Jingle Bell Rock Tonight Read online

  Jingle Bell Rock Tonight

  Steele Ridge Christmas Caper #7

  Tracey Devlyn

  Jingle Bell Rock Tonight

  Steele Ridge Christmas Caper #7

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  Evie organizes a fun, family weekend at a spooky B and B, complete with a Friday night escape room activity. Spirits are high until the clues hit too close to home and the hunters begin to feel like the hunted. On the cusp of unmasking the game masters, Evie sets something in motion that will change her and Deke’s lives forever.

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  Published by Steele Ridge Publishing

  Steele Ridge Characters

  The Steeles

  Griffin “Grif” Steele - Steele sibling. Sports agent and Steele Ridge’s city manager. (Going HARD)

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  Carlie Beth Parrish - Blacksmith and love interest of Grif Steele.

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  Reid Steele - Steele sibling. Former Green Beret and head of Steele Ridge Training Academy. (Living FAST)

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  Brynne Whitfield - Owner of La Belle Style boutique and love interest of Reid Steele.

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  Britt Steele - Eldest Steele sibling. Construction worker who has a passion for the environment and head of Steele-Shepherd Wildlife Research Center. (Loving DEEP)

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  Miranda “Randi” Shepherd - Owner of Blues, Brews and Books, aka Triple B, and love interest of Britt Steele.

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  Mikayla “Micki” Steele - Steele sibling and Jonah’s twin. Master hacker who returns home after a decade of self-imposed exile. (Breaking FREE)

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  Gage Barber - Injured Green Beret and Reid Steele’s close friend who comes to Steele Ridge to help run the training center and love interest of Micki Steele.

  Evelyn “Evie” Steele - Youngest Steele sibling. A nurse who travels around Western North Carolina, providing medical care to those in need. (Roaming WILD)

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  Derek “Deke” Conrad - Commander of SONR (Special Operations for Natural Resources) group and love interest of Evie Steele.

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  Jonah Steele - Steele sibling and Micki’s twin. Video game mogul and former owner of the billion-dollar gaming company, Steele Trap. Responsible for saving the town of Steele Ridge, formerly known as Canyon Ridge. (Stripping BARE)

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  Tessa Martin - Former in-house psychologist at Steele Trap and love interest of Jonah Steele.

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  Joan “Miss Joan” Steele - Mother of the six Steele siblings, guiding light of the family, and Eddy Steele’s wife. (Enduring LOVE)

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  Eddy Steele - Father of the six Steele siblings and Joan Steele’s husband.

  The Kingstons

  Margaret “Maggie” Kingston - Eldest Kingston sibling. County Sheriff whose office is based in Steele Ridge. (Craving HEAT)

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  Jayson “Jay” Tucker - Pro football player and love interest of Maggie Kingston.

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  Kristofferson “Cash” Kingston - Kingston sibling. Firefighter and tactical medic. (Tasting FIRE)

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  Emmy McKay - ER doctor and love interest of Cash Kingston.

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  Wynette “Riley” Kingston - Youngest Kingston sibling. Ethnobotanist and family brainiac. (Searing NEED)

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  Coen Monroe - Delta Force operator and love interest of Riley Kingston.

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  Harris “Shep” Kingston - Kingston sibling. Adventure guide who navigates life with Aspberger’s with his trusty canine companion Puck. (Striking EDGE)

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  Jocelyn “Joss” Wynter - Rock star and love interest of Shep Kingston.

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  West “Way” Kingston - Kingston sibling. Gunsmith expert and former recon Marine. (Burning ACHE)

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  Roni Fenwick - Former FBI agent and CIA trainer. Love interest of Way Kingston.

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  Ross Kingston - Father of five Kingston siblings and stay-at-home dad, rock of the family, husband of Sandy Kingston, and CEO of Kingston Farm and Market.

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  Sandy Kingston - Mother of five Kingston siblings, Miss Joan’s younger sister, wife of Ross Kingston, former environmental engineer, and a foodie-in-training (aka purveyor of inedible food).

  Contents

  Steele Ridge Characters

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Not So Silent Night

  Discover More Steele Ridge

  Also by Tracey Devlyn

  About the Author

  1

  The long gravel drive wound its way up and through towering oaks whose spiny, brown leaves refused to lose their grip on life. The gloom of twilight, along with twenty-mile-per-hour wind gusts and snow flurries, cast eerie shadows across the road, forcing Evie Steele to reduce her speed with every switchback.

  At times, the grade was so steep that the road disappeared beneath the hood of her Nissan Rogue.

  Like now.

  Deke Conrad tensed beside her, his hand choking the door grip as if bracing for imminent death.

  “Tell me again why we’re doing this?” he asked.

