Should’ve Known It’s You (Not You Again #7)

Chapter 49

CHAPTER 49

AUSTIN

T he next couple of days on the farm passed in a blissful blur. Kennedy and I spent quality time with my family, pitching in with chores and eating every meal together. None of my clothes were going to fit when I got back to the office but the food was too good to pass up. Catching up with everyone was pretty great too.

I helped Slate build the baby’s crib while Jess and Kenny surfed the web and made a list of all the things my sister might still need for a newborn.

Mom taught Kenny a couple of her family recipes, insisting that she put them on the menu of her restaurant. Kenny tried reminding her that it wasn’t happening, but Mom waved her off, just grinning and telling her again not to give up.

I smiled as I watched them from the doorway, feeling like she was already part of the family. Maybe someday I could convince her to make it official. I didn’t want to pressure her while she had so much stress in her life. Being by her side had to be enough for the moment.

Every day, we were all together, ending every night in the family room to play games or cards, but after that, when it was time for bed, I slept in the hayloft next to Kenny and I fucking loved it.

The day before we left, Kenny and I walked into the farmhouse for breakfast. To my dismay, I saw my mother had brought out her Christmas decorations. I frowned. “Isn’t it a bit early for that? What are you doing with those?”

“It’s December,” she said easily. “You’re going to help me put up our tree. All of you are, whether you like it or not. It’ll be our family activity for the day.”

“I propose a new tradition that we put the tree up on Christmas Eve.”

Mom pursed her lips at us. “I doubt you’ll be saying that when my shortbread cookies come out of the oven later. Only those who help are allowed to have some.”

I chuckled and grinned at her. “You know what? I’m feeling the Christmas spirit coming on.”

Dad smiled as well. “Let’s deck the halls.”

Mom laughed, and Kenny was chuckling softly behind me, clearly thinking that the whole exchange was hilarious. She pitched in to help decorate when the time came though, eager to earn her shortbread cookies once the sweet, buttery scent started filling the house.

The family gathered in the living room, with Mom directing Slate and me as we balanced her tree in its stand. “No, that branch is going to be stuck against the wall. Move it another foot toward me.”

I sighed, but Slate glanced at her over his shoulder after pulling the tree over a bit. “Is it better here, Jeannie?”

“Yep, I think so. Thanks, honey.” She flashed him a warm smile. “It’s good to have at least one son who’s not complaining about this.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Hey, I’m here, aren’t I? I’m helping.”

“Don’t worry, baby,” she said, her blue eyes twinkling with laughter. “You’re earning your cookies.”

Jess and Kenny exchanged a glance, then both doubled over laughing. I flushed, but Mom chuckled and shooed the girls into the kitchen. “Make yourselves useful and go check on them for me. We wouldn’t want them to burn.”

“That would be terrible,” Jess said dramatically between giggles, grabbing Kenny’s arm and pulling her to the kitchen with her. Laughter rang out from them.

“What is that all about?” Dad asked as he glanced at Slate and me. “Have they been hitting the egg nog?”

Slate’s eyes went wide and he pointed at me. “Austin will explain, won’t you, brother?”

I shot him a playful glare. “As the newest member of our family, I feel like it’d be less awkward for you to explain what’s so funny.”

“Oh, hush,” Mom said, chuckling. She slid her glasses to the bridge of her nose, inspecting the tree from near and far and explaining to Dad without so much as flinching. “A cookie is also a euphemism for a woman’s?—”

“Got it,” Dad said, turning beet red and hiding his face in the box containing the decorations. “Good heavens, don’t be so immature. I thought you were grownups.”

“To be fair,” I said. “You might have had a slightly more adverse reaction if we’d been talking about earning our cookies as teenagers.”

Mom laughed but smacked me upside the head gently, giving me a pointed look before glancing at the door. “Jess and Slate are married. She’s pregnant. You, however, are yet to make an honest woman out of that girl. You’re not allowed to talk about it yet.”

“ You’re the one who said I was earning it,” I protested, rubbing the back of my head as I shook it at her. “Besides, I’m not even sure she wants me to make an honest woman out of her, and even if she does, it’s too soon for that.”

“Oh, but is it?” Slate asked, a shit-eating grin on his lips. “Take a page out of my book and just get it done, man. You don’t want to risk losing her just because you’re dragging your feet.”

“I’m not dragging my feet. Can we all just take a minute and?—”

I cut myself off when Jess and Kenny came back. My sister arched an eyebrow at me when I fell silent. “Take a minute and what?”

“Nothing,” I mumbled.

Slate’s shoulders were shaking with silent laughter, and Dad’s head was still buried in the box, but finally Mom came to my rescue, or so I thought until I realized the only thing she was really doing was jumping the gun.

“You should join us for Christmas this year, Kenny,” she said. “If you’d like and you don’t have plans with your family, that is.”

Fuck .

