Trade Deadline--A Second Chance Hockey Romance by Avon Gale

Author:Avon Gale
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Carina Press
Published: 2020-06-01T12:33:50+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Being a father of two and the son of thrifty parents, it was rare for Daniel to spend money extravagantly. There were savings accounts to worry about. Investment portfolios, vet bills, car repairs, and college funds. Daniel just wasn’t, and had never been, the impulse purchase type. But this year, for Christmas, he said, “To hell with it,” and decided to splurge.

After an out-of-state move, his children deserved a bit of spoiling. And well, there was Micah, too. Daniel would be lying to himself if he didn’t admit to wanting to impress his new boyfriend a bit.

Luxury houseboats on Miami Bay certainly were impressive. Expensive also. Normally, Daniel would’ve balked at the price tag, but this time around, he’d handed over his credit card with only the slightest cringe.

Not that he thought Micah or the kids gave a crap about the money. Nate and Gretchen would be happy at his or Tabby’s house as long as there were presents from Santa and dogs to pet. But Daniel had worked his ass off for years to earn a high-paying contract. If he wanted to spoil the people he cared about sometimes, why not? Everything in moderation, right?

Once he’d seen the yacht, he couldn’t resist. Nearly five thousand square feet of modern, tastefully decorated living space surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass windows, an expandable terrace complete with firepit and comfy loungers, a grass potty pad for the dogs, and an adjustable swim platform, if anyone felt up to getting in the water. Plus, the entire setup appealed to Daniel’s green side. The yacht was powered entirely by solar energy and had a built-in rainwater collection and filtration system. Leaving the lowest possible carbon footprint was still important to Daniel, no matter how frivolous it might be to rent an absurdly expensive houseboat for two days in the first place.

Daniel, Tabby, and the kids spent most of the morning stringing up twinkle lights and putting ornaments on a tiny tabletop tree. It wouldn’t be Christmas without decorations, Tabby insisted. Even if both their houses were already draped in enough tinsel and garland to open a holiday store, they had to bring some of that cheer to the houseboat, too.

As always, Daniel was more than happy to go along with her ideas. He let himself be put to work, utilizing his height advantage to place sparkly fake snowflakes in the hard-to-reach spots while Gretchen and Nathaniel hung stockings on the mantel above the electric fireplace.

Micah was in the kitchen with Daniel’s mother, Linda, helping prepare a turkey along with all the trimmings and her famous gingerbread cookies. His father, Ron, snoozed on a couch in front of the television, surrounded by Daniel’s pack of dogs. The scents of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves spiced the air, familiar and comforting, and Daniel caught himself smiling constantly as he listened to Micah and his mom reminisce.

His parents had been surprised and delighted to learn he’d reconnected with Micah. He hadn’t dropped the boyfriend bomb yet—mostly because he and Micah were taking things slow for the kids’ sake.

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.