Page 70 of Once Upon a Holidate
Garrick parked next to Drew’s SUV and walked inside. Koda was on guard duty, watching as each person entered, carefully sniffing fingers to make sure he really knew who they were. Garrick crouched and petted the old dog before heading into the family room to join his friends.
He was still thinking about what Wynn had told him that morning. Knowing how she’d come to be pregnant with Hunter didn’t make him think less of her. He could understand why she’d done what she’d done. He supposed if he had to explain why it was on his mind it would be because he was so impressed with the person she’d become.
She’d taken herself from a struggling single mother to a successful businesswoman. She was strong, compassionate, caring. He knew she gave generously to local charities and had a feeling those gifts were her attempts to pay forward some part of what Chas had done by leaving her his insurance money.
“Garrick, you made it,” Mathias Mitchell called, waving a beer. “Drinks are in the kitchen and Jasper’s out back working the smoker.”
Garrick greeted everyone else, then made his way to the kitchen. He grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, pausing to talk with Nick Mitchell, Mathias’s older brother, before heading outside where Jasper stood in front of the smoker, talking to Cade Saunders.
As Garrick joined his friends, he inhaled the scent of meat, barbecue seasonings and wood chips.
“What are you smoking?” he asked. “It smells great.”
“I’m starving,” Cade admitted. “Being out here isn’t helping.”
“Only a few more minutes,” Jasper told them. “I have ribs. Pounds of ribs. The sides are waiting inside.”
Cade laughed. “Trying to show us all up?”
“Renee got me the smoker for my birthday. It’s fun to get to use it like this.” Jasper picked up his beer. “Planning to stay through the whole game?” he asked Cade.
“Get off me.” Cade’s tone was good-natured. “She’s only eight months old. It’s hard to be gone.”
“Bethany is more than capable of taking care of your daughter for a single evening.”
“She’s more capable than me, but I like to be around.”
Cade and his wife had had their first child earlier that year. Their circle of friends was in something of a baby boom right now.
“I’d be careful if I were you,” Garrick told Jasper. “Your time is coming, and Cade is going to be the one teasing you about how you can’t leave your kid for five minutes.”
Jasper grinned. “Yeah, I know it’s coming and I don’t mind. For so long I never thought I’d have kids, but since marrying Renee, it’s been on my mind. We’re currently dealing with logistics. Renee loves her work too much to want to give it up, and I feel the same about what I do.” He shrugged. “We’re talking about getting in some full-time help. We have enough land where we can build a good-sized cabin right here on the property.”
The plan made sense, Garrick thought, looking around at the surrounding forest. He wasn’t sure how big Jasper’s lot was, but it was at least a dozen or so acres. Adding a cabin wouldn’t be a problem. As for paying for it all—the new building, the full-time nanny—that wouldn’t be an issue, either. Jasper was a successful author whose books sold around the world. When combined with what Renee made at Weddings Out of the Box, he would guess they weren’t ever going to have money problems.
A different situation from when Joylyn was born, he thought. Back then his mom and Alisha’s mom had pitched in to cover a lot of the baby duty, and both families had taken care of the expenses. He and Alisha had still been in high school. Even when they’d graduated and gone to college, Alisha’s mother had been a big part of the caretaking.
“Verity, Renee’s mom, has told us she wants to come stay for at least the first month,” Jasper added.
“You’re the only one holding up the program,” Cade teased.
“Renee’s not quite there, either,” Jasper said. “But in the next few months we’ll be ready.” He looked at Garrick. “What about you?”
“Me? I have my kid, and she’s about to give me my first grandchild.”
“Sure, but you’re still in your thirties. Don’t you think about having another family?”
“I haven’t been.” It had been on his mind when he’d been married to Sandy, but not since then. He would want to findthe right woman—someone who had the same set of values he did. Someone he loved and who could be a great mom.
“We want more children,” Cade said. “I just wish they could all be girls.”
“Afraid what the king will do when he has a grandson?” Jasper asked with a chuckle.
“You have no idea how intense that man can be.”
Bethany had grown up with American sensibilities and royal protocol. Despite living on a ranch in Happily Inc, she and Cade still had to deal with royal trappings, including very involved and excited grandparents to their daughter.
“Didn’t the king declare a national holiday when your daughter was born?” Garrick asked.
