Chapter 24
TWENTY-FOUR
2 Days til Christmas 11 PM
The British voice of my maps app turned me onto another winding street that looked like the last. I had no idea where the heck I was going, but I hoped my maps app did.
I’d turned off Lakeview Road to find a series of houses in different styles. A magnificent Victorian with charming gingerbread accents was fully lit up. Even the trees were filled with bright white holiday lights.
The house itself was dark save for a single light on the upper floor.
My app told me I was arriving at my destination to the house next door. It was a split ranch which was as different from a Victorian as could be. And the house a little farther down was a Craftsman.
None of them should have been built at the same time as the other.
Crescent Cove, and especially the lake area, was a delightful mix of houses, large and small. It felt like it could be home.
And that was saying something, since my childhood home was gone.
I’d been afraid I would never feel like that again.
Maybe with Hudson—if I could make him give me a second chance—we might find the right combination for each other.
At least when I wasn’t on the road with Q.
That was my sticking point. Could I keep Hudson and still head out on the road with my brother?
I shook that off as I turned into the driveway.
One thing at a time.
Quickly, I flipped down the mirror in the car and fussed with my hair. Mel had put some sort of treatment on it that made the strands feel softer than silk. Whatever she’d done, I’d need a whole bottle of it because she’d made me look phenomenal.
I straightened the neck of my sweater and unzipped my coat because I was sweating to death. Nerves buzzed under my skin.
“You can do this,” I said to my reflection, then I slapped the mirror shut and flipped up the visor.
The lights in the house were still lit up and the outside lawn had an eerie glow under mounds of snow. The decorations had probably been buried, thanks to the storm. But it was a tidy house and people seemed to be awake.
That had to be a good sign.
“You’re insane, Ocean. It’s so late,” I whispered to myself as I walked up the drive.
The closer I got to the house, my gaze zeroed in on someone on the porch. I picked up speed as I recognized the shoulders and body type.
I ran up the steps. “Please don’t send me away. Can we talk? Please?”
The man turned. His high-end topcoat swung open to reveal a suit.
What was Hudson doing in a suit?
Did they have more than one midnight mass? Wasn’t that tomorrow?
I rushed forward and threw my arms around him. “I’m so sorry. I really am. I didn’t mean to keep things from you—” I cut myself off.
The man froze, his arms wide and away from me.
His scent was wrong.
Not cedar and spice.
It was…minty.
And he didn’t have a beard.
I scrambled back. “Oh my God.” I slipped on some ice on the porch, and he grabbed for me. Righting me just before I landed on my ass.
“While I do appreciate an armful of a stunning woman, I think you have the wrong man.”
“Shit. Oh my God.” I maneuvered him under the porch light and got the full effect. “That is uncanny.”
He grinned. His dark eyes were tired but amused. “We get that a lot. Well, less these days since we live in different cities. I’m Lennox.”
“The lawyer.”
“Distilled down to a singular fact, yes. I’m assuming you’re looking for one of my brothers. Let me guess, it’s Finn.”
I frowned. “No. Hudson.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Wow. The impulsive types aren’t usually Hud’s style.”
“I’m not impulsive.” Well, I did sort of look like I was at that moment. And I did, in fact, sleep with a near stranger.
Okay, so impulsive was definitely now in my resume.
But only for one man.
“I’m very sorry for...” I trailed off.
“Accosting me in a very fresh lemony scent with…beachy notes.” His voice was clipped and cool, unlike Hudson’s warm rumble.
I laughed. “That’s me. I’m Ocean.”
“Yes, ocean scent. Wait, that’s your name?”
I nodded. “I have a sister named River.”
“Do you have a brother, Stream?”
I laughed. “No. Only us girls got the odd names. Do you think I could go inside and see him?”
“I don’t know who you are, but I’ve just arrived. I feel that I’m missing quite a bit of the story.”
“It’s been kind of a wild few days.”
“It seems so.” He stepped forward and opened the door, letting me inside.
“Hudson, is that you?” A woman’s voice floated down to the entryway.
“No, it’s me, Ma.”
“Lennox?” A woman with a silver-threaded braid appeared at the railing above. It was a split ranch-style home. One set of stairs led up to the main house and the other went down to a lower level.
“I made it.”
A wide smile spread across her pretty face. “You brought a woman home?”
“Guess you don’t know her, either. What the hell have I missed?”
“Hi, Mrs. MacGregor. I’m Ocean Hawkins. Is Hudson home?”
“Oh!” The woman who honestly didn’t look much over forty scrambled down the stairs. “We’ve heard all about you.”
“At least someone has,” Lennox said under his breath as he shrugged out of his overcoat.
“Is that you, Len?” Another version of Hudson appeared at the railing. “Did you bring a girl home?”
“No, this is not my person.”
My gaze swung from Lennox to who had to be Finn. “Uncanny. And yet so very different.”
Finn grinned down at me. “Ocean.” He extended the O. Then he threw his head back with a gleeful, booming laugh. “Wild. Hudson is on his way to your place.”
“What?” My heart hammered so loud in my head I couldn’t have heard him right.
“I am the superior triplet. Sure I can’t convince you to give me a chance?” Finn leaned on the railing, his wide shoulders and startlingly muscular arms filling out his wine-colored dress shirt. His face was so very like Hudson, but he had deeper smile lines and a scar on his chin that made a little dip in his beard.
I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up. “Sorry. I already tried Lennox.”
Lennox let out a surprised chuckle. “Tough luck, Finn. What the heck happened the last few days? Shouldn’t you have been snowed in like the rest of us?”
“Oh, they were. Absolutely snowed in.” Finn waggled his brows while his laughter boomed out again as he walked back into the living room.
“Finn, if you wake up Cara, you’re dealing with her.”
“Not it,” Finn called out in a stage whisper.
“Don’t mind them, sweetie. Hi.” Their mom was petite and beautiful with kind hazel eyes. “You can call me Diane. Why don’t you come upstairs?”
“Actually, I really need to talk to Hudson. I’d really love to get to know all of you, but I need to make it up to him first. I hope you understand.”
Diane hauled me in for a hug. “I’m so happy you’re here.”
I patted her back, my eyes stinging. “I thought you’d hate me.”
She eased me aside. “Not at all. Hudson was so upset. He just needed thinking time. All the MacGregor men are stubborn.”
“I heard that,” Lennox said tiredly as he walked up the steps.
“Well, you are.”
“Just like you, Ma.” Finn called from the upper floor.
“He might be right, but my gosh, you are so beautiful.”
I lowered my head as my cheeks heated. “Thanks.”
“Go on, be safe out there. The snow is starting to pile up again. The weatherman said it shouldn’t be more than an inch or two.”
“Much better than the almost six feet we already got this week.”
“That’s right.” She grabbed my arm before I got to the doorknob. Then she pulled me in for another hug. “Thank you for rescuing my son.”
I hugged her back this time. “Pretty sure he saved me, Mrs.—um, Diane.”
Diane let me go, then she wiped her eyes. “Okay, go, go. Drive safe!”
“Thank you.” I rushed back down the steps and carefully inched down the driveway to my SUV.
Hudson was probably at the cabin already.
Alone with all my siblings.
I got inside my SUV and pulled out, my tires spinning a little in the snow.
I threw the gear into drive. “Get there in one piece, Ocean.”
Hope flared even brighter. If he was looking for me, then maybe we really did have a chance.
Maybe even one worthy of Santa.