Kenny’s blue eyes stretched wide open and her lips parted with surprise as she stared at my mom. Thankfully, my mother simply smiled and went back to inspecting each and every branch on the tree as if trying to decide if it was in the right place. It gave Kenny a moment to consider the invitation without everyone staring at her expectantly.

“Yes, please come,” Jess said, but she did it quietly, sending Kenny a hopeful smile before she waddled to Slate’s side and started helping him to untangle the Christmas lights.

While they sorted out the tangled mess that was, in my opinion, the real nightmare before every Christmas, I stayed put, my eyes locked on Kenny as I waited for her to reach a decision. Finally, she slid her gaze to mine, the unspoken question shining clearly behind it.

I nodded without hesitation. “Of course, I’d love it if you would come.”

I would have loved it more if my mother had let me ask her myself, but it was what it was. Besides, considering what the actual topic of conversation had been before they’d walked in, I supposed I should just consider myself lucky that Mom hadn’t asked her to marry me instead.

Kenny’s eyes remained on mine for a long beat. Then she glanced back at my mother. “Thanks, Jeannie. I really would like to join you, but can I let you know? I’ve never spent Christmas without my sister before. I just want to check what she’s got planned.”

“Sure, darling,” Mom said. “There’s no rush. It’s a standing invitation. You’re always welcome. You’re part of the family now.”

My heart thumped in my ears. My parents were embracing Kenny exactly like they had Slate, with open arms and making sure she knew that they saw her as one of us. While it was everything I could’ve asked for from them, I just wasn’t sure it was what she wanted.

The first night we’d been here, while we’d been lying naked in bed, I’d known there was something bothering her, but she still hadn’t told me what it was. For a moment, I’d thought she was finally going to tell me what she wanted our relationship to be, but it hadn’t happened and she hadn’t brought it up again since.

Ultimately, I knew she was into me and I knew she enjoyed spending time with me, but I also knew there were a multitude of things holding her back. Most importantly, I knew that she was afraid any official romantic entanglement between us might affect whatever chance she had left of making her business a reality.

I’d been thinking about that, though, and I had a proposal for her. I just hadn’t really had an opportunity to share it with her yet. Regardless of everything else, and even if she turned me down romantically in the end, I really did want to help her. I truly believed her idea would work in that neighborhood, and I knew she would knock it out of the park if she just had the finances to get started.

Dad finally picked up the box and set it down on the table. He glanced at us and motioned to it. “Well, get to it. These decorations aren’t going to hang themselves.”

Kenny chuckled and immediately got stuck in. Slate and Jess were still untangling lights, but I was more than happy to let them deal with that aggravation, pitching in to help Mom, Dad, and Kenny with the tree instead.

Later on, once we’d finally decorated the house to Mom’s satisfaction, Slate, Jess, Kenny, and I brought all the pumpkins from the porch to the barn, taking turns to smash them before we fed them to the cows as a seasonal treat.

Kenny cooed over the babies as Jess added bits of pumpkin to the troughs. “Are they allowed to eat this? I mean, obviously, since I know you wouldn’t be feeding it to them otherwise, but is it good for them? How does it work?”

Jess smiled. “Their diets are pretty regimented around here. We’ve always taken their health very seriously, but a bit of pumpkin is a nice treat for them and they only get it around this time of year.”

“So it’s like cheat day?”

My sister chuckled. “I suppose it is, yes. It’s better for them than the stuff we consume on our cheat days, though. I’ve been tearing through these spicy chips recently. They make my stomach burn like hell but my mouth and my baby are in heaven.”

As the girls chatted, Slate shot me a meaningful look, jerking his head toward Kenny as if telling me to get a move on already. I nodded, knowing I needed to do something before something else drove us apart.

After dinner that night, Kenny and I sat on the porch swing like I knew Mom and Dad liked to do sometimes, and while I wasn’t going to push her about wanting more, there was something else I needed to talk to her about.

The Christmas tree was lit in the living-room window and it was letting light out onto the porch. Kenny and I were cuddled up under a blanket, and she rested her head on my shoulder, a dreamy smile on her lips as we watched the trees and long grass sway in the breeze.

“This place really is magical,” she said quietly. “It always has been.”

“Yeah, it kind of is,” I agreed, even though she was the biggest part of the magic to me right then. “So, uh, I’ve been thinking, and when we get back to the city, I want to sit down and go over a business plan with you. It’s time to get an investor once and for all, so we can make this happen. Full steam ahead.”

She glanced up at me, and I saw the nervousness in her eyes. “I think we should just let it go for now, Austin. I’ve knocked on every door I’ve been able to think of and I haven’t had any luck. Who’s going to take a chance on me now, especially after all that stuff with the float?”

I grinned, reaching for her hand and giving it a firm squeeze. “I am, Kennedy. I don’t know why I didn’t think about it before, but there’s no reason why I can’t be the investor you’ve been looking for.”