Coming Home (37 page)

“It’s all due to be delivered on Friday.”

“I can’t believe you went to all this trouble.”

“I figured you might want to make Christmas in Nashville an every-other-year tradition.”

“I’d love to do that.”

“We needed more beds,” he said with a shrug, as if it had been no big deal to make this miracle happen in six short weeks.
 

“I love you so much.”

“I know you do, darlin’. I love you just as much. Maybe even more.”

She followed him down the stairs to the first floor. “No way. That’s not possible.”

“You don’t know that.”

They continued the “argument” all the way home. Kate shed her coat and turned to him. “Do you have to go right back to work?”

“I have a lot to do today to be ready for the deliveries on Friday. Why?”

She let her cold hands wander inside his coat and under his sweater. “I was just wondering.”

He gasped when cold met warm. “Katherine…”

She’d always loved the stern way he said her full name. “Yes?”
 

“Don’t act all innocent like you don’t know what you’re doing to me.”

“What am I doing? I only asked if you have to go right back to work.”

“You know exactly what you’re doing, you little witch.” With his hands on her bottom, he brought her in tight against him to demonstrate the effect her cold hands on his back had had on him.
 

“I hate to let that go to waste, but you do have to work, so…”

“Not so fast.”

Venturing a glance up at him, she found fire in his eyes as he looked at her with thinly veiled intent. Oh. My. “I’d hate to keep you from your work.”

He laughed as he bent his head to kiss her. “I suppose you’re going to say this was my fault, right?”

“You did come back for your phone,” she said, the picture of innocence.

“That I did.” When he let out a growl, turned her around and marched her toward the stairs, Kate dissolved into laughter, thankful once again that she’d had the courage to go after what she wanted most. One thing she knew for certain, she’d never let him go again.
 

The invasion began on the twenty-second of December with Maggie’s arrival on a commercial flight from LaGuardia into Nashville International. Kate rode along with Jill to pick up their younger sister.
 

“Thanks for everything you did to make this weekend happen,” Kate said.

“I enjoyed it, and it’ll be great to have everyone here. The Bunkhouse is amazing, Kate. I can’t believe Reid pulled that off so quickly.”

“Neither can I.”

“He’s good at what he does, that’s for sure.”

“Yes, he is.”

“I really like him. I want you to know that. I’m glad I’ve had the chance to get to know him better in the last few weeks.”

“I’m glad, too. It means a lot to me that you like him.”

“I like you two together. I’ll admit that I wondered what you’d possibly see in a guy Dad’s age, but after spending time with you two, I get it now.”

“I appreciate that more than you could ever know.” Kate glanced over at her sister, who was focused on the road. The forecasters had warned of black ice and snow showers over the next twenty-four hours. They’d also mentioned the possibility of a white Christmas, but Kate refused to get her hopes up. “What about you? What’s up with Ashton?”

“We’re having fun, hanging out, you know.”

“Nothing serious?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Okay, do tell.”

“We talk about the future. Sometimes.”

“What about the future?”

Jill sighed with exasperation. “About spending it together. That kind of thing.”

“Why do I get the distinct impression that you’re totally holding out on me?”

“You’ve got enough going on this week without worrying about what’s up with me.”

Kate turned in her seat to get a better look at her sister. “Are you waiting to make plans of your own until my wedding is over?”

“Maybe…”

“Don’t do that! Don’t wait on me. I’m sick of being responsible for holding you back.”

“You’ve never held me back. Don’t give yourself that much credit.”

“You know what I mean. If you want to make plans, make them. I’m more than happy to share the spotlight with you, of all people.”

“That’s very nice of you, but we’re not quite there yet—at least I’m not. He’s a bit ahead of me.”

“I want you to be happy.”

“I
am
happy. There is one thing I wanted to talk to you about, though.”

This was said with a hint of hesitation that put Kate on edge. “What’s that?”

“Ashton asked me to be a partner in his firm. Since you’re cutting back on the career commitments, I thought there might be some extra time in the schedule to try some other things, but if you don’t want me to—”

“It sounds like a great idea. How do you feel about working with him?”

“I’m not sure. He keeps telling me it’d be great, but I have my doubts.”

“There’s only one way to find out.”

“That’s what he says, too.”

“I want you to do whatever you want, Jill. Working with me was never intended to be a lifetime indentured-servant kind of thing.”

“I’m hardly indentured, and I love working with you. You know that. If I do this with Ashton, you’d still be my number-one client—always.”

“Could I tell you something that I’m not going to tell anyone else until after the wedding?”

“Absolutely.”

“I’m pregnant.”

Jill looked over at her and then back at the road to correct the swerve. “Oh, Kate! That’s amazing news! You must be thrilled.”

“I’m beyond thrilled. I had no idea it was possible to be this happy.”

“When are you due?”

“Late June.”

“So no summer tour this year.”

“Right.”

“We’ll deal with that after the holidays.”

“That’s what I hoped you’d say.”

Kate’s phone chirped with a text from Maggie. “Her flight got in early. She’s waiting at the curb.” Kate’s heart beat fast with excitement. She couldn’t wait to see her “baby” sister.

They reached the airport a few minutes later only to confront a maddening traffic jam at the arrivals level.
 

“Is that her?” Jill asked of the figure jogging toward the end of the line.

“Yes!” Kate jumped out of the car to wave at Maggie, who darted through other cars to get to them. Right there in the middle of the lane, Kate hugged her sister. “Dad wouldn’t approve of you playing in traffic.”

