Because Naughty Holidays Can Be Oh So Nice 2015 (6 page)

Chapter Nine

SINCE IT WAS clear Travis wasn’t interested in sharing their scavenger hunt items, Gage stole the paper from him, then handed it back to Kylie as he drove down the road that would lead them into town.

“Read it off,” he instructed.

There was a silent pause, followed by several chuckles before Kylie let out a booming laugh. She tried to talk, but it took her a minute to calm down.

“Okay, we’ve got fifteen things.”

Fifteen? That shouldn’t be too hard.

“Just wait,” Travis mumbled.

“Okay, it’s broken into three different lists: items, pictures, videos.”

Gage glanced over at Travis to see him shaking his head.

Kylie continued, “The items are a restaurant napkin, a receipt for sixty cents’ worth of gas, a buy one, get one free coupon, root beer lip gloss, and a disposable toilet seat cover.”

“Oh, hell,” Gage said, chuckling.

“In the list for pictures, we need one of all three of us sitting with an unknown family at a restaurant, one of a team member hugging a stranger, one of a team member putting gas in a stranger’s car, a member of the group handcuffed to a police officer, and the last one is a picture with someone who is at least eighty-five years old.”

Gage took the turn to take them to the center of town, not sure where they planned to start. “And the videos?” he asked.

Kylie giggled. “Travis singing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” with a kid.”

“Travis? It says that?” Gage asked, darting his eyes to Travis again.

“It says that,” he confirmed.

“Okay, go on,” Gage said, pulling the truck into the one and only gas station in town. When a car pulled in behind them, stopping in front of a gas pump, he smiled. “Hold that thought. You better get your phone out, though.”

Jumping out of the truck, Gage strolled over to the car, trying not to look like a complete psychopath as he approached the young woman.

“Do you mind if I put gas in your car for you?” he asked.

Her eyes widened in confusion.

“We’re doin’ a scavenger hunt, and I need to get a picture putting gas into a stranger’s car.”

The woman’s eyes traveled the parking lot briefly, and Gage turned to point at his truck. “My husband and wife are in there. I swear, I’m not gonna do anything weird.”

“Husband
and
wife?” she asked, her eyes growing to the size of saucers.

“Long story,” he said, smiling to himself. The woman was approached by a stranger in a gas station parking lot and
that
was the one thing she questioned. Figured.

“Okay,” she finally said, swiping her credit card and then stepping back out of the way.

It took five minutes to fill the tank, but then he thanked the woman and walked back to the truck. Taking out his own credit card, he swiped it, then gently squeezed the pump, aiming for sixty cents’ worth. He had to do it twice before he got the right number, and he doubted he got but a drop of gas.

“Two down,” Kylie said cheerfully when he hopped in, holding her phone out for him to see.

After handing her the gas receipt, Gage put the truck in drive, heading back to the road. “What were the other videos?”

Kylie’s sweet chuckle filled the air. “Gage getting a drink out of a water fountain with Travis on his back.”

Travis groaned. Gage laughed. He had to give RT and Z credit, these were pretty creative.

“In Mama’s Diner, Travis has to put on a tiara and wave to the people there, saying ‘I am the queen of England.’”

Gage thought he might wreck his truck when he was overwhelmed by laughter.

“Fuck off,” Travis groused.

“Hey, it’s gonna be funny.”

“Gonna be?” Travis asked, his head snapping toward him. “You actually think I’m gonna do that?”

“Yes,” Kylie said matter-of-factly. “We’re gonna win this thing.”

“What else?” Gage inquired, pulling the truck into Mama’s Diner. He figured he might as well get that one out of the way. And they could get the restaurant napkin at the same time.

“The last two,” Kylie said as Gage opened her door for her. “A video of one of us buying cookies with pennies only, and then one of us carrying a stranger’s groceries to their car.”

Gage closed the door, then watched as Travis grudgingly came around to meet them.

“Y’all are really gonna make me do this, aren’t you?” he asked, watching them both intently.

“Yes,” Kylie said, leaning up on tiptoe and kissing him on the cheek. She lowered her voice, but Gage could still hear her. “And if we win, then Gage and I will make it up to you tonight.”

Travis’s eyebrows lifted. “How so?”

“Whatever you want,” she said with a sweet smile.

That earned a grin from Travis, and Gage knew without a doubt that they were about to win this thing. And probably with an hour to spare.

TRAVIS WANTED TO kill RT and Z, but mostly RT. He still couldn’t believe the things they’d managed to get him to do over the course of the day. And yes, because of Kylie’s promise for later tonight, he’d eagerly performed every single task, including putting on a tiara—which they’d had to pick up at the small independent toy store in town—and telling everyone inside Mama’s Diner that he was the queen of England.

