the bay window in the front of the house. From there, he could see the majority of this guests, and the rest could crowd into the front parlor when the time came.

  Chelsea returned to his side with a very confused-looking Rhian in tow.

  “What’s up?” Rhian asked, looking over his shoulder nervously. He tried to shake loose Chelsea’s hand but she held on fast.

  “It seems I’ve been very foolish,” Seamus said.

  Rhian gave him his undivided attention, his hand tightening around his sister’s. “Are you okay?”

  Seamus clasped his arm warmly and smiled. “I’m fine. Mad at myself, really, but I intend to correct my error promptly.”

  “What are you talking about?” Rhian asked.

  “I had an interesting chat with Garrick and Savannah earlier, and if it’s all right with you, I’d like to take this opportunity to tell all these fine people, the people that mean the most to me and those who I have known best and for the longest, just what you mean to me.”

  Rhian looked at Chelsea, who smiled encouragingly, then back at Seamus. “Yeah. I mean, yes. I’d like that. But, are you sure?”

  Rather than answer, Seamus picked up the glass and spoon he’d left on the table earlier and struck silver to crystal. Within seconds, he had the undivided attention of the entire room. As he’d suspected, the rest of his guests crowded from the adjoining rooms, too.

  He gave it some time, mostly to allow all the attending members of the Morrison family to find their way to the front. Savannah and Garrick stood to one side, holding hands, with Savannah’s parents at their backs. Several of her brothers were also there, along with their significant others. They all knew, of course, but Seamus though Rhian might like to have them close at a moment like this.

  Everyone, family and acquaintances alike, were looking between Seamus, Chelsea, and Rhian in confusion. He’d not warned anyone except Chelsea of what he intended to do.

  Seamus looked over at Rhian and found his grandson looked rather like a deer in headlights.

  “Thank you all for coming,” Seamus began, smiling at the crowd.

  Silence fell.

  “I’m not one for speeches at these things, but I’m hoping you’ll forgive me for making an exception. There is someone very important to me, someone many of you know or have met, but who I have not been introducing properly. The reasons are long and unpleasant, but I will give you the shortest version possible.”

  Rhian turned to stare at Seamus. He looked stunned. And frightened. And hopeful.

  The last bit meant that it would be a long time before Seamus stopped berating himself. Airing his family’s unfortunate history seemed small in the face of that hope.

  “Years ago, my daughter, Diane, left the area for some time. I recently learned that during that period, she gave birth to a baby boy.” A murmur went through the crowd. Most of these people knew of Diane, and had likely noted her absence from Seamus’s life over the past couple years. Now they’d know why. “She didn’t tell anyone at the time, nor when she abandoned that boy a few years later before coming back to Boston. My very clever and frighteningly resourceful granddaughter, Chelsea, found out about this child and she tracked him down. She brought him to me, and I couldn’t be prouder to call him my own.”

  All eyes were glued to Rhian now. Seamus thought many in the room were realizing how much he and Chelsea looked alike.

  “So, I would very much like to introduce all of you to my grandson, Rhian Savage.”

  For a long moment, you could have heard a pin drop. Then the Morrisons began to clap, and everyone else immediately joined in.

  Seamus turned to Rhian, who was a remarkable shade of pink, but looked happy. Really, really happy. “I’m sorry, Rhian, that I didn’t do that a long time ago. I thought you didn’t want it to be publicly known.”

  “I didn’t. But then…I did,” he admitted with a helpless shrug.

  “I’m glad, then, that Savannah and Garrick set me straight. You and I will have to work on our communication, it seems, because I have never, ever, been ashamed of you, quite the opposite, and I would have gladly to
ld everyone almost on day one, had I known you wouldn’t mind.”

  “Well, yeah, that would have been too soon for me,” Rhian conceded. “But I’m glad everyone knows now.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Me, three,” Chelsea agreed. “Now my friends will stop thinking I’m secretly dating you, because that was really starting to gross me out.”

  Rhian shuddered. “Yeah, that will be good.”

  Chelsea hugged her brother and he hugged her back. Seamus couldn’t love two people more. When she released him, Seamus gave into an urge he very rarely allowed himself to have.

  He hugged Rhian, too.

  Rhian clung to his grandfather and sternly lectured himself about how crying in front of all these people would be a terrible idea. It wasn’t easy, though.

  The crowd pressed closer, eager to speak with them, so Rhian eventually let go. He turned in time to be enveloped by the Morrison family.

  He was always happy to see them, but tonight he was especially glad they were there. He used to find them all overwhelming, but now he relished every hug and pat on the back. He only got a little choked up again when Savannah’s father offered to get up and claim him as his own, too.

