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

Chapter 65

CHAPTER 65

AUSTIN

K ennedy and I drove up to Firefly Grove on Christmas Eve. It was finally snowing, but it was dry snow, so the roads weren’t terrible. The scenery was becoming more and more picturesque the further we got out of the city, really making me feel the holiday spirit.

Humming along to holiday classics beside me, Kenny had her hand on my thigh, but her eyes were locked on the window, soft, contented sighs coming out of her every so often. “I’d really forgotten just how beautiful it is out here this time of year.”

“It’s amazing, right? Like a postcard.”

She chuckled. “Do you even still get those? I haven’t seen one except at souvenir stands for ages.”

“Same, but the sentiment remains the same.”

“Fair enough.”

As I turned the next corner, the car started to vibrate a little and I frowned, slowing down before speeding up again, but it made no difference. “What the…”

“That’s a flat tire,” she said, brow puckering as she glanced in the side mirror. “I think it may be the left rear.”

“How do you know that?”

She shrugged. “It’s happened to me before.”

“Right,” I said slowly, dragging out the word as I pulled over. Sure enough, I got out of the car and walked around it, hugging my coat around myself in attempt to keep warm, and I realized that she had been right. “How on earth did this happen?”

“It might’ve been something under the snow,” she said easily, joining me where I was standing glaring down at the tire and freezing my butt off. “Do you want me to change it?”

“Can you?”

“What kind of question is that?” she teased. “Besides, you’re right here. If I get it wrong, you can always take over.”

I sighed but nodded. “Freezing next to the road isn’t exactly the ideal time to learn how to do it, but sure. I suppose I could teach you.”

Except that the joke was on me.

After all my explaining, Kenny got right to it and got the job done much faster than I might have. I gaped at her, wondering if I’d missed something.

“Where did you learn how to do that?” I asked, beyond impressed—and turned on—as we climbed back into the car, hands frozen and teeth chattering. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

She winked. “I’ve heard the best relationships have a bit of mystery.” As I cranked the heat, she held her hands in front of the vent and gave me a devilish little smile. “So you’ll never know.”

“Did you learn it during your tractor-stealing days?” I asked as I got us back on the road, praying that the rest of the drive would be smooth.

She laughed. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I really would, actually.” I glanced at her but had to force my gaze away as I pressed my foot down on the pedal. “You’re seriously not going to tell me?”

“Nope, but it was cute, listening to you trying to teach me.”

I groaned. “Cute? Thanks. I feel so manly now.”

She dragged her fingertips along the inside of my thigh, buckled up but leaning a bit closer as she smiled. “You’re plenty manly, baby. If you’re feeling a bit insecure about it, though, I could?—”

“Snow-covered road, Kenny. If you want to make it to Merrick Meadows in one piece, I wouldn’t go there right now. Especially not after you just changed a tire in less than thirty minutes, out in the cold, without even hesitating once.”

“So seeing me as a capable, independent woman turned you on?” she mused softly, giggling as she finally pulled away. “I can live with that.”

“Happy to hear it,” I said, tightening my grip on the steering wheel and flexing the muscles in my thighs. The lust coursing through my veins abated a bit, but honestly, it was always there, just below the surface when she was this close to me. “When we get there, what do you say we go make up the hayloft together?”

“Make up the hayloft, or go make out in the hayloft?”

I smirked. “What do you think?”

“I think your whole family would come with us if we tried, so unless you’re into exhibitionism, you’re going to have to cool your jets until later.”

“Fine, but only if you let me make up for lost time once we can get away.”

She took my hand, lifting it off the shifter and brushing a soft kiss to the back of it. “Always.”

For the rest of the drive, we settled back into a comfortable silence before we eventually both started singing along to the familiar Christmas hits playing on the radio. We belted them out, laughing and joking around until we reached Firefly Grove.

It was a Christmas wonderland when we arrived, covered in a fresh blanket of snow with multicolored lights strung up on every house and storefront in town. Merrick Meadows looked the same, Mom’s festive lights reflected in the deep snow that must’ve fallen either last night or during the day.

The lights from the Christmas tree were lit in the living-room window, making the farmhouse look like a place out of a festive movie. Warmth exploded through me as I realized that this year, I finally had someone special of my own to share this magic with.

I never would have admitted it out loud before, but these last few years, I’d felt this yearning for something more during the holidays. And now I had it. God, I’m never going to stop grinning.