  “Do you really want to distract me, right now?”

  “Good point.”

  For anyone who grew up in the mountains, switchbacks and steep roads were part of their daily driving lives. She could always tell the transplants from the locals. Locals took switchbacks as if they were on a straightaway and had someplace they needed to be. Transplants—well, she could run the switchbacks faster.

  But as the road disappeared again, she had to admit that this was one of the steepest inclines she’d ever driven and her heart had held its breath more than once in the past ten minutes.

  After they crested the next rise and zigzagged down the other side, the topography slowly leveled out. A clear mountain stream rippled alongside the road and a vista of short grasses broken up by rocky outcroppings and framed by layers of emerald evergreens climbing up the distant ridge opened up before them.

  “This,” she breathed, “is why we’re doing this.” Her brother, Britt, once said that the Southern Appalachian Mountains were one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, or temperate world, or something like that. Basically, a lot of cool plants and animals called these mountains home.

  Exploring a new area was one reason she’d settled on this place. The other was to get her busy family together for a bit of fun before the holidays.

  “I’m driving down the mountain,” Deke announced.

  “I got us here without a single plunge to our deaths.”

  “Which means you have used up all of your luck.”

  “Pfft. Incredible skill got us here alive, not luck.”

  “I’m driving back.”

  “You’re a lousy passenger.”

  “I didn’t scream once.”

  “No, but you’ve left a permanent indent around my door.”

  He nodded at something ahead. “There she is.”

  “Where—?”

  Above the stark canopy of winter branches, a dark blue-gray cupola with white trim appeared. Seconds later, the tangle of nature unraveled to reveal a mansion, of the same color scheme, that looked like it had once been a church in medieval Europe. The bed-and-breakfast’s website referred to the architectural style as Gothic Revival.

  A cartoon image of bats flapping around the peak of the Addams Family house flashed through Evie’s mind. The B&B wasn’t too far off the mark. Total
badass.

  “It’s huge.” His breath fogged the windshield as he bent to get a closer look.

  “Eight bedrooms, seven bathrooms, six thousand square feet. All ours for the next three days.”

  “Ours and a boatload of Steeles.”

  “Yeah, ours.”

  She glanced at his profile and her heart sank. Having come from a much smaller, not super close-knit family, Deke sometimes struggled with the chaos that occurred when the Steeles gathered together.

  Even now, his easygoing, fun-loving nature was shifting. By the time he greeted the first family member, a layer of careful reserve would coat his every word, gesture, and expression. He would become a silent, watchful stranger, rather than the man she fell in love with, the one who would chat up a fly if left too long alone.

  This new Deke confused her. He’d been around her family for years, being her brother Britt’s best friend. He’d slept at their house, ate at their table, crapped in their toilet.

  But once they started dating, Proper Deke materialized. She didn’t care much for him and hadn’t found the Hermione spell to make him disappear.

  Two sets of five parking spaces lined up on opposite sides of the mansion’s main entrance. A brilliant design detail that left the impressive front facade open to approaching guests and awed photographers.

  Large ceramic pots, overflowing with evergreen branches, pine cones, white birchbark limbs, and red berries, sat like welcoming sentries on each side of the entrance. A beautiful wreath, with similar decorations and a voluminous silver-and-blue bow, consumed much of the front door. Streamers of twinkling clear lights ran the length of the covered porch.

  It was picture-perfect. A selfie enthusiast’s heaven.

  After claiming a parking spot, she turned off the engine, cutting off the pop music and fan pumping heat into the vehicle’s cabin. Silence settled around them, abrupt and heavy.

  Then the tweet of a bird and the chirp of a hardy insect broke through, righting the world once again. She reached over and covered Deke’s hand, where it rested on his thigh. “Ready?”

  He continued to take in his surroundings as if he was looking for a tripwire. An alertness that had nothing to do with the impending arrival of her crazy family took hold of his features.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I didn’t realize this place would be so isolated.”

  “The remote location is part of the B and B’s charm.”

  “Something feels…off.”

  As a commander of an elite team of special forces, he’d developed an incredible sixth sense. A gift she trusted and one that had saved her life not so long ago.

  But this was ridiculous.

  “Are you sure your Gandalf-power isn’t hypersensitive because you don’t want to be here?”

  “I didn’t say I don’t want to be here.”

  “You haven’t exactly been jumping for joy.”

  “I love your family, Evie, but they’re your family. You can be yourself. I have to be on all of the time for fear of accidentally offending someone.”

  “I offend at least one of them at every get-together.”

  “And they forgive you because you’re family. Me? They will tolerate and then talk about me later.”

  “That’s not true—”

  “It is. Think about the conversation you and your mom had about Brynne the other day.”

