The Davenport Christmas Chronicles - Piper Davenport Page 0,28
to start my appetizers,” Cassidy said. “You two go play.”
“You need anything?” Hatch asked me.
I smiled. “Nope. I’m good, darling.”
He leaned down and kissed me again, following Ace and Tillie out of the room. Once they left, Cassidy and I went about preparing food. We were soon joined by several of the other women and I opened a bottle of wine.
* * *
Hatch
With the kitchen under control, and Maisie starting in on a bottle of wine, I joined the others in the great room where they had gathered to watch the game. Cassidy walked out with a platter of finger foods and set it on the coffee table.
“What the fuck is wrong with you? Why don’t you run the goddamned ball?” Ace was on his feet, shouting at the TV.
“He can’t hear you, honey,” Cassidy said while tugging on his cut. “Now sit down before you stroke out.”
“I swear to God, Mav, you’re the only one that could have saved this team from this idiot coach,” Ace said.
Maverick had been a football star at both Notre Dame and Oregon State and could have easily had a career in the NFL.
“He’s lucky I’m not playing for him,” Maverick said.
“Why’s that?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Because you would have run onto the field and kicked the shit out of him by now.”
“If you were on the team, we wouldn’t be down by thirteen points,” Ace said, taking a pull from his beer.
“Maybe so, but if I was still playing football, you wouldn’t have a granddaughter,” Maverick retorted. “At least not yet.”
Ace smiled wide and raised his bottle in salute.
Maverick once had to choose between life under the bright lights of the field and his family. A family that not only included his wife, Lily, and baby girl, Charley, but the Dogs of Fire as well. Granted, he probably could have still had a life in the NFL, but it would have put his vet plans on the back burner and he wouldn’t be close to home, which would have made Lily twitchy.
Okay, it would have made Hawk twitchy, but Lily loved her family as much as Maverick did, so the NFL didn’t make the cut.
“I still can’t believe you’re a grandpa,” Sparky said.
“That doesn’t mean I can’t kick your ass,” he replied.
“Sure, you can. With your cane,” I said to laughter all around.
Ace flipped me off. “You’re older than me, asshole.”
“Yeah, but I make getting older look good.”
Over the next hour, more club members arrived, including my little sister and her old man. We made eye contact as they came in and Minus gave me a friendly smile. I responded with a curt chin lift. Cricket made her way to me first and I pulled her in for a bear hug.
“You seem happy,” she said, laughing.
“I’m always happy,” I retorted.
“Will you please be nice to Minus?” she whispered. “He thinks you hate him.”
I frowned. “I do.”
Cricket punched me in the arm, hard. “You do not. Now be nice, or I’ll tell Maisie.”
“I’ll try.”
“Thank you, oh magnanimous one.”
I chuckled. “You’re so very welcome.
“You think you can take a break from beating on me long enough to help Maisie out with dinner?”
“Of course. I love her better anyway.”
“I’m aware.”
She grinned and headed to the kitchen.
Minus approached and handed me a bottle of Glenlivet 18 Yr.
“Is this for me?” I asked in shock at such a generous gift.
“I wanted to personally thank you, not only for today, but for standing alongside our club through all the shit that’s been going on,” Minus said. “The changes the Spiders are making affect all of us in Portland. It’s as simple as that. If we don’t stand together, the Spiders are gonna take us all down. Crow understands that and so do I.”
“True, but the Saints lit the fuse,” I countered. “Hopefully, Wolf and the Spiders back down, but if not, I figure you’re gonna need a shot or two from time to time.”
“How ’bout we share a toast when we hear from Wolf that the Spiders are staying put in Gresham.”
“Deal.”
The Dogs welcomed Minus and the rest of the Burning Saints as they arrived. The past year had been a good one for our club and I was glad to see everyone in such high spirits. The Dogs of Fire had never been closer as a club, or as a family, and I had never been prouder to wear our patch.
Booker, the Club’s Vice President and his wife, Dani, arrived with their family, and he waved me over