Havoc's Fox: The Legacy Series, page 9
“Who is that woman and why is she here?” Analise asked.
Emmalyn turned to see who Analise was talking about. “Oh, that’s Addie. I just explained that she tried to stop me from breaking into Christian’s house to get the bourbon. She’s my new bestie. I brought her to keep attention off me and Barron and you and Havoc.”
Chapter 9
Analise turned and looked at her sister. “You brought her?”
“Yes. Smart, huh? Everybody will be trying to figure out who she is and asking her questions, instead of worrying about you and Havoc, and me and Barron. And they’ll probably give Tempest a break, too.”
“Great job. Seems both Havoc and Christian are now both fully captivated.”
“No, she’s just nice. Besides, didn’t you hear me tell Christian that I think she likes him. So, don’t worry about Asshole, I mean, Havoc. She’s not interested in him. Well, yet. I mean, they did just meet, and if all works out, she’ll be a permanent part of the clan according to Brandt. I think it will, she’s really nice.”
Analise looked over to find Christian sitting on one side of Addie, while Havoc still sat on her other side, and both were intently focused on whatever she was saying.
“They can’t look away from her,” Analise said.
“I know! It’s working,” Emmalyn said.
Analise looked at her sister like she’d lost her mind, turned and walked away, leaving her standing there alone. She headed over to the dining room table, which was set beautifully. Pulled out a chair and sat down. She sat quietly watching every single person she’d ever considered family go about their day, feeling like she was some invisible entity watching it all unfold before her.
She finished her drink and set the glass down on the table.
Everly, Valerie and Janie brought serving dish after serving dish out and placed it in the middle of the table. Daniel was busy carving a ham, Delilah and Kaid were speaking with the new girl, still sandwiched between Christian and Havoc, and Barron was busy ignoring Emmalyn, who was getting more and more pissy by the moment. She looked over and picked up one of the buttered dinner rolls that sat waiting for the gathering of people to make their way through the food laid out everywhere to discover them and add them to their plates.
She took a bite of the roll and closed her eyes as she enjoyed the buttery flavor of the still warm and soft yeast roll.
“I like those, too,” Harley said.
Analise opened her eyes and looked down at the child standing beside her. “Oh, yeah?”
Harley nodded.
Analise reached over and selected a particularly buttery roll, then handed it to Harley. “Here you go.”
“Poppy and Valerie said I have to wait until everybody else eats to eat.”
“What does your daddy say?”
“Same thing,” Harley said.
Analise smiled. “Tell you what, you sit here with me and eat all the rolls you want. It’s Christmas, and it’s my house, and nobody is going to tell you you can’t.”
“Really?” Harley asked, her eyes shining brightly.
“Really.”
Harley started climbing up onto Analise’s lap.
In actuality, Analise had meant next to her, not on her lap, but whatever… it worked. She waited until Harley got settled on her lap, then handed her the roll she was still holding for her.
Harley took a bite and sighed as she chewed. “It’s my favorite.”
“Hot bread and butter?” Analise asked.
“Yes. I just love it.”
“Me, too.”
They sat there and finished their rolls, then each started on another.
“Hey,” Maverik said, nudging Havoc.
Havoc looked up at his father.
Maverik shoved his chin in the direction of the dining room table.
Havoc looked over and saw his daughter sitting in Analise’s lap. “Yeah. I saw that.”
“Beautiful thing, isn’t it?”
“She loves Analise. Been talking about her since she saved her at the coffee shop,” Havoc said.
“You alright?” Maverik asked.
“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” Havoc asked tiredly.
“Because we can all but hear your Wolf whining. Do something about it.”
“There’s nothing to be done, Daddy. I’m just lucky we’re able to be under the same roof.”
“There’s always something to be done.”
“Not this time. I made my bed years ago. And you heard her say just as clear as I did, that she’s moved on. She’s got a boyfriend. She’s over me.”
“Havoc, son, she will never be over you, and you will never be over her.”
“I think that it’s too much too soon,” Hellen said.
“I agree,” Christian said.
“Dr. Noble, ain’t nobody asked you,” Maverik said.
Christian looked up at his Uncle Maverik. “I know her. I talk to her all the time. Hell, she spent the night at my house last night.”
“Say what?” Maverik asked.
“Let it go, Daddy, it wasn’t nothing,” Havoc said.
“She was hurting. She just wanted to be somewhere that wasn’t home alone. She’s as raw as when it first happened. She just hides it well,” Christian said.
“Told you, too soon,” Hellen said.
Havoc looked over at his sister who’d been sitting on the floor beside him.
“Don’t you have somewhere to be, looking after some bears or something out in the woods?” Maverik teased her, nudging her with the toe of his boot.
“No,” Hellen said, laughing as she pushed him away.
“Then stop butting in when I’m fixing things,” Maverik said.
“Daddy, this can’t get fixed. It’s just, what it is,” Havoc said.
“And that would be?” Maverik asked.
“Shattered,” Havoc said.
“I don’t know,” Hellen said, glancing over at her niece sitting on Analise’s lap as they visited and ate more than their share of dinner rolls.
