Peeking into the living room, she noticed Zane piecing together the artificial tree, mouthing off at his brothers as was usual these days. He was bending over at the waist, and V took a second to admire his sexy ass encased in those well-worn jeans he favored. She made a mental note to have him lose the shirt when he put up their tree. Mmmm…

A few feet away from Zane, Travis and Gage were pulling out strands and strands of Christmas lights while they appeared to be having a serious conversation. Their brief glances into the kitchen told V they were probably talking about Kylie.

On the far side of the room, closest to the fireplace, Beau and Ethan were taking ornaments housed in large plastic bins out of another box, and the twins were sorting other boxes, presumably those that contained outdoor decorations, maybe?

The back door creaked open, causing the women to go silent as they turned toward the noise.

“Where’re you boys at? Get it in gear. Your brothers are out here bitchin’,” Curtis called when he stuck his head in the back door. “Sorry, ladies,” he added with a cheeky grin.

V laughed with the others at the table and watched as Brendon and Braydon gathered up as many boxes as they could fit in their arms before heading toward the kitchen.

“I think Zane was onto something. Why do we do this on Thanksgiving?” Brendon muttered to his twin as they passed through the kitchen, a smirk on his face.

V immediately glanced over at Lorrie to see their mother grinning. “They moan and groan about it every year, but in case you didn’t notice, their father and I never even mentioned putting up the tree or the lights.”

Another round of laughter erupted at the table.

V hadn’t even realized it, but Lorrie was right. No one had instructed the men to move on to the Christmas decorating, although Zane had already informed her before they came over that it was a tradition for them to put up the tree on Thanksgiving evening.

She had to admit, she was rather fond of this tradition, and it would seem that the Walker brothers were too, even if they liked to make everyone think otherwise.

Her mind was filled with thoughts of her first Christmas with Zane. They had to get a tree, ornaments, lights; the whole nine yards. And going out to find the perfect gift for him was something she was anxiously waiting for.

That, and maybe a little extra attention for Zane since, based on the heated look he was sending her, he was looking forward to a different form of celebration entirely.

Chapter Two

♂♂♂♂♂♂♂

Sawyer

He was pretty sure he had mentioned before just how much he hated ladders. More than once at that. So why was it that he was hanging on to the gutter while attaching tiny plastic clips that were too small for his fingers to control?

“Damn, dude, you gonna take all day?” Kaleb muttered from the safety and security of the ground below.

Sawyer didn’t turn to look at him because heights just weren’t his thing and he happened to like the way his head looked right there on his shoulders. No point in trying to rearrange his anatomy by falling to the ground at this point.

Pushing the next clip in place, Sawyer tugged the strand of lights that were half hanging off of the roof, half strung around the ladder and clipped them in place. Hell, he hoped these damn things actually lit up because, if he had to guess, Kaleb hadn’t bothered to check that out before tossing an end up to him.

“Nice. Now, if you get a move on, we might have them up by this Christmas, not the next one.”

“Shut the hell up,” he grumbled to his brother. “I’d like to see you go any faster.”

“Get your ass down then and I’ll show you how it’s done,” Kaleb taunted.

Didn’t need to tell him twice. Without further ado, Sawyer scrambled down the ladder and Vanna White’d his hands toward the ladder as a gesture for his brother to take over.

Instead of standing around to supervise, Sawyer ventured to the stack of boxes that Brendon and Braydon had just brought out. Originally, when he’d snagged Kaleb and their father to join him outside, he had thought they were just going to have to plug up the eight foot tall inflatable Santa Claus that his mother adored. Instead, he’d somehow been talked into the rest of the lights which meant the rest of his evening was shot.

Not that he had any plans anyway. Unless he considered heading out to Moonshiners for the night. Or maybe the bar in the neighboring town. Either way, the only positive on his horizon at the moment was the potential for sex. Considering it was going to be the normal routine of picking up a woman, taking her back to his place or going to hers – which he preferred because he could get away easier – and then either waking up alone, or waking up to find he needed to break some woman’s heart and send her on her way.

That seemed to be the story of his life these days.

Unless…

Nope, there was no reason to go there. If Kennedy Endsley would give him half a chance, he’d be more than willing to substantiate those rumors she’d heard about him. Because yes, he was known as the fun-loving playboy, and he’d rightfully earned that title, thank you very much. Then again, that seemed to be her hang up with him. Or so she said.

Not that he was proud – ok, maybe he was a little proud. Even if that did make him a horn dog. That was life. He had no complaints at the moment. His family was all in good health, the resort was about a month and a half from being complete, Walker Demolition, despite the neglect they’d been giving that company, was still thriving, and he wouldn’t have to spend a night alone if he didn’t want to.

It wasn’t like he needed any more than that. And, as was his motto, he was certainly going to continue to look on the bright side.

♂♀

Kaleb

Watching Sawyer teeter back and forth on the ladder was amusing, but boring as hell. Knowing that he would gladly hand over the task of stringing up the lights, Kaleb continued to rib him until he gave up. And what do you know, twenty minutes later, Kaleb was finished, three strands of lights hanging effortlessly across the front of the house.

“Who’s gonna turn these on?” he hollered toward the twins who were propped on the front porch railing, dangling their feet down one side while they chatted it up like a couple of cackling hens.

