Reece couldn’t remember whenthe brainstorm hit him, but at some point, he’d decided he needed to woo Neve. Make her his. This was new for him, and he wasn’t sure exactly where to start. He didn’t dare ask Shane—who had evenlessexperience with wooing women—for advice, and the same went for his brothers. First of all, they were younger. He was supposed to be the most seasoned of the three, the leader of the band. Second, he had a relationship adviser in his head counseling him. Mostly it told him to be considerate, charming, to do little things for Neve so she knew she occupied ninety-nine percent of his thoughts throughout the day.
Technically, she was his wife, but he needed to make her his girlfriend first. Wasn’t that the usual orderof things?
Were his attempts at courtship succeeding? His only measurement was the squeal of delight or the dazzling smile on her face when she discovered something he’d done for her, like stocking the fridge with her favorite brand of chocolate milk. So far, he thought he was solidly in the win column.
As for the nights, he went out of his way to be considerate in bed too. To see she was gratified as much and as often as she wanted, putting his needs behind hers. Somehow his needs were met way beyond any scale he expected or felt he deserved.
None of this was difficult to do. It came naturally and was embarrassingly easy. Did that mean he wasn’t trying hard enough?
And that annoying little detail about him leaving? He continued to shove it into the back of his mind, just like he shoved his training videos into a folder on his desktop, but it was getting harder to ignore the upcoming move as the holidays—and his departure date—inched closer.
Today Neve was beside him on one of his favorite holiday traditions. His entire family had tromped into the woods, picked out their parents’ tree, and enjoyed a round or two of hot chocolate before cutting it down and hauling it back to the Hunnicutt homestead.
The women had done most of the decorating, though he’d handled a majority of the ornaments from his childhood, each one evoking some warm memory that had lain dormant throughout the year. Surprisingly, many of those memories called up Neve, from the time she was a child to her teens and early twenties. Tucked among the happy remembrances was one sad one, when his heart had been heavy from her leaving for vet school. Had he always felt that way?
Beneath it all, though, an undercurrent of restlessness was building. Never one to sit idle for long, he could feel an itch starting in his gut and spreading out, tentacle-like, invading his bloodstream. Helping Neve in her office was one thing. Goofing around in yoga class or with her at home might have satisfied part of him, but it couldn’t completely fill a hollow spot that was yawning wider.
“Reece?” his mother interrupted his mind’s meanderings. “Help me get some of the other decorations out of the basement.”
“Sure.” He loped after her, picturing boxes of nutcrackers, boogie-woogie Santas, and cockeyed pinecone decorations he and his brothers had crafted when they were little and hadn’t thought it was girlie to play withglue and glitter. Before he disappeared down the long, narrow staircase, he caught a glimpse of Neve laughing with Hailey and reassured himself she was fine.
At the bottom landing, he rounded the corner and nearly ran over his mother. She stood facing him, feet hip-width apart and hands folded on her hips.
“Want to tell me what’s going on with you and Neve?”
“What?” he sputter-laughed.
One of her eyebrows lifted to her forehead, packed with the expectation of a genuine answer. “I’ve heard some rumblings in the town gossip mill lately. I’d like to know the truth from my own son.”
Uh-oh.“What kind of rumors?”
Now her eyebrows pulled together, causing grooves to appear between them. She wasn’t having it. “Something along the lines of you and she joined your brothers and tied your own knot in Las Vegas.”
“Who told you that?” As if he didn’t know. He was simply stalling while he ransacked his brain for an answer that might not be the whole truth but would somehow be believable.
Her eyes dipped to his left hand. “Dixie noticed some pretty fancy jewelry on both your hands.”
He flapped a hand. “Dixie notices all kinds of stuff that doesn’t tie together, though it doesn’t keep her fromtryingto turn it into a story. It’s what she does.”
“I’ve known that woman for … well, a lot of years, and she’s usually right. Besides, I’ve got my own powers of observation, and don’t think I haven’t noticed how you keep sneaking looks at her with your googly eyes. Something has changed between you two. It’s obvious.”
“Well, weareliving under the same roof,” he deadpanned. “People tend to change their behaviors when they become roommates, no matter how temporary.”
She tapped her foot. That was a bad sign. “Are you saying you’re not sampling the milk before buying the cow?”
“Are you calling Neve acow?” He made a big show of looking over her shoulder toward the shelves where the decorations were stowed.
“Reece Bowen Hunnicutt, stop stalling and give me a straight answer. Are you and Neve married?”
Matching her stance, he rested his hands on his hips. “Did you bring me down here just so you could ambush me?”
“Yes, in part, though I do need you to bring up some boxes. Your turn. I want to hear the truth. I don’t like learning something this monumental through the grapevine.”
His mother had the uncanny power to crush him with a few well-placed words. He looked toward the ceiling, which was only a few feet above his head, before leveling his gaze on hers. “Kind of.”
“That’s not a straight answer. Youdidn’tmarry Neve?”
No wiggle room. “No, Idid. We married each other. At the same time. Along with Noah and Hailey and Charlie and Joy,” he fumbled. “The thing is, I’m not a hundred percent sure it’s legal.”Only ninety-nine point nine-nine-nine percent sure. “We were supposed to have a Zoom call with the attorney today and get a concrete answer, but he had to bail.”
