Silver Foxes of BWB 4: 40 and Flashing (the Scotsman) A Small-Town Over-40 Christmas Story

Chapter One

“For someone who flies all the time, you sure hate planes with a passion,” Carter said.

Gavin Blackwood frowned at his best friend and business partner. “Nog planes. Seats. It’s the fuc”—he caught himself with a glance down at Carter’s wide-eyed son, Thad—“er…seats.” He shook out his aching legs as the three made their way down the concourse toward what would hopefully be an acceptable breakfast. Airport food was almost as minging as airplane seats.

Okay, call him a snob. He preferred the term particular, but whatever. He spent most of his life traveling, so it seemed counterproductive to also spend it denying that he enjoyed the simple pleasures in life. Multiple times he’d considered learning to fly himself or hiring a private plane, but why add to the greenhouse emissions for himself when he could spread the burden across a full flight?

“Was business class not comfortable for some reason?” his friend asked, guiding Thad into the line waiting outside the restaurant.

“I didn’t end up in business class.” And coach fucking sucked. There, he could say it in his head without corrupting young minds. Travel brought out the grump in him when not much else did. What he didn’t tell Carter was that he’d given up his business-class seat to a young mother with a crying babe halfway through the eight-hour flight. Long legs or no, he hadn’t been able to stand the wee one’s pitiful cries when he could provide a small amount of comfort.

The hostess found them a table, and the cheerful chatter of happy travelers wrapped around him as Carter and Thad settled on food. The holiday decorations and the joy of people on the way to their Christmas celebrations helped lift his mood, as did the cocktail he ordered with his breakfast. It might be ten a.m. in New York, but it had been noon when he left Scotland eight hours ago. That made it time for drinking back home despite the eggs and rashers on his plate. Carter and his son had arrived at the airport early for their flight in order to share a meal before the three of them took the next leg from New York to Nashville. Then it was a four-hour slog of a drive from Nashville to Black Wolf’s Bluff, where they should arrive right on time for JD and Lily’s rehearsal dinner tonight.

The thought of his friends’ Christmas Day wedding lifted his spirits even more. December was his favorite time of the year despite what was usually wet, gloomy Edinburgh weather, perhaps because he received a perverse delight out of loving something his father hated. Having lived around the bah-humbug attitude of his da all his life, he’d thrown himself into the Christmas spirit from a young age. He couldn’t think of a better time of year for a wedding, particularly in the lovely Tennessee mountains. They were even predicting snow.

The next leg of the journey felt twice as long despite taking half the time. Carter urged him to catch some z’s, but dealing with jet lag frequently had taught him to keep himself awake as long as possible for the early hours of the day in whatever location he found himself. When they landed in Nashville, Carter drove the SUV east toward the small town that JD had grown up in, so Gavin allowed himself a short nap in the car to get him through the evening’s festivities. By the time they exited the interstate and passed a McDonald’s Thad informed him was the landmark that meant they were “almost there,” he was awake and ready to be out of a moving vehicle of any kind for a good long time.

On a long stretch of winding road strangely reminiscent of rural Scotland, bare of any landmarks, Carter slowed and made a left turn that took them up a mountainside. Fresh pavement formed a three-lane road Carter informed him had been put in place in October when he and Thad first visited. In the back seat, Carter’s son was bouncing within the confines of his seat belt as they made their way up. The altitude put pressure on Gavin’s ears much like the airplane rides had. About halfway up the mountain, a stone fence appeared alongside the road, leading to stone pillars holding an open gate. Through the entrance was a large manor house, its wings spread to either side in a wide vee.

JD Lane stepped onto the small portico as they drove into the courtyard. His friend’s tall frame fit with the elaborate home his family had built years ago. Coming back to this town and this house had not been easy for the man, but he’d found a happiness none of them expected when he’d met the mayor of Black Wolf’s Bluff, Lily Easton. Now the two would be married in a few short days.

JD jogged out to welcome them as Carter parked the SUV. “Hey!” He snatched Thad up for a hug when the ten-year-old tried to zoom past him. “What’s your hurry?”

Thad laughed, squirming in his “uncle’s” hold. “I want to see Erin.”

“Well, give me a hug first.”

After JD squeezed a hug out of him, the boy sprinted uphill to find Erin, Carter’s girlfriend—although Gavin suspected the relationship was more serious than the term girlfriend signified.

“Don’t go up that mountain in the dark without me,” Carter called.

“Aw, Dad!”

Carter gave his son a stern look. “You can wait two minutes.”

And two minutes was all it took for Carter to unpack the SUV and turn to follow his son up the hill.

“Abandonin’ me so soon, brother?” Gavin asked his departing back.

Carter turned around but kept walking backward, a grin lighting up his face. “No offense, but you aren’t as good-looking as Erin.”