As soon as we parked outside, the front door opened and my family spilled out, greeting us with as much warmth and enthusiasm as they had over the Thanksgiving holiday. Slate gave me a hand with our bags, watching as Jess took Kennedy’s arm and quickly dragged her out of the cold.

“I think you might’ve made Jess’s childhood dreams come true by getting serious with that girl,” he said, laughing as he clapped me on the shoulder. “Now let’s get in there before we freeze our balls off. I’m assuming you’d still like to father a few children.”

I lifted my eyebrows at him as I handed over a few grocery bags of things we’d brought along from the city. “As if you’re only going to have one. I’m not the only one who still needs his balls.”

“True.” He chuckled, shouldering one more bag before he headed into the house.

Mom and Dad were in the living room, hugging Kennedy as Slate and I walked in. Dad strode over to pull me into a hug next.

“We just heard you got a flat tire,” he said as he thumped his fist on my back. “Are you okay? It didn’t blow out or anything, did it?”

“Nope. We’re fine. Thankfully, we were traveling pretty slowly because of the weather and we pulled over as soon as we realized something was wrong.”

“Is it true that you made Kenny change the tire?” Jess asked, surprising me once again with her ability to know absolutely everything within minutes of our arrival.

I shook my head. “I couldn’t make her do anything. She just went ahead and did it. All while pretending she was letting me teach her.”

“You goof.” Jess snorted. “Kenny and I have known how to change tires since we were eight.”

Dad chuckled. “That’s true. Back then, the tires were almost as big as they were. It was adorable, though, watching them trying even when just the wrench was too heavy for them to handle.”

I groaned. “I should’ve known Jess had something to do with it.”

My sister beamed at me and Kennedy winked, following her to the kitchen to get some eggnog while I helped my mom unpack the box containing the stockings. My heart jumped when she handed me one with Kenny’s name emblazoned on it.

“When did you have time to do this?” I asked, everything in me swelling with gratitude.

Mom flashed me a playful smile. “Mama Magic, my dear. It seemed only right to have one made for her, so I made it happen.”

A strange squeezing sensation overtook my vision for a moment, but I blinked it away. I took a spiced eggnog Kenny handed over when they came back in. “Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me. Jess made it. I just carried your glass. Just, uh, maybe don’t make too much of a fuss about it. Hers is regular and she’s not happy about it.”

I laughed. “I bet.”

With Jess grumbling as she came back into the room, Slate cranked the radio to fill the air with more Christmas music and Mom looked around with happy tears shimmering in her eyes. “Let’s get these stockings hung before dinner, gang. You’re not going to want to do it after. I may or may not have made far too much food, and since you all are always complaining about how much I feed you, you might not be able to move much after this meal.”

I felt my eyes light up and Slate looked pretty excited too. Kennedy laughed and went over to hold Jess’s glass so she could sit down. Then she made her put her feet up before handing it back over.

We spent the night together as a family, hanging the stockings and singing along to the festive music before we sat down to a feast that could’ve fed a dozen armies. Mom definitely hadn’t been wrong about that.

At the end of the night, Kenny and I were about to roll ourselves to the loft to go to bed, but I caught my mom alone in the living room, standing in front of the tree. I glanced at Kenny. “Give me minute. I’ll be back.”

She nodded, heading into the kitchen. I went to Mom, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. For the first time in what felt like a long time, she and I shared a moment that was just the two of us. “Merry Christmas, Mom.”

“Merry Christmas, baby,” she said, planting a kiss on my shoulder before she turned back to the tree. “How’s Kenny holding up? Is she okay? It’s got to be especially difficult for her this year.”

“It is, but I think she’s going to be alright. We’ve just been taking it one day at a time.” I squeezed my mom tighter. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking recently.”

“You have?”

I nodded. “All this stuff with the Sweets has made me realize how lucky I am to have you and Dad as my parents. I feel like I need to thank you for all the love you gave us growing up. Without it, I doubt I ever would’ve even known that Kenny is the one for me, but I definitely wouldn’t have known how to love her the way she needs me to.”

Mom teared up, wrapping an arm around my waist and holding me tight as she rested her head against my chest for just a moment. “You’ve just given me the greatest Christmas present in the world, sweetheart. All every parent wants to know is that they’ve done right by their kids. I’m glad that after everything we’ve all been through, you still feel that way about us.”

That strange squeezing happened to my eyes again, so I screwed them shut, breathing through the immensity of the emotions rolling through me before I told her good night.