Page 17 of Christmas Trouble

Dave looked around the big room, seeing the smiles on their faces, the silent ribbing between couples, the shared laughter.

His gaze settled on Stone, who sat not far from his cousin. The pair were often mistaken as twins. With Stone being the older cousin, the only difference Dave could see were threads of gray in Stone’s hair and crow’s-feet etching the corners of the man’s blue-gray eyes.

Stone was in his mid-forties, while Dave had already turned sixty-one. There was roughly fifteen years, give or take, between them. The dark hair that swept away from Stone’s forehead, along with growing scruff on the man’s unshaven face, made Stone look like a sexy badass. The tattoos helped.

Stone, as if sensing his gaze, turned his storm-colored eyes on him.

When Dave offered a small smile, Stone squinted in acknowledgment, but the man’s lips stayed firm.

No smile for him.

Dave’s throat grew tight.

They had shit to settle between them and the last thing he wanted was to lose Stone as a friend. One of his closest friends.

But Dave wasn’t sure if they’d remain friends after he made the move here to Colorado and fully retired from the specialty teams.

Stone was pissed about it and Dave wasn’t sure if the anger was from him retiring or moving to Colorado.

Probably both.

“Want some?” Kellum asked, dragging Dave’s attention from the stoic Stone and to the carafe of hot cocoa Kellum held in his hands.

Dave shook his head and eased from his chair. “I’m going for more coffee,” he said and carried his mug toward the kitchen.

Stone released a sigh that was swallowed up by the game in play. The only person who perhaps noticed his shoulders sag was his cousin.

Creed jerked his head slightly to the door of the enclosed patio and instead of responding, Stone stood and pulled on his coat. He and Creed and a few others had opted out of playing the ongoing game.

Stone walked out the patio door and Creed was right behind him, pulling on his own jacket.

Creed shut the sliding door after they stepped out and into the glass enclosure of the large patio that ran the length of the lodge. In the enclosed area there were chunky wood benches and tables along with numerous outdoor heaters. Along the lodge, some of the rooms were connected to the patio that ran the length of the building. The enclosure offered vacationers a chance to stargaze with some privacy.

Stone took a moment to fire one heater up and settled on a nearby wooden bench.

Beyond the glass was a covered pool with a thin layer of ice settled over the black tarp.

“You think Mason will buy this place?” Stone said walking to the glass.

The extremely private lodge was nestled in the side of a mountain and Creed remembered how Mason had joked about buying it on the drive from the airport.

“Probably?” There was humor in Creed’s deep, graveled voice.

Stone gazed out at the forest and stayed silent. He wished earlier he had been able to offer Dave a smile, but inside, nestled next to the fireplace with the friend he loved as more than only a friend, Stone couldn’t do it.

“So what’s going on between you and Dave?” Creed wanted to know, as if reading his mind.

Stone didn’t have any answers for his cousin, but he tried his best to explain it.

“Dave wants to fully retire,” Stone said, waving his hand back toward the glass door that separated them from the group inside and more specifically the man in question.

“And you don’t want that?” Creed frowned.

“No. Yes. He’s going to be bored.” Stone said as if he knew that for a fact, but he didn’t. In reality, he didn’t know if Dave would be bored. In fact, Dave could absolutely love retirement. And that’s what Stone was afraid of.

“Don’t you think that’s for Dave to decide?”

“Yes,” Stone said from between his teeth.

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