“Dad wouldn’t approve of a lot of my favorite pastimes,” Maggie said with a cheeky grin as she got into the backseat. A perfect combination of their parents, Maggie was the tallest of the three sisters, with Jill’s sleek dark hair and Kate’s bright blue eyes.
 

“That sounds interesting,” Jill said, turning her face to accept a kiss from Maggie in the backseat. “What’ve you been up to in the big city?”

“Oh, you know. Some of this, some of that.”

“Any boyfriends?” Kate asked.

“A few, but nothing serious.”

“Typical Maggie,” Jill said. “Breaking hearts from coast to coast.”

“Mostly on the east coast, but I’ve met a few from out west recently. What about you, Jill? Any good boys in Nashville?”

“Oh, you know,” Jill said in a teasing tone. “Some of this, some of that.”

“Tell her the truth,” Kate said.

Sensing good gossip, Maggie leaned forward so she was between the two front seats. “Spill it, sista.”

“Put your seat belt on!” Jill said.

“After you tell me the scoop.”

“I’m not telling you anything until you’re buckled in.”

“God, you’re just like Mom,” Maggie grumbled as she returned to her seat and put her seat belt on.

“Thank you.”

“I’m buckled, Mom, now tell me your news.”

When Jill hesitated, Kate filled in the gap. “She’s doing the horizontal bop with Reid’s son, Ashton.”

“Kate!”

“What? It’s true!”

“Shut the front door!” Maggie said. “
A father and son?
What about me? Is there one left for me?”

Jill and Kate laughed. “We’ve got them all,” Kate said. “Sorry.”

“You two were never very good at sharing.”

“Don’t pout, Maggie,” Jill said. “There’s a whole crop of Southern boys waiting to meet you.”

“Except Dad is going to be here, and he loves to ruin my fun.”

“Mine, too,” Kate said, wondering if he was going to ruin her fun this weekend. She sure hoped not. They’d spoken a few times in the last few weeks, sticking to neutral, nonconfrontational subjects. He’d agreed to spend the holiday in Nashville and attend the wedding. Kate was trying to be satisfied with the partial victory but hadn’t dared broach the subject of him giving her away.

“When can I see my dress?” Maggie asked.

“As soon as we get to my place,” Jill said.

“And when do I get to meet my future brother-in-law?”

“In the morning,” Kate said. “We’re having a girls’ night tonight while he puts the finishing touches on the Bunkhouse.”

“What the heck is the Bunkhouse?” Maggie asked.

“Just you wait and see,” Jill said.

With the help of Ashton, Buddy and Buddy’s eighteen-year-old son Harry, Reid got the furniture distributed in the Bunkhouse. When Buddy decided the place needed a woman’s touch, he called Taylor, who promised to be right over with Ms. Martha and the girls.
 

They arrived a short time later with pizza, beer and soda, and Reid had to admit they truly saved the day. They’d taken all the items Reid and Kate had bought in a shopping frenzy and put them together to make a warm, cozy, inviting space for Kate’s family.

“It looks awesome,” Harry declared over pizza when the work was finished.

“I can’t believe how fast you built this place,” Buddy said.

“That’s what he does,” Ashley reminded her father.

“Thank you, Ash,” Reid said, thankful that Buddy and his family had been frequent visitors in St. Kitts. He would’ve hated to be a stranger to his best friend’s kids.

“Are you nervous?” Taylor asked Reid. “With all the in-laws coming and the holiday and the wedding?”

“Not really. I’m looking forward to finally being settled with Kate.”

“Been a long time coming,” Buddy said, holding up a beer bottle.

Reid clinked his bottle against his friend’s, sharing a smile. “Yes, it has.”

“I’m so very happy for you and Kate, Reid,” Martha said. “I know I wasn’t always happy for you two, but she’s a grown woman now who clearly knows her own heart.”

“Thank you, Martha. It means a lot to me that you approve.”

“All my friends think it’s really cool that I get to be a junior bridesmaid in Kate Harrington’s wedding,” Georgia said.

“Don’t they know who Mom and Dad are?” Harry asked his youngest sister.

“Sure, but they’re nowhere
near
as cool as Kate is,” Georgia said with a sly glance at her parents, who were, as always, sitting close together on the sofa.

They also spoke as one in protesting. “
Hey!
”

Georgia laughed at the faces they made at her. “Well, it’s true.”

“Sheesh,” Buddy said. “You give these kids your heart and soul, and they grow up to be rotten brats.”

“Yes, they do,” Martha said with a pointed look at her son.

“Wow,” Ashton said, laughing. “Rough crowd.”

“You know it,” Buddy grumbled. “I’m abused in my own home.”

“Not by everybody, baby,” Taylor cooed at him.

“Thank God for you,” Buddy said, kissing her right on the lips in front of their four disgusted children.

Reid laughed, amused as always by the Longstreets.
 

“We’d better get home,” Taylor said. “One more day of school before vacation.”

The girls let out enormous groans.

“Not for me,” Harry said, grinning from ear to ear and looking more like his father with every passing day. “Yet another benefit of college life. A whole month off at Christmas.”

“Shut up, Harry,” Chloe said in a sinister tone that shocked Reid. He wouldn’t have thought sweet Chloe was capable.

“All right, citizens,” Taylor said in the no-nonsense mom voice that worked every time. Reid was never quite sure how she managed to pull that off. “Let’s go before this descends into all-out Longstreet warfare.”

Reid walked them to their cars, where Harry wisely chose to ride with his dad while the girls and Martha went with Taylor. “Thanks a million for all the help.”

Taylor gave him a big hug. “We’re so thrilled for you and Kate. We can’t wait until the wedding.”