Ben and Ainsley had an adults only cocktail party. No one was surprised that Keely volunteered her babysitting services for all the McKay offspring that night. But everyone was shocked when Jack announced her pregnancy.
As much fun as Gavin had at the festivities the past few weeks, getting to know his family a little better, something was missing.
Rielle.
He’d invited her to the first McKay family event since everyone in the gossipy McKay family knew they were in a relationship. But Rielle had demurred. Her reasons were sound; she’d be an intrusion in Gavin and Sierra’s family time. It made sense, but he still missed her.
Sometimes he felt theirs was a relationship borne out of their odd living arrangement. Rielle kept that dividing line in place, doing her own thing. She’d decorated her part of the house by herself. He and Sierra put up an enormous Christmas tree and added decorations from years past, plus new ones they’d found at the community bazaar.
But other times, when he and Rielle were alone, there was no her space or his space, just their space.
“Dad, come taste this,” Sierra yelled from the kitchen.
Vi had come over to make candy with Sierra. His relationship with Vi had returned to how it’d been before their fight. But now Vi cleared every purchase and activity with him before she mentioned it to Sierra, which wasn’t a snarky way to poke at him, but it gave Vi an excuse to call him up and chat whenever she wanted. Strange that he didn’t mind.
Upon entering the kitchen, he saw globs of brown on wax paper, a pan of peanut brittle and chocolate balls topped with fancy red and green icing. “What am I trying?”
“Gram’s caramels. They’re the best thing ever.” Sierra held a square up to his lips. “Try it.”
He opened his mouth. Buttery vanilla goodness melted on his tongue. “Okay. Wow. Those are incredible.” He shook his finger at Vi. “And you’re taking them all home because I will sit down in front of the game and eat the entire batch.”
“I’ll save some for Christmas dinner.” She wiped a section of the counter. “You’re still planning on coming over?”
“Of course. I wish you’d let us bring something.”
Vi looked him in the eye. “Having you both there with us and the rest of our family is more than enough.”
Our family. She didn’t push, but she clearly stated, at every opportunity, that they were family.
“You haven’t said what you and Sierra are doing on Christmas Eve.”
“We haven’t decided. Although I’ll bet Little Miss will try and convince me to open presents on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas morning.”
Vi frowned. “You don’t have a tradition?”
“No. Sierra’s been with her mom the last five Christmases. She spends part of Christmas Eve with me. Then I drop her off at Ellen’s that night.”
“Dad, we’re doing the same thing we always do. Drinking eggnog, cooking a batch of chili and watching Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” Sierra grinned. “Then maybe we’ll open up a present or ten.”
“Don’t you have plans with Rielle and Rory?” Vi asked.
Gavin shook his head.
She paused. “I’m sorry. I find that strange.”
Me too.
“Speaking of Rielle…let’s get this mess cleaned up so she won’t have a fit that we destroyed her kitchen,” Vi said.
That rubbed Gavin the wrong way. “Maybe it seems like Rielle’s kitchen, but I do own this house. So technically it’s my kitchen.”
Silence.
“Well, I’m glad you cleared that up,” Rory said walking past him, overloaded with grocery bags.
Shit. “Here, let me help you.”
“I’ve got it. Just let me know when I can come back into your kitchen and put everything away,” she retorted.
“Rory. That’s uncalled for,” Rielle said behind him. Then she too walked past with bags, and she too refused his help. “And Gavin is right. This is his place.” She smiled at Vi and Sierra. “But I do appreciate having a clean spot to work in.”
“We were just finishing up,” Vi said.
“No rush. I’ll put the stuff in the refrigerator. Rory and I planned to have a glass of wine first anyway.”
Then they were gone.
Sierra mumbled, “Merry freakin’ Christmas,” and started to load the dishwasher, humming Christmas tunes.
Gavin leaned against the counter where Vi was dividing all the goodies into Christmas tins. “Like I said, Gavin, I find this situation strange.”
“Yeah, well, it is what it is.”
“You are in a serious relationship with Rielle?”
He nodded. Yes, they were taking things slow. Normally he’d be fine with that; after all, they had their own lives and interests. But Gavin had almost an obsessive need to define what was growing between them.
The hit and miss nights they spent in each other’s beds caused some annoyance, even when he understood she had to be up at the crack of dawn three mornings a week.
Rielle got along well with Sierra. She didn’t comment on his parenting practices and she never inserted herself into the time he spent with his daughter. Most men would consider it an ideal relationship: smoking hot sex whenever he wanted, a woman who made no demands of a commitment, and her complete disinterest in the fact he had money. But he wanted more.
“This is what she wants,” he said softly.
Vi’s eyes took on a defiant gleam. “What about what you want?”
Such a…defensive and motherly thing to say. “It’s complicated. Rielle and I…we’ve both done our own thing. It’s been her and Rory for so long neither of them knows any other way to be. It’s sort of the same for Sierra and me.”
“But you’re adapting. You’ve embraced all the McKay craziness more than I ever thought you would.”
She rubbed his arm in such a loving manner, he nearly hugged her. He missed the easy rapport he’d had with his mother. Her sweetness and generosity. Vi was nothing like her…and yet she was.
“What are you thinking about that’s put such a melancholy look in your eyes?” Vi asked.
Gavin hedged. “How much I’m looking forward to having Christmas dinner with the crazy McKays.”
That answer pleased her. “We’ll eat around two. And open presents afterward.”
His smile froze. “Presents?”
“A little untraditional, I know, but Quinn and Libby want to spend Christmas morning with their children. Chase and Ava are staying in Kane’s trailer, and for the life of me I can’t figure that one out. Ben and Ainsley are feeding cattle so Quinn can be home with his family. So we open our gifts to each other late.”