Teresa Southwick - Maverick Holiday Magic

Hunter glared at him. “Did someone drop you on your head when you were a baby?”

“Maybe.” Wilder glanced at their father, then shrugged. “Why?”

“Just to make sure I’ve got this right...” He paused for dramatic effect. “At this family outing, your primary goal is to hit on every single woman between the ages of twenty and forty?”

“Yes.”

It wasn’t easy to get under his brother’s skin. Hunter wasn’t even sure why he tried. “Even if I was interested in partying, which I’m not, I have a six-year-old daughter. Wren and I would cramp your style.”

“I wasn’t suggesting we bring Wren.” Wilder stopped for a moment, clearly thinking that over. “Although, a single father with a kid could be a chick magnet.”

“Don’t even go there,” Hunter warned. “And no, you can’t borrow her.”

“That’s low,” his brother said. “I would never use my niece like that.”

“He was just kidding,” Max cut in.

“Yeah, lighten up, big brother. It would do you good to let off some steam.”

“How would you know?” Hunter asked. “All you think about is your next score. You have absolutely no responsibilities. And no idea what I’ve gone through.”

“That’s true,” Wilder acknowledged. “But it’s been six years since your wife died. Everyone else has been tiptoeing around the subject but I’m already in the doghouse with you so what the heck.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Lara wouldn’t want you to be like this. There’s no law against moving on. And your daughter should see you out and having fun.”

“He’s right, son.” Max’s expression was sympathetic.

Hunter shifted his glare to Max. “You don’t get a vote.”

Max’s wife, the brothers’ mother, had left the family without a word when Hunter was a little boy and Wilder was just a baby. Their father was on his own raising six boys. As a kid, Hunter didn’t know that his parents’ relationship was bitterly unhappy. All he knew was that his mother took off and he’d believed if he’d been a better kid, a better son, she would have stayed. Max had it rough but Sheila didn’t die. She’d made a choice. Unlike Hunter’s wife, who’d passed away suddenly. The woman he’d loved was gone forever and there was no one to blame but himself.

“It’s true,” Max said. “I can’t tell you what to do. But that doesn’t change the fact that I would really like to celebrate your brother’s marriage with my whole family in attendance.”

“Why is this wedding such a big deal to you, Dad?”

Max sighed and looked the way he always did when something should be clear as day but he still had to explain. “Sarah and Logan had a nontraditional ceremony at the local bar.”

“Nothing wrong with Ace in the Hole. I’ve met some nice women there,” Wilder said.

Max shook his head and continued. “Xander and Lily had their wedding at the Rust Creek Falls Community Center.”

“It was nice. My daughter had a great time there.” It was local and this town was a place where everyone watched out for neighbors. Hunter didn’t have to worry about keeping an eye on Wren every second.

“Knox and Genevieve were secretly married,” Max continued.

“So were Finn and Avery,” Hunter interjected. “I say again—what’s the big deal?”

“I think it’s about time we had a big splashy, formal family affair. We have a lot to celebrate, what with four of you boys settled down.” Max was known to be a master manipulator, but no one doubted his love for his sons. “Think about it. Five-star resort. Beautiful country. Love in the air.”

Maybe for his brothers, but Hunter wasn’t interested in love. Not again. “Look, Dad, how many ways do you want me to say this? I don’t want to meet anyone. Stop trying to fix me up and call off Vivienne Dalton.”

“Matchmaking is not what this is about.” Max didn’t look the least bit guilty about paying the local wedding planner a million dollars to find wives for his six sons. “And think of your daughter. Think about Wren.”

“She’s all I think about.” She was his world and everything he did was to keep her happy and safe.

“Why would you deny her the opportunity to be with her family? To make memories. And if you were to have a little fun, too, well...” Max let the words hang in the air between them.

“And Finn asked you to be a groomsman along with the rest of us brothers,” Wilder reminded him. “Come on, Hunter. You can’t let him down. And as far as watching Wren? You’ve got Logan, Knox, Xander.”

“And me,” Max said.

“And me,” Wilder chimed in.

“Yeah,” Hunter said, deliberately surrounding the single word with sarcasm. “Because nothing could go wrong with that scenario.”

“That’s low,” Wilder said. “If you can’t trust your family, then who can you trust?”

“A nanny.”

Hunter looked at his brother, then both of them stared at Max, who had made the suggestion. “What?”

“Hire a nanny for the wedding.” Max shrugged.

“Wedding? What wedding?” No one had seen Wren standing there. But now the little girl was clearly excited. “Can I be in it? The bride and groom are going to need a flower girl.”

“Oh, sugar. I’m in deep trouble now,” Hunter muttered to himself.

“Hi, Gramps.” The blonde, blue-eyed star of his world walked farther into the room and looked way up at the tall men surrounding her. “Hi, Uncle Wilder. I was upstairs playing with my princess dolls. I didn’t know you were here.”

Max went down on one knee to be on her level. “Hi, Wrennie. We came to talk to your dad about going to Uncle Finn’s wedding. I’m going to use my private plane to fly us all there and we’re going to stay in a very fancy hotel.”

“Oh, boy!” Her big eyes grew bigger. “For real?”

“Yup. And I’m pretty sure Avery is going to ask you to be her flower girl. But your dad isn’t sure he wants to go.”

She turned her gaze on him. “But why?”

Hunter hated when she looked at him like this. He lost every argument because stubborn was no match for those big blue eyes. “It’s a town that’s bigger than Rust Creek Falls. In a hotel like that there are lots of tourists—”

“Who?”

“Strangers visiting from everywhere. It will be harder for me to keep an eye on you all the time.”

“But the flower girl gets to wear a pretty dress. Not as pretty as Avery’s because she’s the bride and that’s like the wedding princess, but...”

“I suppose.” Hunter was at a loss when she talked dresses.

“And maybe Avery doesn’t know anyone else to be a flower girl,” Wren said earnestly. “I have to be there.”

“That’s a good point.” Wilder bent at the waist and rested his hands on his knees, making his gaze almost level with hers. “And there’s something else you should know. Your dad is supposed to be Uncle Finn’s groomsman.”

“Would you have to get all dressed up, too?” the little girl asked.

“That’s right, Wren,” Max said. “Your daddy is going to need a tuxedo.”

This was why his dad and Wilder had followed him here to the house to finish this discussion. Despite their words to the contrary, they knew Wren was home from school. The two of them were counting on her to overhear. With her on their side, he didn’t stand a chance. But he’d give it one more shot.

“If I’m in the wedding, honey, it means I can’t watch over you the way I want.”

Wren nodded thoughtfully, then her face brightened. “I heard Gramps say something about getting someone to take care of me.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think we can find anyone on such short notice.” Hunter was beginning to hope there was a way for him to make this situation work in his favor after all.