Page 59 of Mistletoe and Malice
His dad stood smiling at Riley while his mother gave him a hug. “You must be Miss Hudson.”
“Yes, sir. Call me Riley.”
“Fred Blankenship. And this beautiful woman here is my wife, Evelyn. Lisa and the kids are out in the gym, and Micah’s planted in front of the football games. You have a beautiful home here.”
Colton couldn’t seem to engage but instead stood there and stared like he’d never set eyes on any of them before. Butthen, his professional life had never collided head-on with his personal one before, and he was still reeling from the impact.
“Actually, I don’t live here.” Riley apparently had no problem finding her words. “Only until I find a new place. I don’t plan to go back to mine longer than it takes to pack it up.”
“Oh?”
“Long story, Dad.” Colton’s brain finally caught up to what his eyes were seeing. “But, again, what are you doing here? I thought you were just going to keep a plate for me.”
“Your Riley here gave us a call last week and asked if we’d be interested in having our family dinner with hers, so you could have Thanksgiving with your own. Took us about half a second to accept. Private car picked us up and the whole nine yards.”
“That’s so … nice.”
And so Riley.
Her laughter did that thing to his pulse that had him thinking a check-up might be in order. “We had to use two different car services to have enough vehicles to get everybody here. Wanted to make y’all feel special.”
His father gave her a wink. “It worked. We felt like celebrities.”
“As you should. I hope you’re all being well taken care of. I apologize we were longer at the shelter than we intended. We’ve planned our family Thanksgiving for the evening since we started serving down there several years ago.”
“Early, late. Doesn’t matter. And your family has been taking extremely good care of us.”
“Riley, honey.” Candace strolled up to them, her usual smile in place.
“Hi, Mom. Thanks for welcoming all my guests.”
“Of course. Where’s Paul?”
“Right here.” Paul appeared at her side, his bewildered gaze raking the bustling room.
“Paul, your lovely wife and little boy are with Alex and Delia upstairs. They should be down momentarily. Your mother is out in the greenhouse—my dad loves showing off his flowers and found a kindred spirit in your mom—and I believe your father is upstairs in the media room.”
“They’re here?”
“Riley arranged it. She wanted you boys to share the holiday with your families. And we were only too happy to comply.”
“Wow. That was really thoughtful.”
Riley blushed again and glanced over at Colton. He must look like an idiot, but he couldn’t stop staring at this woman who apparently knew no limits.
“I hated the idea of you guys being stuck with me on a holiday. So, the day after the fundraiser at the Cantrells’, I called Mack to tell him what I wanted to do. I was delighted he finally relented and gave me all the phone numbers. I simply told him I doubted you would sue him for allowing me to arrange for your families to have a gourmet Thanksgiving dinner. Then, of course, extending him an invitation as well.”
Candace craned her neck. “Yes, Mack and his family are here somewhere too. Now, you all have strict instructions to enjoy the rest of the day. Riley’s perfectly safe here, so you guys are officially off-duty. No weapons allowed at the table.”
Trevor chuckled. “Maybe we should ask Mack about that.”
“Mack’s on board. You can secure them in the study, out of the way of children. The gate is closed, and our regular detail is covering the cameras in shifts so they can eat. Nobody’s getting onto the estate who shouldn’t be here.”
Colton inclined his head toward her. “Yes, ma’am. We’ll take care of it.”
Once they’d left their firearms in the locked study, Colton returned to the family room. A buffet of appetizers and drinks had been set out on the heated veranda, children of various agesand sizes ran throughout the rooms, and people stood in groups he’d have never expected, visiting like old friends.
He caught sight of his sister and her kids walking in the door from the veranda laughing with Sadie, Riley’s sister-in-law, and her daughter. His mother and Candace stood chatting like they’d known each other for years, and Trevor’s mother sat with a woman he remembered from Barbara’s birthday party the previous week. Avery’s socialite mom?
