“Honestly, she took the test on a bet. It was a whim of a decision, and we drove into town because I bet her—”
“Ah, we do not need to know the terms of this bet, Dad,” Ty interrupts our dad. “We’ve heard way too much about you two and hanky panky times today.”
The way my dad swallows makes me glad my brother curtailed that part of the story.
“When that sucker gave us a blue line, though, you bet your ass we drove back to the store and bought seven more just to be sure,” Dad says.
“Seven more tests, huh?” I imagine the scene, laying them all out and staring at them in disbelief. I was freaked out finding one on the bathroom floor. I can’t imagine seeing seven of them and knowing that my retirement plans have just been hijacked.
“It’s a blue Christmas, I guess,” Ty says, backing away from the table.
I’m expecting more to his joke. I think most of us are, because the room becomes instantly silent. My eyes find Rowe’s across the table and we both shrug. I prepare to let out a courtesy laugh so his joke about the blue stripe doesn’t bomb when I realize he’s not making a joke at all.
Holy shit, my brother is proposing!
“Cassidy Owens. In about four hours, your sister, her boyfriend, and your parents are going to spill in through that front door and we are all going to have to pretend I haven’t already done this, but I just can’t wait any longer.” He pulls a small box from his side, where I guess it’s been tucked under his leg, and with shaking hands, cracks open the lid to reveal one hell of a rock.
“Oh, my God!” Cass squeals.
Before my brother can even get the words out, my future sister-in-law is in his lap, peppering him with kisses as the two of them fumble with their hands tethered to work the platinum ring onto her finger.
“Yes. Oh, my God, yes!” Cass proclaims, holding her hand to Rowe to show off a ring made with diamonds and sapphires. The girls hug while both of my parents sit back, pleased.
“Did you know he was going to do this?” I ask.
My parents shake their heads, and my dad laughs out, “We don’t see anything coming anymore, son. Not a thing.”
“I guess since I never actually got to say the words just now it will make it easier to pretend we’re doing this for the first time in front of your parents,” Ty jokes. I move to hug my brother, patting his back with a heavy palm while my eyes meet my girl’s over his shoulder.
Most in my situation might expect to see disappointment in their partner’s eyes, or at least envy. Rowe shows none of that. Her eyes and smile and essence are pure joy and happiness for her friends and her future family. And just to prove it to me, she wiggles her finger, where an incredibly sincere paper ring sits just below the knuckle as a promise for a blue Christmas of her own very soon.
THE END
A Note from the Author
Being a part of this project was a huge honor. I want to thank everyone involved with a special shout out to Anna B. Doe and Lianne Cotton. Thank you READERS for helping us to support a very special cause - One October.
I hope you enjoyed visiting with my Preeter boys. And if you’re new to them, they’d love to get to know you more. You can read both of their full stories in The Falling Series.
Wishing everyone a blessed season and health and good fortune in this new year.
XO
Ginger
Books By Ginger Scott
Series Reading
The Falling Series
The Varsity Series
The Waiting Series
Like Us Duet
The Harper Boys Duet
Standalones
Cowboy Villain Damsel Duel
Drummer Girl
BRED
Cry Baby
The Hard Count
Memphis
Hold My Breath
Blindness
How We Deal With Gravity
About the Author
Ginger Scott is an Amazon-bestselling and Goodreads Choice and Rita Award-nominated author from Peoria, Arizona. She is the author of several young and new adult romances, including bestsellers Cry Baby, The Hard Count, A Boy Like You, This Is Falling and Wild Reckless.
A sucker for a good romance, Ginger's other passion is sports, and she often blends the two in her stories. When she's not writing, the odds are high that she's somewhere near a baseball diamond, either watching her son swing for the fences or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ginger lives in Arizona and is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork 'em, Devils).
FIND GINGER ONLINE: www.littlemisswrite.com
The Cabin
A Rixon Raiders/Verona Legacy Crossover Holiday Story
L A Cotton
Chapter One
Felicity
“Babe, we’re almost there.” Jason’s voice lulled me from my dream.
“We’re here?” I glanced out of the window but couldn’t see much given the thicket. Huge, sprawling, snow-capped trees surrounded us, but our rental SUV made easy work of navigating the overgrown track.
“Are you sure this is the place?” I asked around a yawn.
Jase’s hand slid over my thigh and squeezed, “Don’t you trust me?”
I covered his hand with mine, loving how my engagement ring glinted in the dark. “You know I do. It just seems a little off the beaten track.”
“Which is exactly why we’re here. Just you, me, and an open fire.”
“God, it sounds like heaven.” I let out a contented sigh.
It had been a crazy couple of weeks. There had been the Heisman Trophy award ceremony weekend in New York. Jason had proposed, after which our families had insisted on throwing us a party, and then Christmas had come and gone. We’d barely had time to blink, so when Gio had mentioned his friend had a few cabins in Rhode Island, Jason asked if we could rent one for the weekend.
Just us, a cabin in the woods, and—
“Uh, babe, isn’t that Gio’s car?”
“Yeah.” He frowned. “He said Nicco was meeting us here.”
Nicco was Gio’s friend who was gifting us the cabin for this weekend, since Gio said it was an engagement present.
“There’s another car,” I motioned to the truck.
“What the fuck is he up to?” Jason grumbled.
“I’m sure it’s nothing.” At least, I hoped it was because I really wanted to relax with my fiancée.
The car rolled to a stop, and Jason came around, helping me out. “Careful,” he said, “the snow is pretty compacted.”
“It’s so beautiful out here.” Even with the sun sinking into the horizon, you could see the cabin, hidden by a canopy of trees. An amber glow flickered in the window and fairy lights hung from the wooden wraparound porch.
“I’m so excited.”
“Me too.” Jason kissed me hard, letting his tongue tangle with mine. “This weekend is going to be perfect.” Heat flared in his eyes making my tummy clench.