6 Mountain Brothers for Christmas

“Anything for you, sweet cheeks,” she said.

I groaned at her nickname for me while the rest of the brothers stood around smirking. I could’ve smacked every single one of their grins right off their face. There was a reason I cut this woman out of my life, cold turkey. She was a constant flirt and pestered me for days. She’d get pissed if I didn’t call her during all my breaks and she always seemed to be at my place, waiting for me to get home because she was simply “in the neighborhood.”

She was insane. But she was also the best real estate agent in the entire fucking state of Colorado.

I explained to her the plan we had and asked her if there were any properties that fit my descriptions. I could hear her typing away at her computer and, for a split second, I felt sorry for her. It was Christmas Eve and she was in her office. Which meant she had no friends or family to spend the holiday with. And, while she was the craziest woman I’d ever attempted to date, no one deserved to be alone during this holiday.

“I’ve got a few things that match your description and you’re in luck. Because a few of them are right here in town. This plan of yours is sweet. Already planning for the children we’ll fill it with?”

And immediately, I was ripped from my guilt and tossed into a cold vat of “get me the fuck off this phone.”

“Nope,” I said. “Not for you. But it is a surprise for someone very important to me.”

“A woman?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said. “A woman.”

There was a pause on the phone and I halfway expected to see a mushroom cloud in the distance. I almost expected to hear a massive explosion on the other end of the phone, designating the fact that her entire demeanor had gone sky-high. Nuclear. Shattered into a thousand pieces like shrapnel after a bomb explosion.

I relaxed, however, when I heard her giggle to herself.

“What you’re asking for is next to impossible, but I’m the best,” she said. “And the best can make it happen.”

“Wait, you’re serious?” I asked.

Harper’s face lit up with joy while Owen picked up his phone and started making his own phone calls.

“Yes, I’m serious,” she said. “I’m assuming you’ll want to send one of your other brothers to check out the properties and that’s fine with me. I’ll be ready in thirty minutes to pick up whoever wants to ride around and take a look at them.”

“Harper’ll do it,” I said, grinning.

He started shaki

ng his head furiously and I stifled my laughter. That was what he got for putting me in this position.

“Oh, is that the writer?” she asked. “The brooding one that you always talked about?”

“He is,” I said. “He’s the romantic brooding writer that all the ladies fawn over.”

My brothers were holding their stomachs in silent laughter while Harper’s face drained of all its color.

“Just let me know where to pick him up and I’ll head on out,” she said.

“He’ll meet you outside of the hospital,” I said.

“Uh oh, is everything okay?” she asked.

For a split second, I heard that tone in her voice. The tone that reeled me in during the first few days of us spending time with one another. That kind, gentle voice that fluttered against my ear and made me feel as if the world was complete again. But I realized something important in that moment.

I realized her voice reminded me of Kyra.

“Everything’s just fine,” I said. “He’ll meet you there in half an hour. You can pick him up by the main entrance with the roundabout.”

“Tell him I’ll see him then. There are five properties, so it’ll be at least a couple hours.”

“I’ll let him know. It was nice talking with you, Melinda.”

“Merry Christmas, Rowan.”