He wasn’t sure he would ever live that one down.

But now, as he perched on the arm of the couch in his parents’ living room, listening to all the crazy things the others had done today in order to complete their list, he didn’t feel quite so bad.

“Do you know how hard it is to get the front page of the Coyote Ridge Gazette?” Ethan asked. “No one reads the paper, and we weren’t allowed to buy it.”

“How’d you get it?” V asked.

“We went door to door,” Beau said with a grin.

“At least you didn’t have to convince a stranger to let you taste their food,” Kaden said.

Beth chimed in, “What was funnier is that when we did find a woman who was willing, she insisted that both Kaden and Keegan do it at the same time, since they’re twins. And then she took her own picture.”

“You didn’t tell them the best part,” Keegan said with a smirk.

Beth’s cheeks turned pink. “She told them the only way she’d allow it was if they took their shirts off.”

“I’m sure that’ll be up on the Internet before long,” Zane said. “You’ll have your own fan club.”

“That would’ve been great…” Keegan said. “When I was twenty.”

“How old are you now?” Zane asked their cousin.

“Thirty-two and counting,” he answered with a frown.

“And still not married,” Sawyer teased. “What a shame.”

“Hey, if I recall correctly, y’all won’t be married until tomorrow night,” Kaden countered.

“Tomorrow, y’all. That was the key word there. Seriously.” V stated. “How can the two of you be so calm? I was a wreck for a week before my wedding, and you’re just sittin’ here like it’s just another day.”

Kennedy smiled up at Sawyer. “Oh, it’s not just another day, but I think we’re ready for it to happen.”

“That way we can start makin’ babies,” Sawyer said teasingly.

“Nope. No way,” Ethan called out. “Do not want to hear that shit.”

The group laughed, and Travis sighed. This was a good day. Maybe he wasn’t into the whole game thing, but he had to admit, spending the day acting like a fool with Kylie and Gage… He couldn’t remember ever having quite as much fun.

“Did you get it?” Z asked, his attention turning to Cheyenne and Brendon.

“Which one?” Brendon asked.

“Singing with a police officer,” Z said.

“We did,” Cheyenne said with a grin. “But that one was easy.”

“How’d you do it?” Jessie asked.

“I went into the police station, asked who wanted front row seats to her next concert, and the three guys inside all lined up.”

“They did not,” Jared said in disbelief.

“They did,” Brendon said, beaming with pride as he held out his cell phone, which was playing the video of Cheyenne singing the national anthem with all three of the deputies at the sheriff’s office.

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

“Okay, so we’ve tallied everything up,” Donovan announced when he stepped into the room. He’d volunteered to check off all the items on the lists to see who’d done the most.

“And?” Braydon asked.

“We’ve actually got a tie,” Donovan noted. “But each of those teams is missing one item. So, if you’ve got the videos for me to see, then I’ll be able to announce the winners.”

“Who?” Beau questioned, his eyes lighting up.

“Ethan, Beau, and Jaxson” Donovan told him, looking their way. “I have yet to see the video of the two of you skipping through the toy store, carrying Barbies while screaming, ‘Oh my goodness, it’s really a Barbie.’”

Travis laughed, imagining Beau and Ethan doing just that.

“Who’re they tied with?” Kaleb inquired.

“Travis, Kylie, and Gage,” Donovan answered. “I need the video of Travis singing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” with a kid.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Travis saw Gage flipping through the videos on his phone, grinning like a fool as he did. He grunted, remembering that whole incident.

“We’ve got ours,” Jaxson said, holding up his phone.

Everyone leaned in to watch as, sure enough, Ethan and Beau went skipping through a store, each carrying at least three Barbies in each arm, yelling at the top of their lungs. The video continued, showing the store manager kindly asking them to leave.

Laughter erupted as everyone watched.

“What happens if there’s another tie?” Kylie inquired, looking directly at Donovan.

“Then the one with the best video wins,” he said. “We’ll vote.”

“It’s gonna be hard to top that one,” Zane said.

Travis didn’t look up; he continued to stare at his hands, praying that he wasn’t blushing, because he’d never live that one down.

“I’ve got ours,” Gage called out, holding up his phone as the video started to play.

The room went eerily silent as all eyes went to that small screen.

“Where are y’all at?” Zoey asked.

“The daycare in town,” Kylie told her.

Travis gritted his teeth together.

“Oh. My. God!” Sawyer exclaimed. “Is that…?”

Rumbles of laughter exploded, and Travis knew exactly which part they were watching.

Someone bumped his shoulder, and Travis looked up to see RT grinning like a fool. “You…” He was laughing so hard he couldn’t speak. “You put on a…” More cackling. “A dress!”

