She sat back in her chair, figuring now was as good a time as any to bring up his mode of transportation. “You should buy a car. Motorcycles aren’t safe. You could have skidded off the road in this weather and hit your head.”
“Are you worried about me, Kitten?”
A little, she thought to herself. Enough that when Adam had called and said he was on his way over, she waited on the first floor, butterflies in her stomach as she watched the snow coming down. Even worse was when he came in and handed her the flowers. Adam wouldn’t have bought her something like that, but for a fleeting moment she kind of wished he had.
Sadie stood up and stretched her sore arms. “Why don’t you help clean and set the table while I pick up the living room? Then we’ll reheat the food when everyone starts to get hungry again.”
She crossed the room toward the fireplace, noting that Justus and Page were fast asleep in each other’s arms. Those two were perfect together, and she still couldn’t get over the painting. Novis was reclined in a chair, eyes hooded and watching the firelight. Sunny had gone upstairs to take a shower and change into her pajamas. Sadie bent down and collected a few bows, ribbons, and torn pieces of wrapping paper that had been missed.
When the puppy let out a small whimper, she turned to look. Simon’s pillow had fallen to the floor, and the puppy was standing on his chest and licking his mouth.
Sadie smiled at Ella, who was sitting on the floor beside him. “What are you going to name him? You better pick something before Simon does.”
Ella watched Sadie’s lips, probably to make sure she wasn’t going to say anything else. “I’ve never had a puppy before.”
“You’ll need dog food and a leash,” Sadie said. “Tonight you can probably feed her some vegetables. All that turkey will give her gas.”
Ella smiled and crossed her ankles. Silver had lent her a pair of sweatpants and a cotton shirt to sleep in. Apparently Ella had forgotten to pack pajamas. “Adam said the puppy’s a girl. It figures that a girl would have been following Simon.”
“Are you going to keep her?”
“I don’t see how I could give her away. She came to us, and just look at all the joy she’s brought.”
Sadie nodded. “I think you might have just found your name.”
Ella glanced up at the puppy and smiled. “Joy. I like that.”
When Sadie stood up and searched the room for empty glasses and dishes, something caught her eye. There were nowfourstockings hanging from the fireplace instead of three.
As she approached the mantel, she realized a green one had her name written at the top with a glitter pen. One of her brothers must have done this before they left, even though they had agreed no gifts. Curious, she dipped her hand inside and pulled out a package of guitar strings.
Which was exactly what she needed.
Her brothers would have never bought her these. They didn’t know the first thing about music and usually gave her expensive gifts she didn’t need, like perfume or jewelry.
Sadie turned around, her gaze traveling across the room. Adam peered over his shoulder with a ghost of a smile before getting up and leaving the room.
Chapter 17
Finn and the Cross Brothers
Finn carveda smooth angle in the small piece of wood, a chip falling onto his lap.
Levi glared over his shoulder from the driver’s seat and growled, “Will you stop whittling that shit all over my truck? I’m going to be finding splinters for weeks.”
“I’ll clean it up,” Finn said. “It calms my nerves… unlike your driving.”
Leo pulled down his visor and the light flicked on, allowing Finn to see his perturbed expression. “It doesn’t exactly calmmynerves to know that if Levi slides off the road, your knife is going into my back.”
“Are you saying I’m a bad driver?” Levi fired back. “I could drive this piece of machinery across a frozen lake without fishtailing. Don’t challenge my skills.”
Finn put away his knife and tucked the block of wood into his small bag. The seats in the back of Levi’s truck were a tight fit, and he was beginning to feel like a sardine. Lucian’s phone illuminated his face as he used it to track their location.
Finn wrinkled his nose. “Ah, man. Who did that?”
Levi glanced at Leo. “You shouldn’t have had that extra helping of turkey.”
“Quiet, Levi. Concentrate on the road.”
