Mari was closest to Mother, and she couldn't help but ask, "Where are

YOU going?”

Mother glanced at me for a second before giving Mari a reassuring smile, and in a perfectly normal volume voice she explained, "I'm staying with my boyfriend for the duration of this trip. But don't tell

Matthew. He doesn't want to hear about that sort of thing."

“Anyway..." I rolled my eyes.

“Can everyone please thank my mother for arranging this whole trip for us? It was one-hundred percent her idea.

I had nothing to do with it."

The girls cheered, and Belle actually walked over to give Mother a hug.

Sam was quick to give her a hug right after as well, holding on a few extra seconds while they whispered a short conversation that I couldn't hear.

“In the meantime," I continued, "I need to drive over to the store to buy groceries that will last us for a few days. Anyone want to come?" sem RK

Naimh accompanied me to the grocery store, the very picture of a winter snow bunny in form-fitting dark blue one-piece winter jumpsuit that hugged her slender figure and was tight enough across the chest that she needed to leave the zipper beneath her cleavage. Her luscious red hair hung loose and forward from the attached furry hood, and I rather enjoyed the stares of admiration I got from guys in passing to have such a gorgeous creature holding onto my arm.

We chatted a little bit about school as we nabbed everything the girls had put on the shopping list. The Last week of classes before winter break had been a breeze. Teachers were more or less forbidden from assigning homework over the break, and half of them seemed as eager to spend two weeks away from campus as us students. We talked about my plans for the next few days, and she wanted to know if I had any other secret surprises in store.

“The house doesn't have a hot tub you didn't tell us about, does it?" she asked excitedly.

“Sorry,” I said, much to her visible disappointment.

“I know ski vacations and hot tubs sort of go hand in hand, but it's not Like we can't hop in the hot tub back at my house anytime.”

We collected all the groceries we needed, but as we passed the alcohol section, Naimh's emerald-green eyes flashed as she asked, “Hey, what's the legal drinking age in Nevada?"

“Still twenty-one, sorry," I apologized.

“Backwards Americans," she scoffed. "Eighteen is legal in Ireland."

“Guess you'll have to take me there someday.”

"I'd Love to," she replied warmly, stopped to cradle my cheeks, and gave me a tender kiss right there in the market.

We returned to the cabin without incident, parking in the garage and bringing everything inside. While I was loading the fridge, Sam came to me in the kitchen.

“Okay, new plan on the bedrooms. We still paired up for ro-sham-bo, and your musical beds comment gave me the idea," she informed me with a grin.

“What idea?"

“Well, my original idea was to have you rotate sleeping locations, spending one night with each of us. Musical beds right?"

I blinked twice.