Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
JJ and Ryder seemed to have grown another inch every time they came up here. The twins were four years old and loved to test limits.
Oh hell, Nova-Lyn was here. They hadn’t mentioned Abel’s little sister yesterday.
Considering the Hayes family had been a big feature in Gray’s childhood, they were obviously all invited, and that included Casey, Abel’s quasi-older-brother slash uncle that the family had sort of adopted years ago. And Casey was present, bringing their tally of Caseys up to two. Vegas Casey and Camassia Casey, who was decked out in work clothes. He ran a landscaping business and had fingers greener than his coveralls.
It made perfect sense that he’d brought his daughter Haley.
Gray scratched his forehead. That was two extra kids.
“Are they all our cousins?” Jayden asked.
“Pretty much,” Darius replied. “Ace, Abby, JJ, Ryder… Auntie Elise and Uncle Ave’s girls too.”
And they were all accounted for this lovely morning. Except Elise.
Ethan wasn’t here. Or Boone. Or the Tenleys.
“Ace uses a lot of emoji hearts,” Jayden noted.
“Oh yeah?” Gray chuckled and side-eyed Darius. “Do you do that too?”
“No,” Jayden snorted. “Gross.”
Darius blew out a breath in relief.
“I sent her a picture of the snake we found in the bathroom last year—the one we released in the woods, Dad?” Jayden went on, to which Darius nodded, following along. “After that, she sends three hearts with each text. Like, what the fuck? I send her photos of fish I catch with Grandpa and Pops also. Same—hearts all over the damn place. I don’t understand girls. She could just say it’s cool.”
Darius pulled into a spot near the crime scene and mulled over his response.
Gray looked on in amusement.
“Nope,” Darius replied eventually. “Not touching that one right now. Son, you’ll discover that a lot of girls speak another language—and it’s going to take you a lifetime to understand them. You keep your emoji hearts to yourself—and to Gray and me—for a while longer. Turn eleven first. Then twelve and thirteen. Then we’ll talk.”
Well, eleven was coming up right after the summer.
Gray jumped out of the truck, and Jayden replied with a “Wilco” before he climbed out too. Justin followed, and Darius grabbed Cassidy and disposed of his organic lollipop.
It was pretty cold today, despite the fantastic weather, so Gray made sure Justin and Cass had their beanies on.
“Hi, Jayden!” Ace called excitedly.
Here we go.
Gray thought the whole thing was so cute.
“Howdy, babysitters!” Ryan hollered. He had Ryder climbing all over him.
“Good morning.” Gray smiled at everyone and went under the tape. Tailgates were dropped, kids were treating the trucks—and some fathers—as jungle gyms, and Avery was setting up a table with thermoses, paper mugs, fruit, muffins, and yogurt cups.
Abel shook his head at Gray. “Beard and flannel—the fuck happened to you, buddy?”
Gray chuckled and scrubbed a hand over his jaw.
“Uncle Darius, come look at the worm I found!” JJ exclaimed.
“If I do, will you remember I’m your favorite uncle?” Darius replied.
Oh, so he was in recruiting mode for the crafts store.
JJ shrugged and squinted up at him. “Yeah, okay. But Uncle Ethan teaches me how to kickbox.”
Gray suppressed his mirth and zeroed in on the Caseys instead. “I see you two have met.”
Case was rocking a vintage NSYNC tee under his black denim shirt. Gray appreciated the hell out of that. This was the old music he loved.
“When Abel said he was pulling Lyn from school today, I knew I wouldn’t hear the end of it if I didn’t let Haley tag along too,” Casey responded. “Then I get here and find a guy who not only loves boy bands but who also shares my name. It’s clearly my day.”
Gray grinned and did a quick head count of the kids. Three who were over ten—Abby, Jayden, and Ace. Four who were between five and ten—Grace, Justin, Nova-Lyn, and Haley. Then another four kiddos under five—JJ, Ryder, Hazel, Cass, and Julia.
He considered himself lucky that Casey hadn’t brought his other two children. They were much younger.
“You feelin’ the panic yet?” Case smirked knowingly.
“Heh.” Gray exhaled a laugh. “A little.”
“Breakfast’s ready! Well, for some of us. We’re putting more on the grills.” Ryan and Madigan were hard at work slinging paper plates with breakfast sausages, scrambled eggs, and toast. “Kids, gather ’round!”
“No eggs for me, Daddy Dos,” Abby reminded.
“I remember, baby boot.”
Daddy Dos, that was funny—and sweet. Gray had heard a few versions of Abby’s nicknames for Ryan. Double D, Daddy Dos, The Spare, and Poppa Ry. Of course, Ryan encouraged each one. The more creative, the better. In turn, Abby was Ryan’s honey, crumb snatcher, baby boot, Double B for the aforementioned reason, and…D.B. Cooper. Which was her actual last name. Or part of it. Cooper-Quinn. She’d wanted to hyphenate when Greg had taken Ry’s name too.
“Breakfast for another little champion.” Ryan handed a plate to Justin, who smiled goofily. He adored Ryan.