Jingle all the Mitchell Way: a holiday novella(4)
“What are you thinking?” It was clear Reese was nervous about me having some kind of secret idea, especially since Jax and I were known to do things on a whim, which eventually backfired into a disaster.
“How do you feel about a road trip?”
“You’ve lost me, Jake.”
“A buddy I went to college with has a motorhome company, well his dad does, but he still works for him. Anyway, what if we went along to help out with the kids? We could stop to get our shopping in, watch the kids for them, and have everyone back in Kentucky in time for Christmas morning?”
“I’d say you’ve really got a screw loose if you think on Thanksgiving morning someone is going to rent you a high-dollar motorhome for a month to travel across the country with two small children.”
“You haven’t answered the question correctly. Reese, come on. You saw Amber’s face. She wants this. We can help them. Things are slow here. It’s the off season. We can afford it. It will be memorable. I promise.”
“As insane as I think it is, it might be the only way. Go see what you can do. I won’t say anything until we know it can happen. Please don’t take forever, and don’t you dare come back with the title to one of them. I know you, and how much of a compulsive shopper you can be. You’re easy to influence.”
I kissed my beautiful woman on her puffy lips. “I love you. I’ll be back as soon as possible. Keep it a secret until then, and don’t worry. I’m not buying an RV.”
As I was walking out the door, Reese stopped me. “Where do I tell them you went?”
“I don’t know. You’ll think of something.”
Halfway down the road I considered turning around. This idea of mine was insane, but if it could work for my families advantage I had to make it happen. I’d do anything for my brother. Thirty days in a motorhome would be fine. We’d shared a room since birth. What could go wrong?
Chapter 3
Jax
It was evident Amber wasn’t going to be able to fulfill a dream of hers since she’d gotten into the business of modeling. Everyone wants to crossover at different times in their career. It was much like getting a raise, I suppose in hindsight it’s exactly what it was. She’d be earning a huge payday, which in turned fueled her to want to take the job. It was financial security, not that we needed it. Our house was paid for, and since I owned a share of the ranch, we’d never hurt for anything.
Still, my wife was determined to give our daughters the best life possible. She wanted them to be able to travel the world and experience everything firsthand instead of through web searches and class assignments. I admired her ability to multi-task, but could also appreciate how she knew what would be best for our family as a whole. Amber had been right. There was no way I could spend a full month alone in a hotel room while she was filming. It wasn’t like it would be a nine to five job either. Some scenes would require them to work until they got it right. Now, on most days I could manage my girls, in my home, with all their necessities. That wasn’t the issue. Being trapped in a small area with little things to occupy them would be torturous. That doesn’t even count our inability to prepare for the holidays, on what would be the first real Christmas the girls could open their own gifts. They knew Santa was coming, and neither of us were about to take that away.
With my wife in my arms, clinging to me for reassurance that her decision wouldn’t bite us in the ass later, I kissed her head and let my lips linger there. “I know it’s hard, baby, but I think you’re a fantastic mother for thinking with your gut.”
“There’s always going to be more movies, Jax. I refuse to miss our girls on account of it right now.”
I patted her on the back before separating us. “We better get our asses in gear. If I’m going to fry up this turkey I need to get to the local store before everything closes.”
“Doesn’t your dad have a turkey fryer?”
“Probably somewhere. Do you really want me to mention our failures to them this early on? I mean, we need to pretend we pulled this off without a hitch.”
Amber laughed at my comment. “Jax, everyone knows we’ve never accomplished anything without a problem. I think we both knew something like this would happen.”
I kissed her quickly before preparing to leave the room. “Leave the turkey to me. I’ll get it done, and it will be the best f*cking thing your mouth has ever tasted.” When I realized what I’d implied I reiterated. “The second best thing.” I winked before exiting the room to fetch my brother and hunt down a turkey fryer with little time to spare.
Unbeknownst to me, Jake was gone. I found Reese entertaining the girls in the living room. “Where the hell is my brother? Did he forget more pies?”
“No. He’ll be back shortly. Something came up.”
“What’s more important than Thanksgiving dinner?”
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him when he gets back.” She was being mysterious, and since I knew Reese, I could already tell they were both up to something. Since I had too much on my plate already, I decided to ignore it and go on about my hunt.
After kissing my twins, I headed out to the ranch to enlist the help of my youngest cousin Josh. He was always getting into something; like smoking pot and screwing any girl that would spread her legs. I’d like to say he got his skills from me, but I was more selective.