Page 174 of Cocky Caveman

“Surprise,” I say to Angus, adding in a shit-eating grin. He punches me again.

“In the flesh, son.” Mr. Royal is enjoying Angus’s shocked and confused look.

“Brother, now ye can stop worrying. Jeff will be taking the reins, and he is going to have a man-to-man talk with Matty on his intentions with Alice, topped up with a sit-down chat with his father.”

My brother’s eyes bulge when the penny drops. “Ye knew?All this time, ye knew they were coming today, and ye never said anything to yer brothers?” My brother is a bit slow to catch on.

“Aye. We had to keep it a secret from Alice and Teagan for as long as possible.”

We hear Alice and Matty laughing from the belly of the tiny house.

“Alice and Matthew are here?” Angus can’t keep up.

“Aye, I texted Alice when I saw her go to her tiny house with Matthew and let her know to come over to this tiny house because I had a surprise for her. I have explained she has to keep who her parents are a secret while they are staying here from Ophelia, and we will let our family know. Tucker’s orders. He doesn’t want Ophelia to feel any pressure, so she is meeting the parents without meeting the parents.”

“Good luck with that,” Angus smirks.

Jeff takes a step backward. “Come on in, boys.”

“Why the big secret fromme?I can keep a secret.” Angus sounds offended, which is understandable.

“More fun this way.” I push him over the threshold. Jeff stays standing behind us near the open door. I gather he is waiting to intercept Teagan when she arrives.

Alice just messaged her sister to come to the eggshell and cream exterior tiny house. It is time for Teagan to get let in on the surprise. The tiny house sits lower on the property, so Gwen made a smart choice, giving the Royals a little more privacy from the main house.

My brother stops, half turning. “Does Gwen know?”

I roll my eyes at him in answer.

“How come she got to know before me?” My brother rubs the back of his neck, looking pissed that he wasn’t let into the inner sanctum until now.

“She’s Ophelia’s BAE,” I say like I need not explain more. But I do. “She has privileges ye can’t beat, like making sure Tucker got his booking dates without Ophelia catching on and accepted payment under an alias. Now turn around.”

“Hello, Angus, darling.” The slim woman in her mid-fifties gets up off the couch spreading her arms wide for my brother. They meet halfway, briefly hugging each other.

I can see where Teagan gets her beauty. Their blonde hair and features make them easily recognizable as mother and daughter when they stand close together. Note to self: it means they can’t do that in front of Ophelia.

“Once Alice let us know about Ophelia because nobody said a peep in Alaska…” She pauses and raises a stern eyebrow directing it at me, but she’s not angry. She knows her son. “We discovered Tucker booked four tiny houses, but one was vacant. Naturally, we offered to take up the slack,” Judy Royal says, her tone innocent, “so here we are.” Like it all makes logical sense that they are here snooping on Ophelia, from a distance, of course.

“Mrs. R, it’s great seeing ye looking so well.” Angus loves Tucker’s mother; we all do. Both of his parents are good people.

“The same I can say about you two handsome boys. Jeff and I will be catching up with Tavish and Ellen tomorrow night if you boys are around for a drink, and we can see Teagan and Alice there too because I know we have to be careful around the Fainting Goat Ranch and not let the cat out of the bag.” She winks conspiratorially. “I am dying to meet Ophelia, but we both know Tucker doesn’t want her to know who we are yet. We are just Tempest and Brooks on our writing retreat. I hear she is a beauty inside and out.”

I’ve already given the Royals the answers to their questions as best I could, and Mrs. Royal can’t disguise her genuine pleasure at knowing her son is courting Ophelia from afar.

“Mom, I showed you her Instagram page, you know she is pretty, and I sent you the photos I took of her and Tucker at brunch at his house when you asked me for proof.” Alice sits on the sofa, holding Matthew’s hand, knowing she is spilling the beans. She’s one smart girl.

Judy flutters her hand at her daughter. “Oh, yes, that sounds about right. I forgot.”

“No, you didn’t.” Alice giggles. “I understand that Matty and I can’t say anything to Ophelia.”

I raise an eyebrow at Alice’s ease with inserting her boyfriend into the family equation. And I can see Angus didn’t miss it either the way he is nudging me, not so subtly until I make a low noise in my throat to halt his persistence and glare at him.

“Well, thisisbig news. Of course, I will glean any information I can get out of my daughters. Alice was the one who caved the easiest, but Teagan joined in. We women folk understand that this isBIGfor my son, and seeing we were in the neighborhood, I don’t see any harm in a little peek, and I will stay out of Ophelia’s hair. One day is nearly over of our three-day stay, and we may not even see her until tomorrow afternoon if she is around. We are quite the busy bees. Aren’t we, Jeff?” She looks around because he has disappeared, which is hard to do in a tiny house.

We hear him calling out, “Oh, yes. We are buzzing about everywhere, only enough time for a chat at checkout time.”

“Jeff, come inside, so you don’t have to yell. I think we might be able to grab a minute chat here and there before then with Ophelia. Let’s not be hasty.”

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