A Reed Brothers Christmas at Lake Fisher (The Reed Brothers Book 21) Read online

  A Reed Brothers Christmas at Lake Fisher

  Tammy Falkner

  Night Shift Publishing

  Copyright © 2020 by Tammy Falkner

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This one is for all the Reed Brothers fans! You guys have stuck with this crazy family for more than TWENTY BOOKS! Thanks for hanging out with me. This year hasn’t been easy with all the changes we’ve all faced, but you have powered through. I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a joyful new year.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  About the Author

  Also by Tammy Falkner

  1

  Jake

  “They’re here,” Pop mutters from across the kitchen table at me. He stares out the kitchen window toward the cabins, where I see a huge cloud of dust settling around two great big tour busses. Following the busses are two passenger vans with rental agency stickers on the back.

  I turn to look out the window. “Already?” The Reeds weren’t supposed to be here for another half hour or so.

  “Their plane landed a few minutes early.” He stares out the window. “When you fly private, you get out of the airport a whole lot quicker than a normal flyer does,” Pop reminds me.

  “They flew private?” I ask. “How do you know all this?”

  I stare at Pop as I reach over and wipe the applesauce off Poppy Jane’s chin. She’s our youngest, and she’s the only one who can’t feed herself yet. She grins at me as she smacks her hand down in a blob of strained carrots. A dollop of it hits Pop right in the eye. He squints, stares at me for a minute, and reaches into his pocket for a handkerchief to wipe his face.

  “Paul called to tell me they’d arrived.”

  “Wait,” Katie says. “Paul Reed – The Paul Reed – has your cell phone number and he used it to call you?” Her eyes are big and round, and she looks like she’s going to pass out.

  “He’s called me a few times,” Pop says. “How do you think we set all this up?” He tosses his handkerchief at my face, and I bat it down as he stands up. “Setting up all their shit was a lot of work.”

  “Where are you going?” I ask.

  “To welcome them, dipshit,” he replies. “Where do you think?”

  “Well, hold your horses for a minute and I’ll go with you.” I hand the spoon I’d been using to feed Poppy Jane to Katie, who sputters out a mild complaint. She pushes the spoon away.

  “No way,” she says. “I’m going with Pop.” She leans toward me and whispers vehemently. “You are aware that the Reed Brothers, all their wives, all their children, and all their friends are in our driveway, right? You understand that the Reed Brothers are staying in our cabins for Christmas, in the middle of December when we’re usually closed.” Her eyes are open so wide she’s scaring me. “It’s the Reed Brothers, Jake,” she whispers fiercely.

  I narrow my eyes at her. Katie has spent more time in the bathroom drying her hair and putting on makeup today than she has in the past year, and now I realize why. She’s completely and totally starstruck.

  The Reed Brothers are the stars of a reality TV show based in New York City, and they became famous initially because of their tattoo shop, but they really gained fame because of all the good deeds they do. They are famous in their community, mainly because they care for the homeless, feed the hungry, and kindness oozes from their pores. They’re also ridiculously handsome – Katie’s words, not mine – and they get a lot of attention, being five blond men who are heavily tattooed, very fit, and startlingly kind.

  “It’s not like you haven’t met them before. All five of them were in the shop the night I got my tattoo,” I remind her. “Hell, you went into labor in their tattoo parlor.”

  Katie gets a dreamy look in her eye. “Best night of my life,” she says, her tone lilting and light.

  Pop snorts out a laugh. “I think she has a crush.”

  “Oh, I totally do,” Katie admits, not even trying to hide it. “I have a crush on every last one of them.” She grabs my forearm and gives it a squeeze. “I even started following Edward’s car shop on social media. Did you know that he gives cars to people who need them? And he hires people no one else will hire, just so he can give them a chance? And the Zeroes… oh, my God, they’re famous. They’re like goddesses of rock and roll.”

  And they are all here. I look out the window again and see them as they start to get off the two huge busses that brought them here from the airport.

  “Well, one of us needs to go and greet them,” I say. “So, if you’re done drooling, you might want to wipe the spit off your chin so we can go and do it.”

  “Fine,” Katie snaps as she sits back down. “You two go. I’ll see them later, I’m sure.” She huffs out a breath.

  “Gabby, do you want to go?” I ask. She’s our oldest, Katie’s oldest daughter from her first marriage. She’s typically not here, since she’s attending college in New York City, but she’s home for the holidays. “You know Seth from school, right?” I ask.

  She frowns. “I’ve seen him around. I treated him when he had an injury, once.” She shrugs. “I wasn’t all that impressed, to be honest.” She takes the spoon from Katie and nudges her mom, so she’ll get out of her chair. Then she takes her place feeding the baby. Our other two little ones are in highchairs and booster seats, and Alex and Trixie are waiting to go with me. “Take Mom with you, before she combusts and melts into a pile of longing right there where she stands.”

  Katie sticks her tongue out at Gabby, and Gabby laughs.

