Page 23 of When You're Home for the Holidays
“Are you guys serious right now?”
“Dude, it’s going to be ah-mazing. Las-Fucking-Vegas. We leave tomorrow. Dempsey’s driving up and meeting us at the airport.” Fielding’s enthusiasm was contagious. Everyone was grinning while Jake just kept staring at the tickets in his hand.
“Between opening the Oak, working all the time, and showing up big for our family this year,” Rhett gave him a tempered look of respect and admiration, “we decided you could use a vacation. I would have loved to go with you, but that’s not the right scene for me right now.”
Tori squeezed her husband’s hand, silently commending him for making the best choice for his health. They had multiple reasons to hang back in Hampton, but she was proud he was able to acknowledge that the nightlife and party scene of Sin City wasn’t the best place to test his sobriety.
“The guys got all your shifts covered at The Oak. Tori and I are heading back to Hampton in a few days to hold things down at Clinton’s over the weekend. Mike told me to tell you to enjoy, and to not send him any drunk texts while you’re there.”
Jake smirked and shook his head, but then his smile faltered. “Cory’s out of town visiting family all week,” he explained with a slight grimace. “I was supposed to work the bar at Clinton’s this weekend.”
“We know,” Rhett replied without missing a beat. “We’ve got it covered, and I can handle it.”
“You’re sure?” The genuine concern in his question confirmed what Tori already knew: Jake would go as far as to cancel his own surprise trip before he’d put Rhett in a compromising situation.
“Totally sure, bro. Merry Christmas. Go fuck shit up in Vegas.”
“Dude, I can’t even believe this. I haven’t been to Vegas in almost two years! Oh, fuck… we leave tomorrow?” He glanced back down at the plane tickets to confirm. “I did not pack for something like this,” he lamented. “I don’t even have my Vegas jeans.”
Maddie’s eyebrows shot into her hairline as she met Tori’s gaze from the other side of the tree. “What are Vegas jeans?” she mouthed.
“I got you covered, man,” Fielding piped up. “I packed a separate bag for you when I was at your condo over the weekend. And yes, I even grabbed your stupid bedazzled pants.”
Jake set down the tickets, rubbed his hands together, and grinned. “Fuck. I wasn’t expecting anything like this. Thank you guys so much.”
“You’re flying out of Detroit? Let me see those…” Maddie muttered, picking up the plane tickets to inspect them. “Damn. Your flight is eight hours later than mine. That means we can’t carpool to the airport and that I still won’t get to meet the other elusive Haas twin.”
Jake snatched the tickets out of her hands and held them tightly to his chest. “Fielding and Dempsey graduated with your brother, Fourth Wheel. That means they’re six years older than you.”
“And strictly off limits,” Rhett added with a threatening edge.
Maddie shrugged before turning to Fielding. “Honestly I’m starting to think you’re not even a twin. Maybe there’s really only one of you?”
Fielding smirked, pulled out his phone, unlocked the screen, and swiped a few times. Tori caught a glimpse of the shirtless picture he pulled up as he passed his phone to Maddie.
“Damn…” she drawled out, practically salivating as she zoomed in on the screen. “Think it’s too late to change my flight?”
“Madison,” Rhett threatened, using her full name for the second time that morning. “Chill, bro. You know I’m only kidding. By this time tomorrow I’ll be on a plane back to California and out of your hair.”
Fielding spoke up before Rhett could reply to his sister. “It’s probably for the best, little Wheeler. I doubt you could handle more than one of me anyway.”
“Haas,” Rhett gritted through his teeth, giving him a death glare.
“Easy,” Jake interjected, rising to stand and offering a hand to pull Maddie to her feet. “Come help me with the hot chocolate and maybe I’ll spike yours with something extra.” Maddie scrambled to follow him into the kitchen.
Rhett leaned over to whisper in Tori’s ear. “I’m going to take Penny out and walk up to the main road to see if the plows have been through yet. Wouldn’t want anyone getting snowed in now that they all have places to be and I’mthisclose to getting you all to myself.”
He hopped to his feet, then bent down to kiss her on the lips before walking out of the room. Tori gazed up at the massive Christmas tree, loving the smell of fresh pine wafting off its branches. Fielding was still sitting on the ground and staring up at the tree, too. He seemed to not really be looking at anything in particular, lost in his own thoughts.
“You good?” she questioned, curious if he was missing his brother or even his mom today.
He nodded and smiled, quickly replacing the look of concern with his usual carefree expression. He scooted closer so that their knees were touching where they sat.
“I got you something, but I didn’t want to make a big deal about it in front of everyone.”
“Field,” she scolded, “we all agreed: no gifts.”
“And yet I’m the proud new owner of a fancy-ass waffle iron?”
