She froze, carafe hovering halfway to her mug. “I was not giggling.”
He couldn’t hold back a snort. Kenzie had always been fun to tease. “Pretty sure I know what giggling sounds like, Kenz.”
Crimson flooded her face. She poured coffee with exaggerated focus, hunching her shoulders up to her ears. Trace let it go, for now, but one thing was certain. Trace intended to keep eyes on Sev every second he was within fifty feet of Kenzie.
By seven-thirty, Boone and Chance were back from early morning chores, and the Littles were all up and about. Ruby directed everyone with military precision on where to set platters of scrambled eggs and elk sausage. With the table set, the girls fixed cocoa, arguing over who had the most marshmallows.
After everyone had a seat, Tanner stumbled through the doorway, his eyes bloodshot from another late night playing poker at The Bridle. Trace made a note to have a word with his twin. Something was going on, and Trace wanted to know what it was.
Seven Midnight joined them a few minutes later, moving like a man used to slipping into rooms unnoticed. But Trace noticed and tracked every step he took. Sev was dressed in black from head to toe. The only hint of color was a faint red mark on the side of his throat that disappeared beneath the collar. Trace’s jaw locked hard. When Sev sat across from him at the table, Trace caught his eye and shot a pointed glare at his neck. “We’ll be talking about that mark later.”
Kip came down last, hair still damp from the shower, wearing one of Trace’s flannel shirts tucked into jeans that hugged her ass hard enough to make his mouth go dry. She walked straight to him, rose on her toes, and brushed her lips against the corner of his mouth.
“Morning, husband,” she whispered, the word meant only for him.
His hand settled on her hip, thumb slipping under the flannel to find warm skin. “Morning, wife.” God, he loved saying that.
Chance whistled low. “Get a room.”
“We all own the whole damn house,” Trace answered without taking his eyes from Kip. “So I can pick any room I want.”
Boone snorted into his coffee. Joy smacked Chance with a dish towel, then shrieked because Chance headed her way.
Ruby rang the triangle inside. “Time to use those mouths for eating.”
“You don’t have to tell us twice,” Chance said, leading Joy back to the table and pulling out the chair next to him for her. Sev pushed out the chair next to him for Kenzie. She sat down, but she glared at her plate as if it had insulted her.
Trace loaded a plate for himself and Kip and pulled her onto his lap. She blushed, but didn’t struggle as he fed her eggs, sausage, a biscuit drowning in huckleberry jam Tildi had canned last summer.
The conversation at the table remained light for a while. Tanner bragged about cleaning Hank out at five-card stud. Tildi asked if snowmen could have turnips for noses in a pinch. Just the usual morning chaos, the kind that usually settled Trace’s blood.
Then Boone leaned back and fixed Trace with a lazy grin. “So, when are you putting a ring on your wife’s finger, little brother? Or do we need to go pick one out for you?”
Chance jumped in without missing a beat. “I vote we leave him here, drive into Wilder, and pick one ourselves. We have much better taste.”
Tanner nodded solemnly. “I have great taste, and I know how he thinks. I’m thinking something obnoxiously big that screams back the hell off from three counties away.”
Trace forked some eggs and took his time chewing and swallowing. He wanted to argue, but his brothers had actually nailed it. He grinned at Tanner. “It’s almost like we’re twins.”
Kip’s cheeks flushed pink. Setting down his fork, he reached for her left hand beneath the table, lacing their fingers. Her ring finger was still bare. The emptiness pricked like a splinter under his skin.
He wasn’t sure whether he was talking to his brothers or Kip when he said, “I’m working on it.”
“You better work faster,” Chance warned. “Pretty girl like that? Someone’s gonna try something if you don’t let them know she’s off limits.”
Kip bit her lip to hide a smile. Little Minx. He squeezed her hand. “I dare them to try.”
Sev’s mouth curved up just as Kenzie’s gaze flicked up, colliding with Sev’s for half a heartbeat, and then dropped back to her lap. Her ears went scarlet.
Tildi, bless her, changed the subject. “And on that note…it’s time for the annual snowman parade!”
Boone smiled. “We’ve never had a snowman parade, Bluebell.”
“We will from now on,” she promised. The Littles suited up for the cold and headed out the back door, Ruby on their heels with sunscreen.
Once everyone had a second cup of coffee, Sev cleared his throat, and the men fell silent. They all knew there had to be a reason Sev had shown up the day before. Setting down his coffee, Trace took a deep breath and waited.
Sev didn’t make him wait long. “Reynaldo Rios is missing. I’m assuming he’s dead, but I can’t prove it. The Triad cut him out, I believe permanently, for going rogue with their money and men. With the Triad, the severance package is severe.”