  Once he’d gotten through the family, Seamus wanted to introduce him to a few people, including distant relatives, which was a little weird. Rhian could tell there were plenty of other people who wanted an introduction, but Seamus was nice enough to limit it.

  As soon as Rhian had moved on from the last of Seamus’s introductions, an arm hooked around his neck.

  “I didn’t see that coming!” Jean-Michel said with a laugh.

  Rhian grinned. “Well, now you know why I can invite riffraff like you to this here fancy party.”

  “Your grandfather is pretty cool,” Henri agreed. “He invited me and Lisa and the kids to Christmas Eve dinner when he heard both our families can’t visit this year.”

  “Did you accept?” Rhian asked eagerly. It would be great to have them there. And the Morrisons would go nuts to have more little kids around.

  Henri hedged. “Well, I wasn’t sure—”

  “Seamus,” Rhian said, touching his elbow to get his attention. “I mean, Grandfather,” he amended.

  Seamus turned immediately. “Yes, son?”

  “Henri, Lisa, and the kids are coming for Christmas Eve.”

  “Wonderful. And you boys?” he asked.

  Noel and Jean-Michel both looked stunned.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” Noel managed at last. “Jean-Michel and I are headed up to Quebec to see family during the break.”

  “Ah, well, perhaps Easter, then?”

  “Uh, yes. Please. That would be nice.”

  Seamus turned back to another guest and Rhian grinned at the looks on all their faces.

  “What can I say?” he said smugly. “I have a great family.”

  “Yeah, kid,” Henri said, squeezing his shoulder. “You really do.”

  “Speaking of,” Savannah said, appearing at Rhian’s other shoulder. “If you boys would come with me, we’re gathering in the den for a moment.”

  They all followed her, Rhian grinning at Savannah’s brother—and Rhian’s good friend—Lachlan hanging out in the doorway, monitoring who went in. The room was packed with only Morrisons, Seamus and Chelsea, and now his teammates.

  Lachlan shut the door behind them.

  Everyone was chatting, getting fresh drinks from the wet bar, and catching up, so Rhian hung back by the door to introduce Lachlan to his teammates. They took turns teasing him about his big night.

  “Man, you’re just full of surprises,” Jean-Michel crowed. “What’s next? Maybe you are a spy?”

  Rhian chuckled. “Hardly. And I don’t have any more secrets, I swear. You guys now know everything.”

  No sooner had the words left his lips that Savannah stood on one of the sturdier chairs in the room, Garrick’s hand at her hip steadying her, and let out a sharp whistle.

  Everyone turned to look at her. She smiled, winked at Rhian, and gestured for him to come join them.

  It was time.

  Before he went, Rhian threw his arm around Jean-Michel’s neck and grinned at Noel and Henri.

  “Okay, so maybe there is one more surprise.”

  Read Mike & Alexei’s story in ...

  Crashing the Net

  Mike comes to Moncton wanting nothing more than to play for the Ice Cats and finally live on his own terms. He’s broke, bruised, and covered from head to toe in cheap lube, but he isn’t going to let that stop him. All he needs is a place to live and some time to figure out how to reconcile who he really is with who everyone wants him to be.

  Dumping three gallons of lube on the new kid is just another day at the office for Alexei. He knows exactly who he is: a goalie on the ice, a prankster in the locker room, and a man who knows better than to share his private life with anyone. He’s let people in before and it’s taught him that if he can’t have what he really wants, it’s better to be alone.

  Despite their apparent differences, an unlikely friendship grows. Neither of them could ever have guessed how much they really have in common.

  About the Author

  Samantha Wayland has three great loves in life; her family, writing books, and hockey. She is often found apologizing to the first for how much time and attention is taken up by the latter two, but they forgive her because they are awesome and she clearly doesn’t deserve them.

  Sam lives with her family—of both the two and four-legged variety—outside of Boston. She is a wicked passionate New Englander (born and raised) who has been known to wax rhapsodic about the Maine Coast, the mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont, and the sensible way in which her local brethren don’t see a need for directional signals (blinkahs!). When she’s not locked away in her home office, she can generally be found tucked in the corner of the local Thai place with other socially-starved authors and an adult beverage.

  Her favorite things include mango martinis, tiny Chihuahuas with big attitude problems, and the Oxford comma.

  Sam loves to hear from readers. Email her at samantha@samanthawayland.com, visit her website at www.samanthawayland.com, or find her on Facebook (Samantha Wayland), Twitter (@samwayland), or Instagram (SamWayRomance).