“What? I don’ believe that.”

“Believe it.”

“Dad!”

“Duty calls,” Carter said to Gavin. His face held no hint of regret.

“I don’ think it’s duty so much as”—he looked past Carter to Thad and his wee listening ears and held back the word on the tip of his tongue—“somethin’ else.”

“You know it.” Carter gave him a sarcastic salute. “Bye.”

Gavin chuckled as he hauled his carry-on inside.

“Ya’ve completed a lot more of the renovations than I realized,” he observed as JD showed him to a room.

“The manor should be complete by February. No thanks to Linc throwing us off schedule.”

“Oh?”

“Carter didn’t tell you that story?” JD chuckled. “Linc decided on his first visit to preempt Erin’s construction plans and start on the complete gutting of the kitchen so he would have an excuse to horn his way into Claire’s bakery.”

Gavin grinned. “Sounds like that twat.”

The kitchen was spectacular; Gavin had to give Linc that much credit. Chrome and stainless steel sparkled in the bright overhead lights as he and JD entered after stowing his things upstairs. Lily, JD’s fiancée, sat at the bar countertop, a glass of what he presumed was sweet tea—given that they were in the South—condensating at her elbow.

Gavin held out his arms. “Lily, love!”

“Gavin!”

They hadn’t met face-to-face before now, but he and Lily had spoken via chat and video calls with JD several times. The bride-to-be stood to give him a welcome hug. Gavin threw in a quick kiss on the cheek just to hear JD complain. Lily’s amused look said she knew his game well. He imagined Linc played the same one—JD was nothing if not predictable.

Settled at the bar with a hot tea, also sweet, he and Lily chatted about wedding details for a while, JD joining in between work phone calls.

“No one wants to lose the chance to talk to him before he goes offline,” Lily explained.

“And when is that?” Gavin asked.

“Right now,” JD said, clicking his phone off. He walked around the island to give his fiancée a quick kiss. “No more work till we get back from the honeymoon. My new admin is more than capable of handling anything else.”

“With Christmas four days away, everyone else will be going offline soon too.” Lily lifted her glass and sipped her tea, humming as the cool liquid hit her tongue.

JD cleared his throat, shifting behind the island. Gavin hid a smile. Good to know the sparks were alive and well for his friends.

Lily, seeming oblivious to her effect on her fiancé, glanced at her watch. “I need to get ready so I can swing by and pick up Scarlett on our way to the restaurant.”

Gavin paused, teacup halfway to his mouth. “Anythin’ I can help with?”

“Oh, no, I couldn’t ask.”

Gavin gave her his flirtiest grin. “Put me to work, please.”

JD grunted his displeasure. “Yes, Lily, put him to work.”

Gavin winked at Lily from the side JD couldn’t see.

Lily chuckled but shook her head. “My friend Scarlett needs a ride to the rehearsal dinner, but navigating these hills can be a PITA.” She shot JD a frown. “I wouldn’t ask someone who’s never been here to drive them at night.”

Gavin scoffed. “Have ya no’ seen roads in Scotland? One lane and two cars, my bonnie lass.” He laid the brogue on thick.

“Let him go, Lily,” JD said. “Maybe he’ll get lost and we won’t have to put up with his flirting all night at the rehearsal dinner.”

Lily gave her fiancé a look.

JD gave her an insincere smile in return. “No, seriously, please send him. He can practice his playboy act on your single friends instead of you.”

Gavin’s ears perked up. “Single friends?”

Lily’s eyes sparkled. “That got your attention, huh?”

“It did.” He splayed a dramatic hand over his heart. “Did Carter not tell ya why I came to Black Wolf’s Bluff?”

“For our wedding?” JD interjected.

Gavin rolled his eyes. “O’ course not.” He turned his attention back to Lily. “Every time one of my friends comes here to visit, they find their dream woman. Why should I be any different?” Not that he was looking for a dream woman, if one even existed for him. His father, on the other hand, had been married six times. Gavin had put strict boundaries around his own love life for that very reason, long ago. But he wasn’t above a good time while he was here.

After a moment of thought, Lily gave in. “I should probably be offended by the fact that our wedding isn’t a priority—”

“Now, I never said that.”

“You didn’t not say it either,” Lily pointed out, her amusement plain. “So I’ll give you the directions, but no funny business with my friend, got it, Gavin? I don’t want any heartbreak after my wedding when you fly back off to Edinburgh.”

“Sure now, Lily. This charm is a weapon that must be wielded with care. I promise to leave all the female residents of Black Wolf’s Bluff with whole hearts.”

“You’d better.” After giving him directions as well as the address for his GPS, Lily sent him down the mountain toward town in JD’s SUV.

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