Travis shook his head in disbelief. He had put on a dress. In fact, the daycare had the whole getup, and he’d managed to fit in it enough to get the gist of it. Then, with the daycare center’s help, they’d gathered all the kids together, and he’d sung “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” At the top of his lungs.

“Trav wins!” Ethan exclaimed. “No doubt about it! Can’t beat that one.”

“Send me that video,” Kaleb hollered to Gage.

“Don’t you dare,” Travis snarled.

Gage grinned up at him, eyes twinkling. “Don’t worry, that one’s just for us.”

Sliding his gaze over to Kylie, Travis waited until she looked his way. Her eyes flickered with recognition, and he knew she remembered the promise she’d made him earlier.

They’d won.

And he fully intended to collect tonight.

Chapter Ten

AFTER DINNER, EVERYONE was given an hour to go home and get their lights on and ready for the judging. The place had cleared out within seconds, but Kylie had stayed back with Kate to help Lorrie clean up since Travis and Gage were more than capable of handling their stuff on their own. Jared had hung back with Mason and Derrick since the boys would ultimately be the official judges for the evening.

“Are you ready for this?” Curtis asked, sitting at the small kitchen table drinking coffee.

“I’m not sure any of us are ready for this,” she teased.

“I’ve seen ’em all,” Jared noted. “It’s gonna be interesting.”

She knew what her house looked like, knew that when the lights were on outside, she didn’t need to turn any on inside because of how bright they were. But, Kylie had to admit, it was rather impressive. She was more anxious to see everyone else’s, but only because she wanted to see her daughter’s reaction to it all.

“How do y’all plan to do this?” Kylie asked, regarding Curtis and Jared briefly.

“Figured we’d just pile in the truck and start at Brendon’s and end with Kaleb’s,” Curtis replied.

That made sense considering they could snake their way through town, out to her house, then back this way.

“Do you know if Mason has seen the train yet?” she asked.

“I don’t think so,” Lorrie answered, wiping the counter. “Kaleb wanted it to be a surprise.”

Kylie wasn’t sure how he’d managed to something that size, but she understood why. And that was another reason she was grateful they’d end at Kaleb’s. The kids were going to be over the moon once they got a chance to ride on that thing.

She had just finished putting the last dish into the cabinet when Curtis’s cell phone chimed with a text. He hadn’t even had a chance to read it before another one came in. Then another and another.

Apparently everyone was set up and ready to go.

As Kylie was pulling Kate’s coat on, the screen door squeaked, announcing an arrival. She looked up in time to see Gage and Travis, their faces relaxing when they saw her. She loved when they did that. It was as though they hated being away from her and were only content when she was with them. She felt the same way about them.

Smiling, she lifted Kate up and turned her to face her daddies. “Look who’s here.”

“Da!” Kate squealed, pointing toward them.

Travis took her from Kylie while Gage helped Jared wrangle Mason and Derrick.

“We’ll take Kate and Kylie with us,” Travis told his father. “And follow y’all.”

It took a few minutes for everyone to get situated into the vehicles, and by the time they were pulling out of Lorrie and Curtis’s driveway, there was a line of trucks waiting to follow them. She counted them off as they passed. Kaleb, Zane, Ethan, Braydon, and Sawyer. They were all ready to go to Brendon and Cheyenne’s house to start this thing.

“You warm back there?” Travis asked, peering at her in the rearview mirror.

“Yep, we’re good.”

A few minutes later, they pulled in front of Brendon’s, the line of trucks dispersing to park along the sides of the road. Apparently there were other onlookers out tonight, checking out the lights, because the street was busy.

Gage unbuckled Kate from her car seat, lifting her into his arms while Travis opened her door and helped her out. When he took her hand, she linked her fingers with his as the four of them headed up to the house.

Turning at the sound of her daughter’s excited rambling, Kylie saw Kate’s eyes widen as she took it all in.

“Wow,” Gage muttered.

“Very cool,” Travis chimed in.

Kylie took in the sight before her. Brendon and Cheyenne had gone all out. And by all out, she meant they’d turned Cheyenne’s front yard into a winter wonderland. It was true, in Texas, snow didn’t fall much, but here, standing in front of this house, it was hard to believe that.

They had what appeared to be a commercial-grade snow machine that was blanketing the area with white. They’d created a path with ropes and candy cane poles that sectioned off various holiday scenes.

“Is that a polar bear?” Gage asked, his tone wistful.

Kylie smiled to herself because she could tell he was impressed.

“Come on,” Travis said, tugging her arm as others began descending upon the yard.

It took about ten minutes to wander through, to see each scene, all while snow fell from above them. Kate seemed so entranced by the white powder falling down on her head she’d hardly paid any attention to the life-sized holiday decorations.

“What do you think?” Gage asked Kate.

She giggled sweetly and pointed.

