I felt more like a hibernating bear than a wolf. “Must have been the tacos.”
“Or maybe it was eating half that sausage,” he said with disdain, pointing at wrappers on the floor.
The warmer air took me by surprise when just hours ago we’d been buried in snow.
Reno and April were already on the porch, arms loaded with blankets, pillows, sacks, and their luggage. Wheeler opened the door and took April’s bags before they headed inside.
I glared down at the black cat shadowing beside me. “Well, if it isn’t Sparty McFly.”
He meowed, his wide eyes blinking between Austin and me.
“What the fuck?” Austin breathed, stopping in his tracks.
I followed the direction of his gaze. “Is that your dad’s car?”
It was a rhetorical question. His dad drove an old station wagon—the kind with wood paneling on the side. He also had a bumper sticker that said: I BRAKE FOR NO ONE.
He had a great sense of humor.
Austin’s parents lived with a pack in South Dakota. They didn’t visit too often unless it was to see their grandkids, but we chatted with them on the video cam, and sometimes the kids stayed with them for weeks at a time.
Austin hurried up the steps on the side of the porch and looked at Wheeler. “What the hell are they doing here?”
Wheeler leaned on the doorjamb. “That any way to talk about your parents?”
“Shut it,” Denver said from the doorway. “I had to listen to you bitch and moan for the first two hours.”
“Yeah? Well you’re not the one who had to give up your bed and sleep on the sofa, are you?”
I nudged Austin. “Why can’t they sleep in the guest room like normal people?”
Denver reached for the frame above the door and laughed. “Give me a minute while I imagine my parents on a trundle bed.”
Austin dropped his bag. “What are they doing here?” he asked, punctuating each word.
Wheeler narrowed his eyes, giving him a sinister expression that complemented his tattoos. “Something we should know about? You’re acting… funny.”
Denver nodded once. “Yeah. And they’re acting funny.”
“Where are they?”
Wheeler took my heavy bag. “Pop likes to go to bed early so he can wake us up at the crack of dawn.”
Denver’s indigo eyes examined me closely. “Well, someone looks all glowy and refreshed.”
I shoved him out of the way and headed inside. While the men hauled the luggage toward the stairs, I took a moment to look around and draw in a deep breath of home. The kids had already gone to sleep. Usually at this hour, a few of us were either watching TV or quietly having drinks in the game room. Because the bedrooms were upstairs, the after-midnight crowd frequently came down to play cards or enjoy a late snack.
As I headed toward the kitchen for a drink, I noticed a jigsaw puzzle on the dining table that Maddox must have recently started. Sometimes he’d sit for hours working those things with April. I’d never had that kind of patience.
Austin came up behind me in the dark kitchen and flipped on the counter lights. “You want me to fix you something?”
I opened the fridge, a beacon of light shining on me. “Ooh, there’s leftover stew.”
He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my neck. “You want something hot?”
“Mmm, that feels good,” I whispered, backing up into him.
“All right, y’all. The Love Boat has docked and vacation time is over,” Denver announced, leaning on the counter and peering into a cookie jar.
Austin let go and stepped back. “Sit down, Ladybug. I’ll make you something to eat.”
“Pancakes? I love it when you make me naughty pancakes with the batter.” I grinned at him.
“Keep it up, smartass.” He gave me a kiss on the lips and growled low. “Let me feed you.”
This vacation turned out to be a miracle. Austin, making me food? Who was I to deny the man? I sat down on the bench of our long kitchen table and faced Austin. Denver climbed onto the counter, almost knocking over a glass.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I glared at Denver’s bare feet, sliding around on the countertop where I often rolled out cookie dough.
He reached on top of the cabinet and pulled down a bag of Cheetos, then jumped to the floor. “Gotta hide the good stuff around here, honeypie.”
“You’ve revealed your hiding place.”
He straddled the bench to my left and ripped the bag open with his teeth before dumping the cheesy snacks onto the table. “I’ve got a million more.”
“Well, the boys are onto you.”
“True that. They found my caramel stash in an empty box of tampons, those little demons.”
“What’s going on in here?” Maizy sleepily asked.
She rubbed her eyes, standing near the entrance in a long T-shirt that reached her knees—her blond hair messy and obscuring her face.
Denver turned around and patted his lap. “Come here, Peanut.”
Maizy sat on his lap and rested her head on his shoulder. “I didn’t know you were coming home today,” she said to me. “I would have waited up.”