A Barker Family Christmas (The Barker Triplets 3.50)

The wedding reception was a small intimate affair and at times, Beau felt as if there were more Simons in the house than guests, which wasn’t surprising. There probably was. The only thing that would have made the night more perfect was if the two people missing were somehow able to be there—Betty’s father, Trent, and his brother, Teague.

Beau rose from his chair, shaking off the melancholy and glanced outside. The snow had tapered off, though the flakes still fell softly—it was a winter wonderland, and Beau couldn’t remember ever feeling this content or happy.

“She’s having a great time,” Maverick said, coming to stand beside Beau at the window.

Beau followed his cousin’s gaze. “If Cooper doesn’t get his hands off her ass I might have to go over there and remove them myself.”

Maverick chuckled. “That would be entertaining.”

“I don’t know about that, but it would be pretty damn messy.”

“Your mom would have your head.”

“True,” Beau agreed. “But it would be worth it, just once, to kick Cooper’s ass.”

Maverick was silent. “He’s not that bad, you know.”

Beau glanced at his cousin sharply. They all loved Cooper, but the guy was a horn dog. He had a habit of going after women who didn’t belong to him and everyone knew he’d slept with his brother Maverick’s girlfriend a few years back.

“Since when are you his cheerleader?”

Maverick shrugged. “I just think that when people do shitty things to others, most of the time it’s because they’re hiding from their own pain. Cooper’s hiding from something or someone, I just don’t know who or what it is.”

“I get that,” Beau murmured, eyes back on his new wife. Betty had pretty much done the same thing. The difference being, she’d faced her demons and won.

Beau glanced at his watch. It was nearly midnight and his car was waiting outside. He and Betty were spending the night at Logan Forest’s carriage house, while the rest of his family was staying out here at Winter Haven.

It was time to go. He wanted to be alone with his wife. Preferably without Cooper’s hands running interference.

He shook Maverick’s hand. Gave his sister a kiss on the cheek and warned her away from Matt Hawkins. Grace had a habit of wanting to fix things, including the men she dated, but from what little he knew of Hawkins, the guy was unfixable.

He said his goodbyes to Tucker and Abbey, to Jack and Donovan. He hugged his parents fiercely and patted Herschel on the back before doing the same to Betty’s sisters and their husbands.

By the time he got to his woman, Beau wanted nothing more than to scoop her into his arms and take her home. She looked exhausted, and beautiful, and radiant and a whole bunch of other things he didn’t have time to think about.

She stumbled a bit, but that was okay. He was there to catch her and he slid his arms around her, stealing her from his cousin.

“Coop,” he said. “We’re heading out.”

Cooper was silent for a few seconds. “You’re a lucky man. Take care of this one.”

“I plan on it.”

Of course Betty didn’t know where her coat was, so he slipped his suit jacket over her shoulders, dropping a kiss on her exposed neck when he did so.

“I’ll give you twenty minutes to stop that,” she whispered.

“You just wait until I get you alone. I plan on kissing you for a lot longer than twenty minutes.”

Because she didn’t have boots on her feet, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her to his car. The driver had the door open and once he deposited her inside, Beau climbed in and pulled Betty into his arms.

They rode in silence for a few moments, each lost in thought, gazing out the windows at a much thinner crowd still gathered along the road. It was mainly paparazzi and light bulbs flashed as they exited the estate.

“It was perfect, don’t you think?” Betty said softly, her hands running along his arm.

Beau kissed the top of her head. “Yeah. Perfect.”

“I know Bobbi didn’t approve of Duke catering, but I’ve been craving chicken wings for days now and don’t you think everyone loved them?”