“What do you mean?” Maverik asked.
“Did you see the look on her face when she saw Havoc sitting with Addie?” Hellen asked.
“With me?!” Addie asked nervously.
“It’s all good, don’t give it a second thought,” Christian said.
“No! She had a look?” Maverik asked, tuning Addie and Christian out.
“She was not happy about it,” Hellen said.
“I knew I wasn’t wrong,” Maverik said.
“About what?” Havoc asked.
“About her still feeling for you. I’ve been seeing it. It’s in her mannerisms, it’s in her voice. It’s in her eyes when she looks at you.”
“She’s still mad as hell,” Havoc said.
“Yep. You’re not still mad years later if you don’t still care.”
“You’re still mad at your first mate,” Havoc pointed out.
“Actually, no, I’m not. I forget from time-to-time that she’s even still breathing. Actually, kind of grateful to her. If she hadn’t betrayed me, I’d still be with her and not have found Valerie and had you kids.”
Havoc sat watching his mate and his daughter bond over bread and butter. “You know, I’ve never hoped you were more right, but I just don’t see it.”
“I’m not saying it will happen any time soon, just that it’s not impossible,” Maverik said.
“I’m thinking it could maybe be sooner,” Hellen said.
Both Havoc and Maverik looked at Hellen questioningly.
She shrugged. “I think you need to face the shit head on. Stop side-stepping it.”
“She doesn’t want to talk to me.”
“So, don’t talk. Start doing. Do everything a mate would do. Like it’s just second nature, not preconceived,” Hellen said. “Show her what it feels like, show her that you’re different.”
“Food’s ready. Y’all can serve yourselves,” Everly called out. “Start in the kitchen and work your way around. Lots of chairs and tables, make yourselves comfortable wherever you want.”
The clan as a whole started shifting toward the kitchen.
Hellen maintained her gaze connected to Havoc’s.
He glanced at Analise quickly, saw that she wasn’t even trying to join the line moving toward the food and jumped to his feet to get ahead of everyone else.
Maverik chuckled, shared a high-five with Hellen and went to join Valerie where she too waited for the first of their clan to serve themselves so they could take their time and sample things as they chose their dinner as they liked to do.
“What are you laughing about?” Valerie asked.
“Things,” Maverik said, draping an arm around her shoulders, “just things.”
“Oh, Lord. What are you meddling in now?” Valerie asked him.
“Nothing. Seems my Hellen might have inherited the gift of fixing things, though.”
“What’s she fixing?” Valerie asked, looking around for her daughter.
“I don’t know. Let’s just see what happens.”
Not five minutes later Havoc walked out of the kitchen balancing two plates on one arm, and one in his opposite hand. He walked over to the table where Harley and Analise still sat and set his plate down, then chose things from the dishes set out on the table that he knew his daughter and Analise would both love and added them to the plates he carried.
Analise watched with a growing irritation as Havoc made plates of food for Addie, himself and Harley. But she said nothing. She just sat quietly, waiting for Havoc to finish so he could call Harley to come eat dinner, and she could make her escape. She needed to get out of there.
A few moments later, Havoc looked up at Analise and smiled at her as he held out a plate of food to her. “Here you go.”
“What’s this?” she asked, surprised.
“I made you a plate while I was making Harley’s.”
Analise reached out hesitantly for the plate. “What about Addie?” Analise asked.
“I don’t know. Christian will take care of her if she needs help. Pretty sure she can figure out where the food is, though. Here,” he said, moving the plate he still held closer to her outstretched hand, “I made sure I didn’t miss any of your favorites.”
Analise looked at the plate for a second before she slowly grasped the edge of it and accepted it from him. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Baby, you want something other than sherbet punch to drink?” he asked.
“I want what Analise is drinking,” Harley said.
Analise and Havoc both shook their heads. “No, you can’t have that. That’s an adult drink,” Analise said.
“Yeah, you shouldn’t drink that. It’s not good for you and it’ll just cloud your judgment,” Havoc said.
Analise looked up at Havoc, not sure if he was talking to Harley or herself.
“Tell you what, I’m going to have a glass of iced tea, you want one?” he asked.
“Okay.”
“Analise?” Havoc asked.
“I’m fine, thank you, though.”
He gave her a nod of acknowledgment and put Harley’s plate on the table next to Analise’s place, and set his own down a few places down. “Why don’t you get off Analise’s lap so she can eat, and I’ll be right back with your drink.”
“Yes, sir,” Harley said, sliding off Analise’s lap eagerly so she could start on her meal. She watched as Analise picked up her fork and started eating, tasting a little of everything as she went, and mimicked her, doing the same.
Seemed like just a few minutes and Havoc was back. He’d brought Harley and himself an iced tea, a glass of iced water for Analise, and another glass of bourbon. “Wasn’t sure which you’d want,” Havoc said, putting both glasses down in front of her.
“Uh, thank you,” Analise said, not sure what Havoc was up to, but wary of it anyway.
He moved his plate to a spot directly across from his daughter and Analise so that he could look at them as they all ate.