  “If you’re done pissing around,” Pop prompts. “Can we go now?” He doesn’t wait, though. He grabs his clipboard and a ring full of keys, walks out the door, hops on his little red golf cart, and takes off toward the cabins, leaving me and Katie to follow him on foot.

  “You look like you’re walking toward your execution,” I tease as I take Katie’s hand.

  “They’re the Reed Brothers,” she hisses at me.

  “I’ve known those guys since they were kids,” I say with a shrug. I knew them long before they became famous. I knew them when they were getting food from the local food pantry, just so they could eat. I knew them when Emily used to busk in the subway for spare change. I knew them when Pete was in prison. I knew them long before their reality TV show took off and they became famous. “They’re just men who want a quiet week with their families.”

  “Tell me again who’s who,” Katie prompts. “I never can remember all the names of their friends.”

  I start to tick them off on my fingers. “Paul is the oldest. He’s married to Friday, the pin-up-model-looking one. Then there’s Matt, who married Sky. Matt was the one who had cancer. He’s the only one with long hair. Then Logan, who is married to Emily. Logan is the real artist in the family. Then there’s Pete and Reagan. Pete went to prison for a couple of years. And then there’s Sam and Peck. Sam’s a chef and he used to play football for the New York Skyscrapers.”

  “And Peck is the
drummer from Fallen from Zero,” she adds. “And the Zeroes are Peck, Star, Lark, Wren, and Finny.” She squeezes my hand. “They have a new single out, and it’s amazing. It’s totally sex-worthy.”

  “Sex-worthy?” I ask.

  “Yeah, like music you would play when you have sex, to set the mood.” She looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “What?” she asks.

  “Do we need music to set the mood?” I ask. I jerk her toward me and kiss her quickly.

  “I’ll let you listen to the song and decide for yourself.” She walks quietly for a moment. “There are more, right?”

  “The Zeroes’ husbands -- Josh, Tag, Mick, and Ryan -- and their children. And Edward and Avery. And Gonzo and Susan. Oh, and Henry. I first met Henry when I was in my twenties. He’s a hell of a man. Kind of reminds me of Pop, but he’s nice.”

  “And then there are all the kids…” Katie’s voice trails off. “Holy shit, look at all the kids,” she says, as she sees kids milling about as they all file off the bus and start to unload.

  “The Reeds breed like rabbits,” I admit.

  “Well, when you look like that,” she starts, getting that dreamy look in her eye again.

  “Katie!” I call out, and she jerks back to attention.

  “What?”

  I let out a laugh. “You are being ridiculous about all this. We’ve had large groups here before.”

  “Not in the middle of winter, Jake. And not famous groups.”

  “Right now, they don’t want to be famous groups. They just want to take a family vacation.”

  Normally, our complex is closed during the winter. We have the occasional family show up, mainly people who own cabins here, but for the most part, the complex is empty through the winter. But when Paul Reed called Pop to ask about renting the place out, Pop agreed. We had to make a few adjustments to make some of the cabins handicap friendly, but it was really something we should have done years ago. We added wheelchair ramps, changed out showers, and made sure doors were wide enough for wheelchairs to go through. Then we added a walkway to the water and other necessities for the wheelchair users.

  “Oh, there they are,” Katie breathes.

  “You need mouth to mouth?” I ask.

  “I might,” she says, her voice all breathy and wild. “Look at them. They’re so pretty,” she whispers. She lifts her knuckles to her mouth and pretends to chew on them.

  I look over and find Pop standing in a circle with some of the Reed Brothers. He’s chatting and shaking hands.

  “Jake, get your ass over here!” Pop calls.

  I tug Katie to bring her with me. “No!” she hisses. “I’m going to watch from here.”

  I let out a laugh. “Chicken,” I taunt.

  “I’ll just stand here and watch,” she says.

  “Breathe, Katie, because I won’t be here to catch you if you pass out.”

  “I’ll try.” She lifts her hand to her mouth and starts to chew on her fingernails.

  “If you pass out, I’ll never let you live it down.”

  She grins at me. “I hope whoever is closest to me gives me mouth to mouth, and I kind of hope it’s not you.” She smiles so big I can see every tooth in her head. “I love you, though,” she adds at the last minute.

  Oh, this is going to be a fun week.

  2

  Katie

  “It’s kind of like looking at the sun, isn’t it?” a quiet voice says from just behind me. I startle and look over my shoulder, and find a brunette standing there. She has one hand on her pregnant belly and the other is lifted to point toward the Reeds. “Don’t feel bad. I still feel that way and I married into the family.” She sticks out a hand to shake. “I’m Avery, Edward’s wife.”

  “Holy crap,” I bleat out. “You’re pregnant.”

  “Only six months,” she says with a shrug. “But yes.”

  “I’m Katie,” I stammer out.

  “Oh, you’re Jake’s wife!” she says. “Paul gave us all the run-down on the way here. Unfortunately, when the Reed brothers are involved, there’s no such thing as secrets. I think I got your shoe size, too.” She grins at me.

  “I follow you on social media.” I let my eyes linger on her belly. “I didn’t know about the baby, though,” I add. “Congratulations.”