Kylie looked over to see Mason and Derrick running around in circles, whooping and hollering as they paid attention to the snow. Based on the amount of energy they were expending, she knew they were going to sleep well tonight.

The next house on the list was theirs, and after a ten-minute drive, everyone once again piled out of the trucks and made their way in front of her house. Travis retrieved the laptop he’d brought with him, hit a few keys and then…

Kylie’s jaw dropped. The scene before her was amazing. And to think her husbands had created this extraordinary display. Music blared from speakers she couldn’t see while the lights danced along with it. Letters appeared, then disappeared, spelling out words in the song. They had stars flashing brightly, running in patterns from the house down to the trees near the road.

“What do you think?” Gage asked her, wrapping her in his arms and pulling her back against him.

“I love it,” she whispered. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Sure, she’d watched it as they’d pieced it together over the past few weeks, but they hadn’t let her see the final result, because they’d wanted it to be a surprise.

She was pleasantly surprised.

The song lasted for about three minutes, and then everything went dark. Kylie was about to turn away, but Gage held her in place. Waiting, she searched the darkness, trying to anticipate what would come next.

And then she saw it, a huge Santa Claus, equipped with sleigh and reindeer, appeared, spotlights showing it as it rose up from the back of the house before stopping on the ridge of the roof. Her eyes were fixed on the scene when the Santa started waving back at them.

“Ho-ho-ho,” came the voice from the speakers, followed by a jolly laugh. “Merry Christmas, Kylie and Kate.”

Cheers from the others erupted as another song started, more lights flashing. Tears formed in her eyes as she swallowed past the knot that formed in her throat. Travis and Gage had done this for her and Kate. That gesture alone made her feel like the luckiest woman in the world.

“Love you,” Gage whispered against her ear.

Emotion made it impossible to speak, but she spun around and hugged him tightly, burying her face in his chest. Travis came to stand beside them, his arm going around behind Gage’s back, one hand rubbing her arm as the four of them stood there for a moment.

And though the contest was between the brothers, Kylie couldn’t help but think that she was the one who’d won tonight.

BY THE TIME they ended up at Kaleb’s for the final house of the night, Gage was reeling from all the remarkable scenes he’d seen.

Zane had created a toy shop out in front of his house, equipped with giant bears and remote control cars, even dancing dolls. Braydon would definitely get credit for the most lights, there was no doubt about that. Gage didn’t think there was an inch of his house visible after the light show had begun. Sawyer’s theme was animal related, and Buster had even donned a reindeer outfit for the occasion. As for Ethan and Beau … they would get the award for most creative. And it had been obvious that they’d had Mason and Derrick in mind when they created theirs. It was all about trucks, including the kid-sized monster truck track they’d designed to wind through the various scenes.

Needless to say, it hadn’t been easy pulling the boys away from that one.

And now, they were all gearing up for what they expected to be the highlight of the night.

After pulling into the driveway, everyone climbed out, looking around in awe. The trees were wrapped in lights, as was the house. But other than that, there wasn’t much to it.

But then, Kaleb disappeared behind the house, and a few minutes later, lights started flashing along the ground, a chasing pattern that started from the house and kept going. It took a minute to realize that they were lighting up the train track that snaked across the yard, around the house, over near the old barn, and back.

Gage was holding Kate in his arms when the whistle on the train sounded. She jumped, momentarily startled by the noise, but then a spotlight came on, highlighting the train, and more lights flashed, giving everyone the first view of the red and green locomotive with the giant wreath attached to the front, followed by one rail car and the caboose.

It was every boy’s dream right there in front of them, and Mason and Derrick proved it when they started to jump up and down, yelling. Derrick was tugging Jared’s hand, urging him toward the train, while Mason was hopping up and down in front of Zoey.

“You wanna ride on the train?” Travis asked Kate from behind them.

Her eyes were wide, but she didn’t answer. With Travis and Kylie right behind them, they followed the others, making their way over so the kids could get on. Kate’s grip tightened around his neck as they got closer, and when the whistle blew again, she jumped in his arms.

“It’s a train, sugar,” he told her. “I’ve got you.”

At first, Kate wanted nothing to do with it, but finally Kylie offered to ride with them. At that point, Gage knew the kids had definitely picked the winner. And quite frankly, though impressed by it all, Gage would have to agree.

After an hour of riding the train around in circles, everyone had had a chance to climb on, including all the brothers, which had resulted in a ton of pictures that would likely be looked at for years to come.

“Yep, Kaleb’s definitely the winner tonight,” Travis said, coming to stand beside him and linking their hands together.

“Looks that way,” Gage agreed. Although deep down, he couldn’t help but think they’d all won something tonight. The chance to spend the holidays together.

And he felt completely blessed to be a part of it.