Page 56 of My Three Mountain Men

“Okay!” I laughed. “Come down.”

They raced down the back steps like kids, tripping over one another, pausing in the hallway where I stood.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, boys,” I announced.

All three stared back at me blankly, as if I’d spoken to them in a foreign language.

“Valentine’s Day?” Knox repeated. Brooks began to chuckle, striding forward to embrace me, placing a giant kiss on my cheek.

“That’s what you’ve been up to all day?” he asked, sounding awed. “Making us dinner for Valentine’s Day?”

“I know. It’s kind of stupid,” I said quickly, reading Ryder’s expression.

“It’s not,” Brooks interjected, shooting his older cousin a warning look, but to my utter amazement, Ryder’s face broke into a wide grin.

“I can’t remember the last time I even remembered Valentine’s Day,” he admitted, ambling forward. “What is it, the fifteenth today?”

“The fourteenth, you uncultured son of a bitch,” Knox snorted, brushing past us to look in the dining room. He released a low whistle. “Holy crap, Simone! You went all out.”

Relief washed through me as I read the appreciation on their faces as I led them to the dressed table. Candles lit the dining room sweetly, illuminating the best dishes I could find, casting a glimmer over the crystal glasses.

Wine chilled in a bucket, and Ryder moved to pull out a chair for me as Brooks grabbed for the bottle to uncork it.

“Sit down,” Ryder ordered me. “We’ve got it from here.”

“Now that she’s done everything, you mean?” Knox said dryly.

“I can think of a few things we can still do,” Ryder told him, but his eyes were fixed on me when he spoke, and a fission of pleasure raced through me.

“Come and sit,” I urged them. “Before it all gets cold.”

“Oh, is that my fave?” Knox demanded, reaching for the tray of veggie lasagna.

“I made everyone’s favorites,” I told them.

Their heads jerked up, and they gaped at me with equal awe.

“You went through so much trouble, Simone,” Brooks murmured. “We didn’t get you anything.

I motioned for them to sit down and shook my head vehemently.

“That’s not true,” I told them quietly as they took their respective seats. Knox was doing everything but licking his chops, and I swallowed a smile. “Dig in. We can talk and eat.”

Knox didn’t need to be told again and reached for the food, despite his cousins’ reproving gazes.

“Please eat,” I encouraged them. “I really did work hard on this.”

I also grabbed for a plate of potatoes to show that I wasn’t waiting, and that got the other two moving. “But back to the topic at hand; you guys have done more for me than anyone else I can think of in my life.”

“Not really, Simone,” Brooks argued gently. “I mean, it’s not like we built you this place.”

I sat back in my chair and looked at them. “You think I mean the material aspect?” I laughed. “That’s not what I mean at all.”

Knox stuffed a forkful of pasta into his mouth, his eyes half-closing in pleasure as he took in the cheesy goodness.

“I’ve never felt more secure anywhere,” I went on. “And that’s not something that can be bought. Although I have to admit, you do have some really cool gadgets, too, that I’m enjoying learning.”

The men snickered, their mouths all full of food, the appreciation in their eyes thanks enough. I exhaled, glad that my hard work had paid off.

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