Max couldn’t help grinning as he returned his attention to Reece, who was excited about the 401k plans he’d set up for all of the Remington Agency’s employees.
“Reece,” Sara said sternly as she breezed past with a tray of crab cakes. “That doesn’t sound like party talk.”
“Sorry.” He looked suitably chastised, but when she left, he grinned. “She has eyes in the back of her head and supersonic hearing.”
Cooper joined them and announced in a conspiratorial whisper, “Meet me on the patio in five minutes. Don’t let anyone follow you.”
Reece rolled his eyes, but five minutes later the three cousins assembled on the back patio, where a sharp November north wind kept everyone else away.
“I’ve been saving this bottle for when the last of us fell. Frankly, I thought it would be years before I dragged it out.” He produced a bottle of aged Scotch from a blue velvet bag. Three glasses sat on the patio table, ready to be filled.
“I don’t know why you all thought I was so antimarriage,” Max said as he picked up his glass.
“Oh, only that you said just about every day you’d never get married,” Reece replied.
“A long time ago, when I was young and stupid. I never said that once since I met Jane.”
“No quibbling,” Cooper said as he filled his own glass. “I want you to turn your mind back to the last time we had a toast like this.”
“At your house,” Reece recalled. “Right before you got married to Allie.”
“Right. And do you remember what we said?”
“As I recall,” Max said, “we were all depressed because it was the end of an era. The split-up of the Three Musketeers.”
Cooper nodded in agreement. “But it wasn’t the end of anything. It was the beginning of a new era. I don’t think any of us had any idea how radically our lives would change when we took an innocent trip to Texas to check out the fishing boat Uncle Johnny left to us.”
“Amen to that,” Reece said.
“So I think we should drink to Uncle Johnny Remington. He lived life on his terms. And when he died, he gave us all a great gift. He encouraged us to live our lives on our own terms. Now we all get along better with the family than we ever did when we worked at Remington Industries.”
“It’s all turned out better than I expected,” Max said as he raised his glass. “Even my parents are speaking to me again. A toast to Johnny.”
“To Johnny,” the others echoed.
“And to our beautiful, talented and loving wives,” Reece added. “Without whom we would all be miserable and crabby.”
“Hear, hear,” Max and Cooper agreed.
Max thought a bit before he offered his own toast. But finally he knew exactly what should be said. He raised his glass. “To the new generation of Remingtons. Kaylee and all the as-yet-unnamed children we’ll have, to the great things they’ll accomplish and the adventures they’ll have. Maybe we’ll be wise enough as fathers to let them lead their own lives.”
Reece and Cooper nodded and raised their glasses again.
Cooper grinned. “To…what he said.”
The toasts continued until they no longer felt the cold wind. But Scotch wasn’t the only thing heating Max up. All he had to do was think about Jane and Kaylee, and the fire in his heart burned bright and warm.
Kara Lennox
Texas native Kara Lennox has earned her living at various times as an art director, typesetter, textbook editor and reporter. She’s worked in a boutique, a health club and an ad agency. She’s been an antiques dealer and even a blackjack dealer. But no work has made her happier than writing romance novels. She has written more than fifty books.
When not writing, Kara indulges in an ever-changing array of hobbies. Her latest passions are bird-watching and long-distance bicycling. She loves to hear from readers; you can visit her Web page at www.karalennox.com.
