But the doors opened once more, giving Amy quite a start since she was just reaching for The Present when it happened, and Jeremy said as he entered the room, “Caught in the act, eh? Amy, for shame.”

Amy, noticeably embarrassed despite the fact that Jeremy wasn’t just her cousin, but one of her closest friends, said stiffly, “And what, pray tell, are you doing down here at this hour?”

He winked at her and said dryly, “Same thing you are, I would imagine.”

She chuckled then. “Scamp. Close the door while you’re at it.”

He started to, but stepped out of the way instead as Reggie sauntered in, barefoot and still in the process of tying her bed robe. When everyone else there just stared at her, she huffed indignantly, “I did not come down here to open The Present—well, maybe I did, but I would have chickened out before actually doing so.”

“What a whopper, Reggie,” Derek said as he came in right behind her. “Nice try, though. Mind if I borrow that lame excuse? Better than having none a’tall.”

And Kelsey, close on his heels, said, “You amaze me, Derek. You said we’d be lucky if we were the first to open it, and goodness, you couldn’t have been more right.”

“Not a’tall, m’dear.” He grinned at his wife. “Just know my cousins very well.”

He did indeed, because next to arrive were Amy’s brothers, Travis and Marshall, shoving their way through the doorway, or trying to, at the same time. So it took a moment for them to realize they weren’t alone.

But one look at the crowd already present had Travis grumbling to his older brother, “Told you this wasn’t a good idea.”

“On the contrary, looks like we ain’t the only ones who had it,” Marshall replied cheerfully.

“Hell’s bells, does the whole family think alike?” Jeremy asked with a chuckle.

“Hardly,” Amy answered. “You don’t see Uncle Jason and my father here, do you? Nor Uncle James and Tony. Not that those latter two don’t think alike, they just don’t think like the rest of us.”

But there was a cough out in the hall that had Amy rolling her eyes, then grinning when she heard Anthony say, “Now, why do I get the feeling the younguns think we’re too old to be up this time of night?”

“Harping about our ages again, dear boy?” James shot back. “You might be getting senile, but I’ll have you know I’m in my prime.”

“Deuced hard for me to get senile before you, old man, since you’re the elder,” Anthony pointed out with a good deal of pleasure.

“By one bloody year,” James was heard to reply before they walked into the parlor.

Unlike their nieces and nephews, who were all in their bedclothes, James and Anthony were both still fully clothed, since neither had gone to bed yet. They had in fact been commiserating over a bottle of brandy in Jason’s study, since they’d both found their bedroom doors locked to them, and had heard one too many creaks on the stairs not to investigate.