An Unexpected Holiday Gift

“You’ll at least attend church, right?” Her aunt’s voice was stern.

“Just like always.”

“Okay, I’ll drop it...for now. Good night, beautiful one.”

“Back at you, Auntie.”

* * *

“What? We just got through dealing with the EPA,” Keylan proclaimed.

“I realize that, son,” Victoria replied, her irritation coming through loud and clear. “However, OSHA will soon be sending someone to investigate claims of worksite violations, and the IRS is moving up our annual audit.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Travis snarled.

“Be that as it may, we need to be prepared for another onset of bad press heading our way—and we don’t need any more,” she declared, leveling her attention on her son.

“What?” Keylan replied.

“You know what, Mr. Headline Grabber.” Victoria reached for her wineglass and took a sip.

“It’s not Keylan’s fault that the press likes to pick on him.” Elizabeth defended him.

Victoria looked at her sister and scrunched up her face.

“Thank you, Aunt Elizabeth.” Keylan smiled and winked at her while Travis rolled his eyes at the exchange.

“Oh, please, sis, stop coddling the boy—excuse me, the man.” Victoria turned her attention back to her son. “Don’t give the press anything else to write about. Between your suspension and now these new claims, we have enough to deal with.”

“What?” Elizabeth frowned and placed both hands over her heart. “Keylan, you were suspended?”

“Yes. Me and this other player were both playing pretty aggressively all night when we collided in the air when we were both going for the rebound. I landed pretty hard on top of him.”

“Well, accidents happen.” Elizabeth frowned.

“I know, Aunt Elizabeth, but according to the league, they thought I purposely came down hard on him.”

“It was a BS charge, too,” Travis offered.

“Thanks, cousin.”

“Victoria...” Elizabeth glared at her sister.

Keylan knew his aunt would expect his mother to fix his situation. She thought her sister could do anything and, usually, she could. However, not even the great Victoria Kingsley could make this go away.

“Don’t ‘Victoria’ me—talk to your favorite nephew.”

Keylan smiled, because no matter how much she loved all her nephews or how hard she tried to deny it, he knew his aunt had taken a special liking to him. “Don’t worry about it, Aunt Elizabeth. It’s only three games after I’m released to play again and eighty hours of community service. Everything will be fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“Now, back to the subject at hand. I need everyone on their best behavior,” Victoria stated.

“That includes you, too, son.” Elizabeth smirked.

“Mom, you know I stay as far away from the media as I can get.”

“Yes, you do, but that won’t stop them from coming for you, so just be alert and stay careful.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Travis said.

“Keylan, darling, I’m going to be helping out at the office a little more, so I need for you to pick up the slack at the foundation. You’re going to be there anyway. Might as well make yourself useful.” Victoria’s eyes lased in on her sister.

“Well, I—”

“You what, son?” Her eyes bored into him. “Elizabeth’s right. You will be spending a great deal of time at our foundation, and I’m sure you have a few ideas about how we can expand the services we provide. Aren’t you the one always telling us we should do this and that to make the foundation better? Well, now’s your chance. Be the change you seek. Anyway, you’ll have Mia there to help you.”

“I’m sure she’ll be very helpful,” he declared sarcastically, trying to ignore the instant and relentless attraction he was feeling toward her.

Chapter 6 (#uf3978852-afe2-546c-b4e5-dc8ad14ec10a)

Mia pulled her gray Range Rover Sport, a splurge she’d allowed herself to take with her last holiday bonus, into her assigned parking spot of the Kingsley Foundation building. Parked in the executive space was a black Porsche; Mia knew who it had to belong to and her heart skipped several beats.

“Oh, no...”

“What’s wrong, Mommy?” Colby asked, frowning.

“Nothing, honey. Get your backpack. You don’t want to be late.”

“I’m not late. I’m going to see Keylan.”

I know. Mia exited the car and helped Colby out. She ran her hand through his curly hair to clear his eyes. “You need a haircut.”

“No, Mommy.”

“Yes, son. Now tuck in your shirt.”

Colby tucked his white foundation shirt into his dark khaki shorts, put on his backpack and, with his head down, made his way up the walkway toward the door. “Slow down, Colby, and watch where you’re going.”

Ignoring his mother, Colby opened the front door and took off down the hall, heading to his class. Mia walked through the door in time to see Colby run directly into Keylan, who caught him before he hit the ground. “Whoa, slow down, little man, and watch where you’re going. Men, big and small, always walk with their heads held high. It commands respect and it shows confidence,” Keylan educated his young new friend.

“Colby, baby,” Mia called out, running to her son’s side. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Mommy.” His voice was stern and his chin rose. Mia knew how much he hated being treated like a baby.

Mia looked up at Keylan and offered him a half smile. “Sorry about that. He’s a little excited to get here today. You have to watch where you’re going, Colby. We talked about this,” she scolded.

“What’s confidence, Mommy?” Mia cut her eyes to Keylan before dropping them back to her son.

“It means you believe in yourself, in what you can do,” she explained.