“Last time I checked, your legs weren’t broken,” Brendon snapped, laughing. Of course, his comeback was followed by him jumping off of the rail to shove the plug into the wall socket on the porch.

A fit of laughter erupted behind him, and Kaleb turned to see Sawyer nearly rolling on the ground, Zane moving in behind him with a satisfied grin on his face.

Fuck.

Ok, so maybe he should’ve plugged the damn things up to see if they worked first.

“How many strands are out this time?” Ethan called as he made his way around from the side of the house.

“Looks like half of them. That’s better than last year, right?” Braydon answered, moving out from under the porch to stand beside Sawyer.

Kaleb stared up at the roofline, smiling. This he could fix, just like he did every year. Then again, he didn’t mind entertaining his brothers, and they’d come to expect him to put the lights up half lit anyway.

“I’m ready for any one of you assholes to volunteer to do this anytime you’d like,” Kaleb retorted, trying to conceal his own amusement.

About that time, Beau, Travis and Gage made their appearance from around the back of the house with Curtis not far behind. Another round of laughter along with some snide comments about consistency. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

“Get me a strand that works, would ya?” Kaleb called out to anyone who was willing to listen. The twins were the first to move, but that didn’t surprise him, those boys had more energy than the crowded toy aisle at Walmart before Christmas.

After fifteen minutes and a round of this is how it should be done’s later, Kaleb was once again climbing down the ladder.

“You did good, boy,” Curtis said approvingly, slapping Kaleb on the back.

“Thanks,” he told his father. “Next year, get one of them to do the hard stuff, would ya?”

Curtis laughed, knowing that ever since Kaleb had been old enough to climb a ladder, he’d been the one to vie for the opportunity to hang the Christmas lights. This year was no different.

That thought had his mind wandering to his own house. How in the world was he going to hang lights on it? Perusing the faces of his brothers and their friends, Kaleb grinned. He’d have to come up with a plan because if he knew his wife, and he certainly did, she was going to want to outdo the rest of the neighborhood when it came to her decorations.

Speaking of his wife…

Zoey came strolling across the front yard, a beaming smile on her face. She didn’t stop until she was pressed up against his side, her arm around his lower back as she stared up at the lights. Since the days were shorter, it was dark enough that the reds and greens and yellows lit up the roofline and twinkled nicely in the darkness.

“Very nice,” she said with the same approval in her tone as his father had.

“Yeah?” Leaning down he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Think you might want to reward me later?” he asked, making sure to keep his voice low enough that the others couldn’t hear.

“Hmmm, that depends,” she answered quickly.

“On?”

“How good you can be later?”

Kaleb chuckled, pulling Zoey closer against his side. The woman sure knew how to keep him in line.

♀♂

Zoey

Standing in the front yard of her in-laws house, the festive holiday decorations the only light to see by, Zoey felt a sense of enlightenment. Things were good in her world. This was her family, and even listening to seven grown men fuss for hours about doing work that they hadn’t even had to be asked to do, this was one of those days she was thankful for. Thanksgiving was certainly a fitting name for the holiday.

Although her father had refused to come to dinner, using the excuse that he wasn’t up to being around people, Zoey knew she would get to spend some time with him soon when she took the leftovers that Lorrie had packaged up over to his little guest house.

And then, after they spent some time together, she’d have Kaleb all to herself for the night.

“Are you cold?” Kaleb asked, chafing her arm with his hand as he cuddled her closer to his side.

The night was brisk, but not unbearable and being seven months pregnant, she actually welcomed the change in weather. Seemed hot flashes – or the pregnancy equivalent – were something to be dealt with so she’d take the relief any way she could get it. “Nope, I’m good,” she reassured him.

“What’s left to do?” Kaleb called out to the men standing around.

“Go home,” Zane answered.

Based on the way V was watching him, Zoey knew her best friend was eager to take him home. Not that she could blame them. She was actually quite interested in getting back to her house as well. Some quiet time with her husband sounded like heaven at the moment.

“Grab the empty boxes and let’s get them back up to the attic,” Travis instructed, ever the drill sergeant.

“Yes, sir,” Brendon said with a salute.

Travis brushed him off and moved to grab one of the boxes as Gage, Beau, Sawyer and Curtis all fell into step alongside him.

“So, when are y’all coming to my house to do the same thing?” Kaleb asked, sliding his hand into Zoey’s.

Looking up at her husband, she smiled. As they fell into step with the other, she said, “I’ll make chili and cornbread if y’all will say yes.”

To her surprise, despite the enormous dinner they’d finished a short while ago, all of the men within earshot agreed. Of course they did. They were men. The best way to get them to do what you wanted was to bribe them with a home cooked meal.

“Deal. When?” Sawyer asked, stopping to allow Zoey and Kaleb to catch up.

“This weekend?” Kaleb asked.

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll bring the beer if your woman’s got the chili.”

When they made their way back inside the house, they were greeted by a rumble of conversation as everyone said their goodbyes.

“Thank you so much for dinner,” Zoey told Lorrie as the older woman pulled her in for a squeeze.

“My pleasure, honey,” Lorrie replied. “And don’t forget to tell your father he doesn’t have a choice for Christmas. I’ll come over and pull him out of his house myself if I have to.”