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Nolan went in for another grizzly bear hug. “Nah, I’m just glad you’re home.”
Jax didn’t want to admit it, but he was too.
Jax was still thinking about his run-in with the sexy bookworm when he parked in front of the Carmichael’s cedar log-style cabin with a bright red tin roof, which held all his favorite childhood memories. His mind flashed back to that first day when he and Lucas had followed Nolan home on their bikes. They’d played Navy SEALs in the river and when the sun was setting and his mom still wasn’t there, Peggy had invited them in for dinner—into their home and into their hearts. The same hearts Jax broke when he had turned tail a year ago and never looked back. He’d called and sent updates on the family text thread, but he hadn’t had the balls to come home and face his brother.
Jax sat in his truck, stomach bottomed out, staring out the front window. The surrounding pines were heavy with snow and the sinking sun cast a warm glow off the icicles hanging from the eaves. The driveway was full, calling out that everyone was there except Lucas, who was probably still chained to his desk at work.
With a sigh that was part relief and part disappointment, he hopped out, his legs still cramped from making the long trip from Vail earlier that day. He’d make the trek in one shot, afraid if he stopped, he’d turn back around and head to the next competition, which was tomorrow. He had been cut from the roster, which worried his manager. Jax was staring down twenty-seven and with the average age of a pro-snowboarder being twenty-two, he was the old guy in a young man’s sport. His seasons were numbered. So competiting whenever possible and maintaining his conditioning routine was imperative, which was why he’d gone to the lodge earlier—to get in a few runs. Only he’d run into his old crush in those ass-hugging ski pants and couldn’t think past sharing a cup of cocoa with her and catching up. Then Brynn blew the moment, hounding him about the family dinner.
So there he was, purposely a half hour early, hoping to have a moment with Peggy and Kent, his chosen parents. The phone call from Peggy asking him to come to her birthday party, he had to admit, hurt his heart a little. That she’d assumed he wouldn’t be coming to her birthday party, especially her sixtieth, made him realize just how out of touch he’d been with the people he’d loved most.
Nolan was right. The beef between him and Lucas was affecting the entire family.
Tucking the birthday card into his shirt pocket, he reached the front door and hesitated. After his recent behavior, was he supposed to knock or let himself in? He still remembered the first time he’d been invited into the Carmichael house; he and Lucas had nervously stood outside in the snow, looking through the front door at the loving chaos that erupted when Brynn, Nolan, and Harris had arrived home. Peggy had gone ballistic with hugs and cheek kisses and chatter about their day. Unsure what to do, and unaccustomed to that kind of greeting after just a few hours being at school, Jax had toed the front doormat.
It hadn’t taken but a moment for Peggy to walk over and give him and Lucas a hug, before ushering them inside and feeding them peanut butter cookies and milk. That snack turned into dinner around their table. And when night fell and Jax’s mom, Cindy, still hadn’t shown, Peggy called to see if the boys could spend the night, but the boys ended up staying the whole weekend.
“If you ever need a hug or a family dinner, our table is always open. No knock needed, just come in,” Peggy had said when she’d dropped them off at their home Sunday night. With a hug she handed them a bag of fresh-baked cookies. “Because every kid should have cookies in their Monday lunch bag.”
It wasn’t the first time Cindy had been too caught up in her addiction to play doting parent, but it was the first time Jax was given a safety net. And that’s what the Carmichael family represented to him, a safe place to land—no matter how bad the storm—even if the blizzard was a result of Jax’s rebellious side. Peggy and Kent had taken a chance on two kids who would have otherwise fallen through the cracks, and given them a home and more love than Jax felt he deserved.
Whenever he and his brother needed a place to stay, a meal that didn’t come from the freezer, or even just reassuring words, the Carmichaels were it. Kent and Peggy didn’t just pull them into the fold, they treated the Macintyre brothers like they were their own kids, even paying for Jax’s snowboarding passion and Lucas’s college.
Jax was always trying to pay them back, but Kent refused to cash the checks, saying, “I’ll take your money when my other kids pay me back.”
His other kids, as in Jax had finally been claimed. He was no longer the kid without a family, even though most of the time he felt like an interloper. So every year, to repay them for their generosity, he sent them on all-expenses-paid vacations to their dream destinations. Which made Jax a grade-A asshole for staying away this past year.
He stood on the front porch watching his breath come out in frozen puffs. Deciding not to knock, because Peggy would have his ass, Jax let himself inside, dumping his snow boots and winter coat in the mud room. He was touched to find his hook still empty, hanging below a small wood carving that said Jax’s Place. He opened the interior door and was greeted with the warm scent of a wood-burning fire, Peggy’s infamous double chocolate brownies, and the sounds of laughter, which ignited a hot pang of longing in his chest.
How many nights like this had he missed out on over the past year? How many family dinners and Sunday afternoons, where the crew took to the slopes, had he opted out of? Too many. And he was starting to realize he was the driver of his own car and it was his choice to miss out on all these things.
He walked into the dining room and discovered that they were halfway through dinner. People were passing plates, sipping beer, and stuffing their face with Kent’s famous lasagna. Shit, he was late. He looked at his watch and his brow furrowed; the party was at six sharp, it was only five thirty.
He knew the moment Peggy sensed that one of her cubs had come home. She went still and turned her head, her gaze locking right on Jax. He shuffled in his socks for a moment, unsure what the reaction to his presence would be after a year away. But he needn’t have worried. Peggy’s eyes filled with sheer joy and her hands flew to her mouth.
“My Jax is home,” she breathed.
“Uncle Jax!” his three-year-old niece, Emma, said, sprinting toward him like a colt. Jax picked her up right as she launched herself into his arms. He held her close, noticing that she didn’t quite fit the way she used to. She was longer and dressed like a kitten, but, god, she smelled the same. Like crayons, chocolate brownies, and all things little girls.
“Hey, Bug.”
Before Jax could say another word, everyone was on their feet. In the blink of an eye, the entire family descended upon him, but Peggy pushed through the pack.
“Get out of my way, I can’t even see him.” She pulled on Brynn’s hoodie, tugging her back. “Don’t you dare hug my favorite son before me.”
Faster than a NASCAR speedster at the Indy 500, Peggy was across the room to throw her arms around him. Being the shortest of the family, she didn’t even reach his chin but, man, did she hug like she was ten feet tall. Or maybe that was how her hugs made him feel, like he actually belonged. And, because Peggy was the heart of the family, she started a good old hug fest.
She rested a hand on his chest and when she met his eyes hers were filled with tears. “Oh, my favorite boy.”
“You say that to all the guys,” he said gruffly, holding on to her tightly.
“But I mean it when I say it to you.” She patted his cheek. “You’ve been away too long.”
“I thought I was your favorite,” Nolan said.
“She only says that because you bribe her with trips to Cancun and Italy,” said Harris, the oldest brother and single dad to Emma, coming around to hug Jax from behind. Before he knew it, Kent had joined the group and was rubbing the top of Jax’s head. Then Brynn, the baby of the family who wasn’t much taller than Peggy, squeezed in, shoving everyone aside so she could wrap her arms around Jax’s middle, and they all made room.
They might treat her like the annoying baby sister, but the entire family was protective of her. Not only did she suffer from heart problems as a kid, she was also too sweet for her own good, which led to other kinds of heart problems.