  Evie took a breath to argue and then memory struck. “I just didn’t understand why she wouldn’t—”

  “The reason doesn’t matter,” he said, cutting her off. “No one wants to be the topic of family gossip. So I try to keep myself off everyone’s lips.”

  Guilt gnawed at Evie’s insides. For as far back as she could remember, she had always had “after-party” discussions, reliving the evening, getting everyone’s perspective. She never thought of those chats as gossip or as vessels of hurt.

  He reached over and squeezed her thigh. “It’s not unique to your family or to women. Guys do it, too.” His attention returned to the ornate mansion. “But my feelings about this weekend have nothing to do with my instincts about this place.”

  Still smarting from the realization that she could’ve hurt someone with her idle chatter, she said, “Please don’t make this into one of your missions. I want us all to have fun and be able to spend time together, free of distractions.”

  A muscle flickered in his jaw.

  “At least keep your grim observations out of Mama’s hearing.” She softened her voice. “Please, Deke. I don’t want to upset her. She’s had enough excitement over the past few years.”

  His chest rose on a deep inhalation, then he propped his elbow on the center console and leaned toward her. With the pad of his index finger, he tipped up her chin. His sexy lopsided smile pushing back his uncompromising mood. “Your wish is my command, m’lady Squirt.”

  “I love it when you go all medieval.”

  His nose nuzzled hers in a playful dip and slide movement that let her know that their difficult exchange was behind them. It was one of the things she loved best about him. He never stayed mad at her, no matter how hard they quarreled.

  “And I love it when you—” he whispered in her ear.

  She laughed, swatting at his wandering hands. “Later.”

  The laughter on his face died when his ice-blue eyes landed on something over her shoulder. Evie’s breath caught in the back of her throat until she turned to find her mother standing on the other side of the driver’s door, her hand raised to knock on the windshield.

  Deke pulled away, and the temperature inside the vehicle chilled a good ten degrees.

  Sighing, she forced on her best mischievous grin and opened the door. “Hi, Mama.”

  “Sorry, dear.” Her mother glanced at Deke as he exited the passenger side. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  “Don’t be silly. We were just goofing around.”

  “Hello, Miss Joan.” Walking around the vehicle, Deke gave her a warm hug and kissed her cheek.

  “I’m glad you could join us. We missed you at the potluck we held for the town’s servicemembers.”

  “I would rather have been there, but work—”

  She patted his forearm. “No need to explain. All you young people are so busy. Wears me out trying to keep up with y’all.” Joan glanced over at her husband while repositioning the strap of her Vera Wang bag on her shoulder. “Would you mind helping Eddy with our luggage, Deke? The stubborn man’s been having lower back issues, but he’s bound and determined to heft those bags all the way to our room just to prove he has the body of a twenty-nine- year-old.”

  “I’m on it.”

  Evie jumped out and hugged her mom. “It’s good to see you, Mama.”

  “You too, sweetheart.” Her gaze followed Deke as he made his way over to her husband. “Is he going to be okay?”

  “Who? Daddy? Or Deke?”

  “Your man. My man will outlive us all.”

  “Don’t worry about Deke. He’s still adjusting to his new role in the family.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He’s more than Britt’s best friend now.”

  Mom smiled. “Wasn’t he always?”

  Heat suffused the tips of her ears. “Were our feelings that obvious?”

  For nearly a decade, she and Deke had suppressed their attraction for each other. It wasn’t until they were cooped up together in an RV for two weeks that they allowed their feelings to rise to the surface—and explode.

  “I’m your mother,” she said, as if the title gave her omniscience. “Come on, let’s take a peek inside.”

  Opening the rear liftgate, Evie pulled out their carry-on bags. As she hit the button to close the back of her vehicle, Grif and Carlie Beth Steele’s hot minivan zoomed into a parking stall next to them.

  Carlie Beth jumped out first. “Morning y’all.”

  Another round of hugs and kisses were exchanged.

  “No girls?” Mom asked.

 
; Carlie Beth shook her head. “Sandy and Ross heard about our get-together this weekend and offered to watch our girls and the Robbins kids for Britt and Randi. They adore hanging out at the Kingston Family Farm and were especially excited to help with preparations for the Bigfoot festival.”

  “I can’t wait.” A small mischievous smile twinkled in Joan’s eyes. “It’s going to be fun.”

  “Holidays and Bigfoot. It’s an interesting combination, but if anyone can pull it off, it’s the Kingston clan.”

  Joan noticed the hard lines around Grif’s eyes and mouth. “What’s the matter, son?”

  “Aubrey’s been hanging out with a boy.”

  “That happens,” Evie said, grinning.

  “He’s a football player.”

  “Even better.”

  “He’s two years older.”

  “Way better.”