Hockey Holidays Read online

  “Do you hear something, boy?” Isaac asked. Hope snuck into his voice, and he squeezed Avery’s hand. Hal pinned Isaac with a fuck-you glare and growled. He always growled at Isaac. They had a love- hate relationship that worked for them. The boxer refocused his attention in the same direction as before. Then he did something very un-Hal-like. He whined. Hal never whined. He growled. He barked. He snarled. But he did not whine. Isaac and he were alike in that manner.

  “He hears something,” Avery said. Isaac could tell she was trying not to get her hopes up, but Hal did have superior hearing compared to them.

  “He damn well does. As much as I hate putting my faith in that animal, we don’t have many other options.”

  With one final whimper, Hal launched himself down the road, nose to the ground. His head came up once, and he barked. He swerved off the road and dived into the brush and down the steep bank. Running behind him, Avery and Isaac braked to a halt at the edge of the steep bank almost impassible with thick brush and twisted madrona trees.

  Seeing no choice, Isaac put his head down and pushed through the brush. Avery was hot on his heels as he cleared the way. His heart pounded hard in his chest, not just from exertion, but from fear. They could hear Hal farther down the bank, crashing through the brush and barking. His barks became more frequent.

  “That damn dog better not be chasing a rabbit,” Isaac growled as he picked his way through the brush, hanging on to limbs here and there to keep from sliding down the wet bank. He could see the moonlight glistening off the water below. They were almost to the narrow beach that ran in front of several houses in the neighborhood. In fact, not too far from here, there was a set of steps leading down to the water, but they had to do it the hard way.

  “Isaac. Stop for a minute.”

  Isaac stopped and frowned at her. Avery called again for Sadie.

  “Listen.” She called for Sadie again. Isaac heard a very faint sound, but he was certain it was Sadie.

  Unmindful of the brush slapping against his face, he half ran, half slid the rest of the way down the bank. Avery followed a second later. There, on a rocky beach, huddled near the bank, was Sadie hugging Hal tightly to her. She glanced up and the tears on her face were illuminated by the moon.

  Hal was getting a nice, juicy bone tonight, even if it meant wasting one of the T-bones on the dog.

  Avery ran to Sadie and hugged her. Isaac stood nearby. Hal’s accusing stare was followed by a guttural growl. The dog blamed him for all this, and the dog might be right.

  “Are you okay, honey?” Avery asked as she ran her hands over the little girl’s body to make sure nothing was broken.

  “I was cold, but the angels warmed me up.”

  “Angels?” Isaac frowned and furrowed his brow. He started to step closer, but Hal’s snarl meant business. That damn dog. He had to go. Yet, deep down, Isaac knew he deserved Hal’s anger, and the mongrel would still get that bone.

  Avery’s eyes met Isaac’s over Sadie’s shoulder. She didn’t understand the angel part, either, but they were going with it.

  “Let’s get you home.” Sadie was too big for Avery to carry, so Isaac stepped forward. This time Hal let him, while eyeing him suspiciously.

  Isaac bent down and picked her up. Sadie wrapped her arms around his neck and said, “You won’t yell anymore, will you?”

  “No, I won’t. I promise.”

  “When men yell, they make people disappear.”

  Isaac cringed and swallowed back a huge lump in his throat. “No one is disappearing. I promise you.”

  “Okay.”

  Avery touched his arm and smiled at him, instead of giving him the glare he deserved. Sometimes he so did not deserve her, any more than his brothers deserved their women. The Wolfe brothers had been assholes to each other from the moment they’d walked in the door this morning. He hated the realization they were their father’s sons, and as of right now, that stopped if he had anything to do with it.

  They would be better men than their father ever was.

  Chapter Six

  An hour later, the power was still out. Sadie was in clean, dry clothes and wrapped in a blanket next to the fire and sleeping soundly in Zeke’s arms. Brayden and Sophie were curled up on the couch and yawning. Hal lay in a cover, noisily gnawing on a bone and growling at any adult who glanced in his direction. Everyone else was gathered around the blazing fire, sipping hot chocolate and not saying much.

  Isaac drew in a deep breath and moved to stand in front of the fireplace. The rest of his family gazed up at him with puzzled expressions. Oddly, he didn’t see any animosity in his brothers’ eyes, only weary contentment. They’d averted a disaster, and they would be stronger for it.

  “I’d like to apologize to each and every one of you for my childish behavior, especially to my brothers.”

  Isaac’s brothers both opened their mouths to protest, but Isaac silenced them with an upheld hand. To their credit, they didn’t push him like they would’ve even a few hours ago.

  “Blake, my former teammate and the owner of this home, lost his entire family on this very day six years ago when their floatplane crashed on a stormy night similar to this one. They were on their way to celebrate Christmas in this house like they had every year since their children were young. Blake can never get them back. They’re gone forever.” Isaac paused and wiped his eyes with his sweater sleeve. Normally, he’d be appalled at crying in front of everyone, but they were his family. If he couldn’t show real emotion to them, who could he show it to?

  Avery moved beside him and put her arm around his waist. He smiled down at her, cleared his throat, and continued. He wasn’t the world’s best speaker, but he hoped he could express his thoughts well enough.

  “Sadie said angels kept her safe while we were looking for her. Nice angels. They left when we showed up. You guys know I don’t believe in stuff like that, but I think they were angels. Maybe our mother and our sister. Maybe Blake’s family. We’ll never know who her guardian angels were, but I do know angels kept Sadie safe from a rising tide and from the cold.”

  No one said a word, so Isaac continued.

  “I’d like to think our mom is up there in heaven right now, smiling down on us and damned proud her three sons rose above the worst adversity life could throw at them and became productive, kind members of society.”

  Zeke and Tanner nodded, wiping their own eyes on their sleeves, while their wives clutched their hands.

  “We lost each other for a long time, but now we can do something Blake never can. We can find each other and make good memories. We were raised to be competitive. It was pounded into our heads from birth. If we weren’t winners, we were losers. Being a loser was worse than being dog sh—” Isaac paused as he noticed three pairs of young eyes watching him intently, as Sadie was now awake. “Dog poop. We aren’t those guys anymore. In a family, a real family, there aren’t any winners or losers. There’s just love.” That last word came out choked.

  Zeke and Tanner stood, as if on some silent cue, and walked to Isaac. They had a three-way bro hug, which left Isaac a little off-balance yet filled with joy. When they finally separated, they gazed at each other for a long time. Isaac felt the shift and knew they did, too. They were family. They didn’t need to compete to prove their worth. They just needed to be themselves.

  “Am I going to get a pony for Christmas?” Sadie interrupted their sappy reunion.

  Paisley laughed and gave her a hug. “Yes, honey, but you’ll have to wait until we get back home, then we’ll pick one out for you.”

  “We will?” Zeke frowned.

  “Yes, we will.” Her glare was pointed and determined.

  “I guess we will.” Zeke laughed, and his brothers joined in.

  “I’m hungry. What’s for dinner?” Brayden asked with all the innocence of a child, the incident all but forgotten and replaced by his growling stomach. The adults exchanged glances. In the excitement of Sadie’s disappearance, they’d forgotten al