Page 25 of Let it Snow Queen
Deep laughter stilled as I crept up into the foyer, laughter that wasn’t my dads’ or my brother Malcolm’s. I ducked into the supply closet and grabbed my old baseball bat. If someone had broken in, thinking we were gone, they were about to get whacked. I was not in the mood. Stalking quietly, the laughter stilled. I jumped into view.
A man appeared, and I screamed. I swung my bat, and his large hand caught it before it made contact with his jaw. My heart raced as my mind fought to catch up to who I was looking up at. It didn’t compute. “Fox? What the hell?”
He beamed, his brilliant eyes twinkling. “Merry Christmas, baby.”
I yelped as thick arms picked me up from behind. I looked over my shoulder. “Gallow? What the actual fuck are you guys doing here?”
My heart was singing. How was this possible?
Gallow ran a hand through his beard and stood next to his friend. “We’re real estate guys. It wasn’t too hard to find a deed to a house this large bought by two men twenty-something years ago.” He shrugged.
Fox raised an eyebrow at the Irishman. “What we’re saying very not romantically is . . . we knew we had to be with you. We couldn’t let you leave and come home alone.”
Emotion tightened my throat. “But how did you get here so fast?”
Motion from the corner of my room caught my eye. And then I saw it all.
The mantel dripped with a garland of green fir and red holly. All of my family’s stockings hung, the most enormous Christmas tree I’d ever seen sat strung with lights . . . and Koji stood, holding a cardboard box with the words “Roo-Roo” scrawled on the side. He clutched my faded popsicle stick ornament. “Um . . . Okay, I know you’re probably pissed, but after the other night, I left to arrange for my jet to pick us up before the storm. You left before I got back, so the guys and I hauled ass over here, and the door was unlocked and . . .”
“We were planning on breaking in anyway,” Gallow rumbled. “You know, to get everything ready for you and your boy.”
Fresh tears fell from my eyes now, but not of sadness.
“Ah fuck.” Koji sat the box down. “You’re crying. Look, we can leave right now and not bother you again, but I—” He stalled, running a nervous hand through his hair. “I’m not sure we know how to be without you now. I know it hasn’t been very long, but . . .”
I walked over and took his hand. “Would you shut up and just kiss me already?”
Koji smiled, grabbing my waist and pulling me flush to his hard body. “You’re our snow queen, Ruby.” And with that, my snowstorm kissed me deeply.
Chapter 18
THE EVENING OF CHRISTMAS EVE
Hours later, we sat on the floor next to a fire and the lit and decorated tree. Everything was ready. The guys had done it all, from hanging holly to stringing garland on the door frames, and Koji baked cookies for Declan to decorate. Gallow and Fox were wrapping his gifts. Gallow held up a yellow bulldozer. “You said the lad liked cars. I picked this up for him at the airport gift shop. Think he’ll like it?”
I smiled, leaning into Koji’s arms as he squeezed them around me. “He’s going to love it. He’s going to love you guys.”
“You think so?” Koji asked.
Fox answered, “He’s going to love us. You, however . . . Well, I’m not even sure if Ruby likes you yet.”
We all laughed when a noise pulled my attention. A bustle of activity sounded from the front before I heard my mother’s southern drawl. “Oh my gosh . . . Ruby? Are you home, sweetie?”
My eyes widened. “My family. They’re home!”
I rushed up and through the hall. There they all were, dazed from the sight of the decor. My dad, holding Declan, pulled me in for a hug. “Wow, kid, look at this.” My papa pulled me in next. “Roo-Roo, look at you. You look great.”
I took my son from my dad’s arms and held his warm, bundled body close. “Oh, I missed you.” I nuzzled my nose into the smell of his sweet, curly hair.
“She sure does look great,” my moms both agreed.
“How did you manage all of this?” my mama asked.
I took two steps back, positioning Dec on my hip. He was my shield.
“Um . . . Okay, don’t freak out. I’m looking at you,Dad.”
My dad crossed his tattooed arms and raised an eyebrow. My mom not-so-subtly elbowed his ribs.