“We will not. We leave for a twenty-one-day cruise January fifth.” Trish’s voice was firm, fierce.
“Tell him, girlfriend,” Sky muttered.
“We have a date then. She already missed the cruise in May, Adam. My fault.” Beckett got up. January first then. He’d make it a plan. “Should we come in for dinner?”
“It’s getting chilly out here, love. Everything’s on the table. Walter is locked upstairs with a piece of chicken.” Sky’s smile was easier now, relaxed. They must have had a nice talk.
Or maybe another margarita. Probably both.
“Poor Walter, relegated to the bedroom again.”
Although it was his favorite room in the house these days. Not that they hadn’t found fun in other places—the living room, the kitchen, the hot tub. Hell, one starry night they’d even christened the deck. The railing was damn sturdy.
Beckett drew the line at the dining room table, though. Thank God.
He offered Adam a hand up, and they all filed indoors for dinner. “It smells amazing in here.”
“Your husband is quite capable in the kitchen. He says you two cook together a lot.”
“We do. Making meals is a great time to catch up.”
Sky smiled at him and he tangled their fingers as they followed Adam and Trish into the dining room.
24
“Paulson, where the fuck have you been?” Cody Roberts’s voice rang out through the phone like the evil, brilliant bastard was standing right there.
“Recovering. How’s it going?”What do you want?
“Good. Busy. Working.” The “unlike you” was implied. “I’m setting up things for Vegas. You need a suite for the whole time?”
“I’m not sure I’m coming.” He wasn’t sure he wanted to. He wanted to walk away, not look back, no regrets. “I’m announcing my retirement.”
“So announce. Make a huge deal out of it. Everyone expects you—the sponsors, the fans. You’ve been gone months. We’ll have a big-assed party for you. Send you off active duty to retirement. You know what you want to do?”
“I think so. I’m thinking about doing an invitational up here.” He needed to talk to Beck, feel out what his husband thought, but Trish had made a comment the other day about how she’d never seen a bull riding, and he could make that happen up here.
“Yeah? You work it right with us, we’ll sponsor it.”
Sky swayed a little bit.Whoa. Fucking A.
Whoa.
“So, a suite for the ten days?”
“Yeah. Yeah. Sounds good.” He’d talk to Beck, beg him to come with. He needed to sit and tell him everything in his brain.
He heard the garage door open, which meant Beck was home from work.
“I’ll get the ball rolling on your retirement party.” Cody sounded like he was making notes.
“Hey, babe.” Beck walked in and set a battered briefcase next to the couch. “Good d—oh. Sorry.” He got a thumbs up when Beck figured out he was on the phone.
“Good deal. I’ll call you later when I’ve firmed shit up.” He sighed softly, shook his head. “Bye, Cody.”
“Paulson.” The line went dead.
Lord have mercy.