The chairs around them started filling up as people finished serving their plates, and yet others paused at the table only long enough to add some of the side dishes that filled the middle of it to their plates. There was a lot of talking, a lot of visiting, and a lot of bonding. And the whole while Havoc pretended that it was completely normal for himself and his daughter to share Christmas dinner with Analise.
An hour later as most of the dinner dishes were cleared and the desserts came out, again, Havoc got up and made the rounds, bringing back a dessert plate for Analise and Harley.
“Oh, I couldn’t eat another bite,” Analise said, trying to refuse the plate.
“Yeah, but if you don’t keep it, you won’t have any later. Look at these people!” Havoc said, gesturing to their family as they all jostled for a position at the dessert table.
“I guess you’re right.”
“Rarely. But about desserts during the holidays, yeah.”
Analise looked up at Havoc. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
After he finished his own dessert, he realized that Analise’s drink was empty again. He picked it up and winked at her as he walked to the kitchen with it.
“What’s going on with Havoc?” Emmalyn whispered as she plopped into the chair beside Analise.
“I don’t know. He thinks he’s my own personal waiter today,” Analise answered.
“He just wants to make sure you have all your favorites. It’s how he shows he loves us,” Harley said.
“Us?” Analise asked, looking at Havoc’s daughter.
“His family. He always takes care of me and Aunt Maia, even when Uncle Riley is around. He’s a good carer. He tries to do things for people before they know they need them. Aunt Maia says it shows he’s paying attention,” Harley said.
“Oh, okay,” Analise said. “That’s very nice of your dad.”
“Yep. He’s the best.”
Analise and Emmalyn shared a look.
Barron stepped into the dining room, then saw Emmalyn and came to a complete stop. He stood there just looking at her for an uncomfortable few seconds, before he turned and walked right back out.
“What’s with Barron?” Analise asked.
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” Emmalyn said disgustedly.
“Should it be something?” Analise asked.
“Yes. Especially after…”
“After what?” Analise asked. “Wait, do you mean last night? What happened last night?”
“Nothing.”
“Emmalyn…”
“We do not have the time now.”
“Later?” Analise asked.
“Yeah,” Emmalyn said. She got a look of determination in her eyes as she saw Barron sneak out of the back door, closing it quietly behind himself. “I’ll be back,” she whispered quickly, getting up and rushing to the back door, before disappearing through it.
“Crazy day with too many people, isn’t it?” Analise asked Harley.
Harley looked up from her chocolate pie and took a minute to examine all the people in the house. “It is a lot of people. It might be more than at home.”
“But you know what? They all love you so much,” Analise said. “And now you’ve got twice the people.”
“That’s what Daddy said, too.”
“He’s right.”
“You’re lucky growing up here.”
“I am?” Analise asked.
“Yeah. I like it here. It’s lots of fun.”
“What do you like best?”
“I don’t know yet, but before we leave, Daddy’s taking me fishing. And Aunt Hellen said I can go with her into the woods and look for animals, and she’ll teach me how to look for different tracks and signs that wild animals have been there. Like, real live wild animals!” she said excitedly. “And Poppy said that in a couple of months if we come back and visit, he’ll catch a nutria so we can see if it sees its shadow or not so we’ll know if winter is over.”
Analise laughed. “Yes, your Poppy does indeed like to catch nutria to see if Winter’s over or not.”
“I thought it was a groundhog, but Poppy said the groundhog people don’t know what they’re talking about. He said that a nutria knows better.”
“They bite harder, too,” Analise said, laughing. “Ask him about that.” As her laughter faded, she looked at the little girl that had her life played out different might have been hers. “So, Harley, are there lots of girls that your daddy takes care of back home?”
Harley finished licking her fork and glanced over at Analise’s plate of still untouched desserts.
Analise slid it over toward her.
Harley shook her head. “No. He said that his heart is not open to anybody but me. I told Aunt Maia that he said that, and that we needed to find him a girlfriend so he could be happy and I could have a mommy, and Aunt Maia said he wouldn’t like that. I don’t really know why, but I heard them fighting later while I was supposed to sleeping, and Aunt Maia told him that it’s been long enough and he needs to get his head out of his ass and think about somebody besides himself because I need a mommy. And he said that there would never be anybody for him but his mate, and if he couldn’t have her, he wouldn’t have anybody.”
Analise sat beside Harley with her heart pounding and her mouth agape, watching the child repeat verbatim the argument she’d overheard between Havoc and Maia. “I’m sorry you had to hear that.”
“It’s okay. You want to know what else I heard?” Harley asked.
“Okay,” Analise said hesitantly, not sure if she really wanted to know or not.
“I heard Aunt Maia tell my daddy that if he’d figured that out before he learned to keep his pants up, he might still have his mate. But I’m not sure what that means, because I’ve known how to keep my pants up since I was really little and I’m still not sure why my daddy was a grownup and didn’t know how to hold his pants up.”
Analise slapped a hand over her mouth, trying to keep from laughing as her eyes widened at the child’s confession.
“Yeah, sometimes grownups say things that we just don’t understand,” she finally managed.
“You’re a grownup,” Harley said.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m just about your age,” Analise admitted.
