Page 4 of Daddies’ Holiday Toy (Kissmass Daddies #1)

JACK

The bar is loud tonight with the kind of Friday night chatter that seems to envelop every nook and cranny of the space surrounding, keeping whoever’s in it contained in a protective bubble from the outside world.

Glasses clink at the counter by the bar while somebody’s laugh carries across the room, loud over the speakers spilling an old classic hit I haven’t heard in close to a decade that makes me think of both summers long gone and how old I’m getting.

I’m leaning back in my usual booth, nursing a beer and letting the noise wash over me while Reece spins some ridiculous story about his boss’s latest meltdown.

He’s gesturing wildly with a whiskey glass in one hand, liquid sloshing around dangerously, his cheeks already flushed from the second round.

Liam is grinning across from me, half-listening while nodding and scrolling through his phone on some dating site he’s been trying to “hack” since signing up for it weeks ago. So far he’s had no luck, but then again he’s always been a picky fucker.

“And then the poor guy actually stapled his damn tie to the paperwork,” Reece cackles, slapping the table hard enough to make our drinks tremble. “He’s lucky he didn’t catch his hand in there too!”

I shake my head, only half-listening but chuckle anyway despite myself because that’s just how Reece’s energy works.

He’s infectious. “Sounds about right for your office. Sometimes it sounds like it’s a sitcom over there.”

Before Reece can fire back with another story, my phone buzzes on the table.

The screen lights up with a name I haven’t seen in months: Carson.

Well, well.

Seems he’s decided to crawl out of whatever cave he’s been hiding inside lately.

Or rather, whatever woman’s bed he’s been holed up in, no doubt because she’s finally gotten sick of his shit and kicked him to the curb.

Can’t say I’d blame her if that turned out to be the case.

Though, last I heard, he was trying to get back together with his ex-wife.

But maybe she’s also finally wised up and figured out babying him isn’t as attractive as it used to be when they were twenty-something.

My phone buzzes again.

“Hold on,” I say, holding a finger up to Liam and Reece before either of them can launch into another whirlwind of commentary.

I swipe to answer, holding it up to my ear. “Carson? Long time, man. What’s up?”

“Jack! Hey, man. You busy this weekend?”

His voice is a little rougher sounding than I remember, though it still carries that same timber I’ve known for almost thirty years.

As much as I rag on him sometimes, it is actually nice to finally hear from him even though that’s usually only because he’s no longer with the current flavor of the month.

Then again, I’m not exactly one to judge him.

I’ve never had a relationship last more than a year.

I lean back, throwing my arm across the back of the booth. “Depends. What’s going on?”

“Was thinking of heading up to the cabin this weekend for a little getaway. Boys trip. Just us, beer, and no one to nag us about doing the dishes.”

I roll my eyes, letting a smirk tug at my lips despite myself.

“Oh really. What happened to Maggie? Last I heard you were planning on taking her up there for some romantic getaway. Wasn’t that why you couldn’t come out with us last month? That no longer a thing anymore?”

There’s a pause on the other end and a faint rustle like he’s shifting in his seat, maybe rubbing the back of his neck in that way he always does when he’s caught off guard.

“Yeah, well, she blew me off. Said she had some family thing so I’m saying screw it. I’m not sitting around waiting for her to come to her senses.”

“Huh.” Margaret blowing him off sounds…odd to say the least.

Sure, I could buy her breaking up with him but ditching him for other plans?

That didn’t seem right.

Back when they were together the first time around—and before Carson left her for another woman—they were always attached at the hip.

Not to mention, the last time Carson called for an update, they were thick as thieves once again and seeing each other on the sly like they were back being a couple of teenagers sneaking out past curfew, and more notably behind their daughter’s back.

“You sure? Seemed like you two were getting serious.”

His voice hardens, getting a little defensive.

“I don’t know. She said she needed space the last time I was over and then she hits me with this stupid family excuse. So, whatever, I need a distraction from being pissed. So you in or what? Could use my favorite wingmen this weekend.”

“Yeah, sure,” I say easily.

While I disapprove plenty over Carson’s life choices, those are his mistakes to make.

They’ve never had anything to do with me.

“I’ll let Liam and Reece know about it and get them in the loop.”

“Excellent. Appreciate it. Let’s make it a good one, yeah? Like old times.”

After we hang up, I stare at my phone for a moment, my beer long forgotten in my other hand.

Margaret and Carson… Jeez. I still can’t get over it.

Now that I think about it, after all these years of Carson raging about how Maggie stole Holly away from him…now he’s sleeping with her again?

Isn’t that strange.

Of course, Carson’s version of the story has always been dramatic.

According to him, Maggie took their kid and ran because she couldn’t handle his free-living lifestyle.

But I remember the younger Carson, the restless, self-absorbed, and more interested in his car than diaper changes, who never seemed to get the hang of settling down.

He’d been young at the time when he and Maggie had their daughter, but to me that wasn’t exactly an excuse to fuck off and do whatever he wanted because it was easier than playing house.

He’d committed to having a kid with his then girlfriend after they got pregnant during a drunken New Years affair.

Quickly getting married to her right before their daughter had been born had been his way of “owning up to” his mistake and doing right by the woman, and newborn, he had decided to commit himself to.

However, the second things got tough, as they always did with families, he bailed.

I remembered the fights and Margaret’s tear-streaked face when she showed up to one of our many poker nights asking if any of us had seen her husband because he’d disappeared for the weekend without a word.

Carson has always chased something—success, freedom, another thrill—without ever actually finding the happiness he believed could be guaranteed on the other side.

It never sat right with me, but then again, it also wasn’t my business to dig my nose into.

Him and Maggie were two grown ass adults who needed to handle their issues themselves.

But then there was their daughter.

I’d only met her a handful of times back in those days, but from what I could recall she’d been full of energy.

The time Maggie had surprised us all up at the cabin with their kid in tow is a distinct memory.

I could still picture her: skinny little kid with big brown eyes and two messy braids, sitting cross-legged on the dock with a life jacket that swallowed her whole.

She dangled her bare feet over the water, watching the ripples with that quiet intensity kids get when they’re trying to figure out the world.

She was a good kid.

Too good for the hand she’d been dealt in life.

“What was that all about?” Reece asks.

“Apparently Carson wants to host a boys trip up at the cabin this weekend. You two in?”

“Hell yes. It’s been too long.” Liam stretches his arms over his head.

Reece raises his glass, the liquor inside of it swishing again. “Cabin, beers, no cell service? I’m there.”

I laugh, easy enough.

But as I grab my phone to text Carson back that we’re all in, I can’t help wondering something…

What ever happened to that little girl?

She’s probably grown now, living her own life somewhere far from here.

I wonder if she ever patched things up with Carson.

Somehow, I doubt it.

I hope she’s happy at least.

“Jack,” Liam says, snapping me out of it. “You alive in there?”

“Yeah. Sorry.” I shake myself out of my memories.

But even as Reece launches into his plans for bringing his state-of-the-art camping gear and Liam laughs, my mind keeps drifting.

Carson. Margaret. The little girl.

That cabin had seen its share of history.

Good memories and bad ones.

And now, with Carson pulling us all back together again, I can’t help wondering what exactly is waiting for us up there this time.