Last Sweet Surrender by Holly Cortelyou

Author:Holly Cortelyou [Cortelyou, Holly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Holly Cortelyou

18

Jax surveyed the kitchen with no small feeling of satisfaction. Pizza boxes, paper plates, and gooey, wadded up paper napkins littered the kitchen island, and all the bar stools were pushed around like drunken soldiers.

He leaned heavily against the countertop and realized that two hours of five rambunctious, chattering kids was exhausting. Two hours straight of nothing but burpees and planks would’ve been easier.

A toddler shrieked with zeal and joy upstairs. Probably Tanner by the sounds of it. Lucky Lena had bubble bath patrol. Kitchen cleanup duty seemed like a peaceful dream job in comparison.

The swinging door to the kitchen flew open, and Katelyn zoomed through it.

“I’m thirsty, and Mom said you could find me a plastic cup to take upstairs,” she said.

She blinked, smiled, and propped a small hand on her hip and looked surprisingly like her mother.

Jax grinned at the blonde little pixie.

“Let’s see if I can remember where I found plastic cups,” Jax said. “Do you remember?”

“Near the sink, maybe?”

Jax ransacked the cupboards on each side of the sink, but no glasses. Only plates and storage containers.

“A-ha!” Jax said as the third cupboard revealed a dazzling array of childproof cups and mugs. “What color would you like, fair maiden?”

“Pink, definitely, pink,” Katelyn said firmly.

Jax formally bowed as he presented the mug to Katelyn, and she giggled.

“Mom said that nobody has to go to school tomorrow.” Katelyn sauntered to a stool, clambered up the rungs, and plopped her little bottom on the seat.

A teeny knot of tension popped up in Jax’s belly. A whole day with all the kids…at once? He’d been counting on the three older ones spending most of the day at school. How were they going to keep them entertained and out of trouble? Calm, he must keep his wits. He’d negotiated a huge deal to sell his company. He’d faced the stress and elite competition of a world cup ski event. He could handle a few kids. Right?

“A snow day. She must’ve checked the school’s website,” Jax said.

“What’s a snow day?”

“I guess you wouldn’t know about that. You’re used to a warm, beachy place, aren’t you?”

“Yup. Lots of sand. We swam in the ocean or the pool every day. I kind of miss it.”

“Do you like the snow? There’s lots of it here in Wescott Springs during the winter.”

“It was fun skiing in it,” Katelyn said.

“When it snows so much, and the roads are covered in mounds and mounds of snow, sometimes the school buses can’t make it to pick up kids. So there’s no school. That’s what a snow day is.”

“Cool, I guess. I don’t go to school yet.”

“It’ll be lots of fun,” Jax said. “All your cousins will be here tomorrow so you can play all day.”

“I like that,” Katelyn said.

She slid off the stool, walked to Jax, and grabbed his hand and pulled it close.

“You may kiss me good night now,” she said with a cherubic smile.

Jax’s lips twitched into a smile as he leaned down to plant a delicate peck on Katelyn’s puckered-up smoocher.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.