  “We’ve been keeping it quiet. We’ll make a big announcement after she gets here.”

  “It’s a girl?”

  She shrugs. “Maybe. We don’t want to find out.” Suddenly she cups her hands around her mouth and calls out, “Penny!” A little girl spins to look at her, and she’s holding the leash of a dog that looks like a yellow lab. “Don’t let Buddy go. He’ll run into the woods and you’ll never get him back!” she yells.

  “I got him,” she says, with an eye roll, which makes me laugh.

  I look over and see Trixie, my second oldest daughter, migrating toward the children. She has a way of meeting people and instantly making them her best friend. She has, of course, Sally, her big old dog following her. She doesn’t go anywhere without him. Alex is with Jake, which is where I normally find him when I go looking for him.

  “Should we put our dog inside?” Avery asks.

  “Sally loves everybody,” I tell her with a breezy wave of my hand. I watch as Sally goes over and sniffs the lab, and then he leans down on his haunches, inviting the smaller dog to play.

  “Pete and Reagan brought their dog too. And their cat. We hope it’s okay that we brought our animals.” She looks worried all of a sudden.

  “We would have been disappointed if you’d left them at home.”

  “So you live here all the time?” Avery asks.

  I nod my head and jerk my thumb toward our house on the hill. “We live there year-round. We run the place.”

  “That’s what they call it,” I hear Pop say from behind me. “But we all know who’s really in charge.” He points his index finger at his chest as he walks by me.

  “Have we overwhelmed you yet?” Avery asks, like she’s suddenly worried. “There are a lot of us.” She shrugs. “The joy of having such a big family.”

  “Oh, no, we have a baseball team of our own. It gets kind of boring here in the winter, so we’re glad you’re here.”

  She leans close and whispers at me. “Don’t be too nervous. The fame hasn’t changed the Reed brothers one bit. They’re just as nice today as they were before they became famous.”

  I grin. “Am I that obvious?”

  “No, no, you’re fine,” she says. “I just know how overwhelming all this can be.”

  Avery smiles when her husband, Edward, walks up next to her and kisses her temple. “You ready to get settled in?” he asks.

  She shrugs. “Ready when you are.” She turns back to me. “It was nice to meet you, Katie,” she says. Then she walks away with Edward, and I let out the breath I was holding for way too long.

  “Oh, my God,” I whisper to myself.

  I hear a computerized voice from behind me that says, “I’m not God. I’m Gonzo. But I can see how you’d get the two confused.”

  I turn around to find a young man in a motorized wheelchair. He has a tiny computer on an arm of his chair, and he taps into it, so it speaks for him. He grins at me.

  I stick out my hand to shake, and he lifts his fist instead, so I bop it with mine. “I’m Katie. It’s nice to meet you, Gonzo.”

  “This place is awesome,” he says through his computer, and then he turns and speeds away.

  “Thank you,” I call toward his retreating backside. But he’s already gone.

  I wander over to where Jake is still talking with the five Reed brothers, but when I count, there are actually only four.

  “What’s that face for?” Pop asks.

  “Where’s the fifth one?” I ask.

  Paul, who I know is Paul because I’m a fan, grins and says, “Matt’s not here yet. He had a doctor’s appointment that couldn’t be changed, and Emily had one too, so they’re flying down tonight together.”


  “They’re not sick, are they?”

  Paul shakes his head. “No, they’re not sick. Matt went for a scan, which he does every so often, just to be sure his cancer is still in remission, and Emily had an OB appointment that she didn’t want to miss.” He pretends to think about it. “Actually, I think she could have stood to miss it, but she really wanted to go with Matt to get his results so, she made up an excuse about not being able to change her appointment.” He holds up two fingers, and he wraps one around the other. “Matt and Emily are pretty tight. Even now.”

  The show always made it seem like they were close. It’s good to know it’s true in real life. I stop for a second. “Wait, did you say OB appointment?” I ask, suddenly curious.

  “Emily’s pregnant.” He makes a motion with his hands over his stomach. “Like really pregnant. Like eight months pregnant. Logan really wanted them all to stay home, but Emily wouldn’t hear of it. Both their other kids were two weeks late, each, so Emily is kind of thinking that’s how it’s going to go.”

  “Babies tend to come when they want to,” I remind him. I’ve had enough of them to know.

  “Well, I guess we’ll find out what’s going to happen when they get here. Emily’s thinking we’ll be home before she has to worry with any of that. To be safe, though, she had her records sent to an OB at the hospital here, too, just in case.”

  “Well, that was smart,” I remark.

  “Let’s just hope that baby is willing to wait. Wouldn’t it be some shit if Matt had to deliver it on the plane?”

  “That’s not funny,” a man says from behind me. It’s Logan, and he sticks out his hand to shake.

  “That would be fucking hilarious,” Paul says, as he starts to sign in ASL while he talks. “I could just see Matt with his head down there, trying to catch a baby without looking.” He laughs out loud as he pantomimes someone in a football stance, holding out his hands to catch a ball.