Page 33 of Deck the Halls with Cowboys
Abbie blinked in surprise. “King-size bed? Where?”
“In the basement,” Denver answered. “Had the entire thing renovated at the beginning of the year. Added three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a kitchen.”
Mags grunted. “Now who’s keeping secrets?”
“It was Val’s idea,” he said, tipping his head down to his wife. “She wanted a house big enough for everyone to stay in case of an emergency.”
My eyes landed on my best friend. “A house big enough for the whole family,” I whispered.
“Yes.”
Ten minutes later, Jigs and twins had gone back down to the bunkhouse and the rest of us were standing in the middle of Den and Val’s renovated basement. Eachof us had a candle or a flashlight. The walls were painted the same cream color as the main level, and the small kitchen space also had a small round table with four chairs. There was a coffeepot on one end of the countertop and a small green retro fridge at the other end, with an oven between them. The floors were carpet, plush and soft under my socks. As I scanned the space, I blindly reached out for Mags’s hand. “This is amazing. How did you get all this done without my knowledge?”
Denver smirked but didn’t give me an answer. Val spoke instead. “There’s clothes in each of your rooms. Diana and Mags, you two are on the right. Beau and Abbie, your room is right here.” She pointed to the door closest to us. “Harm and Mase, you two are just down that little hallway. There’s space heaters in every room, but Mags and Diana, you two have the hearth.”
“You have clothes for us?” Mase asked.
“Clearly, you don’t know your sister-in-law,” Beau drawled, winking at Val. “Of course she does.”
“Thank you, Val,” Mags said, his voice low.
She beamed. “You’re my family. You don’t have to thank us for this.”
Denver’s large arm snaked around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. “What would I do without you, Enchantress?” he asked, his smoke gray eyes scanning her face.
“Die alone in this house,” Mase answered.
“Mason!” I hissed, reaching over and pinching his arm.
“Ow! Hey!”
Harmony bit the inside of her cheek.
Abbie spoke then, “So this is—” She cut herself off as the lights flickered back on. We all looked up, and a wave of relief hit me as the heat kicked on.
“Thank God,” I breathed.
“Don’t get too excited, beautiful,” Mags said from beside me.
“What do you mean?”
“Our power lines are underground,” Denver explained, “but where our lines are connected are above ground, and that’s where our problem is.”
“Well, hopefully that problem magically fixed itself,” Harmony chirped, looking at Valerie. “Every family holiday movie I’ve seen always has a few hiccups. This is nothing.”
“Are you comparing this to a movie, Little Song?”
“It would make good entertainment,” Beau said thoughtfully, flicking off his flashlight.
Abbie rolled her eyes. “Would you stop? All you’ve managed to do today is get on my nerves.”
Valerie pressed her lips together, but it was too late for me to contain my laugh.
Beau pressed his lips to her temple. “No. I live to get on your nerves, Abbie Spears,” he whispered, smiling.
“The breaker for this level is down here.” Denver gestured down the short hallway, heading that way. The cowboys followed him, leaving us alone. We all huddled close to each other, our red and green candles burning between us.
“So what’s the plan for tomorrow?” I asked Val. “Is there anything else we need to do?”
