Chapter 12
Tag finished cleaning out the last stall in the stable, and he moved Dusty back into it, saying, “There you go, bud. You’re all set for Christmas now.” He smiled at Gerty’s old horse, and then he turned to go back down the row.
They kept Rooster on the other end, because he was nosy. He liked to know who was coming in and out of his stable—for it was his. In fact, Rooster lifted his head over the gate and whiffed at Tag.
“Yeah, Merry Christmas to you too, Roost.” He grinned at the big horse and stopped in front of him. “Now don’t you be tellin’ her I told you, but Gerty’s got something special for you.” He looked down the line of horses. “All y’all. So no funny business today. The rest of the Hammonds are coming in today.”
In fact, Mike should be returning to the farm in the next half-hour with his brother, his wife, and their daughter. They’d been entertaining Wes and Bree for a few days now, and Tag could admit he’d enjoyed the evening meals with Opal’s parents.
“Big party tonight,” he said. “Christmas in the morning. I’ll bring out your stockings, okay?”
Rooster pressed the long bridge of his nose to Tag’s shoulder, but he pushed right back. They played this game every now and then, but Tag always won. Rooster always acquiesced, as he should.
“When spring comes, you’re going to be awed by the greenness of this place,” Tag promised him. “It’s a little muddy in the beginning, but you’ve never seen a summer like one in the Rocky Mountains.” He grinned at the horse and ran his hand down Rooster’s neck. “Merry Christmas Eve, my friend. I’ll see you tonight.”
With that, he left the horses to their afternoon. Gerty wasn’t expecting him or Steele to do anything else for the day, except a quick evening feed. Steele had already gone back to the Harris Farm for the holidays, in fact, so Tag would do the evening feeding alone that night before he went home to his solitary cabin.
He’d helped Opal decorate the farmhouse with not just one Christmas tree, but two. He’d put one up in his cabin too, with a bit of her help, and he had a single stocking hanging from the bar of his island, because he didn’t own a fireplace.
The dinners at the farmhouse had been festive for the past week or so, with garland, window clings of snowmen and cartoon Christmas trees and the Hammond stockings hung from the mantel. Gerty had gotten stockings for all the horses too, but she didn’t want to put them up too early lest the equines got used to having treats hanging in giant socks on a daily basis.
Tag chuckled every time he thought about it.
Instead of going back to the cabin, he entered the farmhouse to the warmth of a good furnace and the scent of brown sugar and raising yeasty dough. Carrie didn’t stand in the kitchen, where he’d found her so often in the past, but Opal came bustling down the hall, fixing the bright red belt encircling her waist.
She wasn’t looking up, and Tag whistled as he took in the green-and-white plaid dress. It had bubbly sleeves along her shoulders that only went down a couple of inches from there. She’d cinched that festive belt around her waist to add some red, and the skirt then flared and fell to her knees.
“Wow, wow-ow-wee,” he said, sauntering a little closer to her.
Opal smiled at him. “Oh, Tag, you’re here.”
“Yes, I am.” He ran his hand along that belt and touched his lips to hers. “You’re nervous.”
“A little,” she admitted.
“Why? Your parents have been here for a bit. It’s literally just Easton and Allison.”
“I know,” she said, and then she blew out her breath. “I don’t know why this gets me keyed up.”
Tag knew why, and it had a lot to do with the binder she’d been using to plan this evening for her family. “Okay, well, do you have two minutes?”
“For what?” Opal eyed him suspiciously. “They’re going to be here any minute, and I’ll not have them walk in while we’re kissing.”
Tag chuckled and shook his head. “Come stand right here.” He moved to her side and kept her facing the way she’d been walking already. “Look around this house and tell me what you see. What you feel.”
“Tag.”
“Two minutes,” he said. “Just look around. See, feel, smell.” He leaned closer, taking a deep breath of the scent of her hair, her skin, her dress. “Close your eyes now. Deep breath, and tell me what you see, feel, and smell.”
Opal took that breath, everything slowing down in the room. “It smells like candied meat.”
“That’ll be the ham and the pulled pork,” he murmured.
“And bread,” she added. “I love the scent of a yeast dough before it bakes.”
“Me too.”
“I think there’s still some lingering chocolate in the air from my morning baking,” she said.
“Brown sugar,” he said. “That’s what I smelled when I came inside.”
Opal took another deep breath. “I see the stockings, and West’s toys, and that pretty Christmas tree with all the horse ornaments.”
“And the horseshoes,” he reminded her. “They glint in those pretty white lights.”
“I see a wreath on the door, and West’s fun clings, and the table all set for dinner.” She turned into his chest. “My brother is going to drop his bags all over the place,” Opal added. “He’ll probably put his backpack on my pretty hollied plates.”
“I’ll guard the table,” Tag told her. “You’ve only done two of the things.”
Opal drew a breath and then exhaled it out like he was nothing but trouble. He smiled, because he liked her fire, her spunk, her stubbornness. “I feel….”
“Like you’ve been working hard for this night, and it’s going to be perfect, no matter what?” Tag supplied. “Even if Easton puts his backpack on your holly berry plates, or West cries when he doesn’t get exactly what he wants when he wants it, or if the bread gets a little too brown.”
“Oh, please,” Opal said as she wrapped her arms around him. “West never cries.”
“That’s because he always gets exactly what he wants,” Tag quipped.
Opal giggled and buried her face in his chest, making him feel strong and desired. “Thank you, Tag.”
“For what?”
“For making me slow down.”
“It’s not going to be perfect, honeybee,” he said. “But it’s going to be completely perfect at the same time.”
“I’m not going to kiss you,” she said. “Because I just caught a flash of movement outside, and that means they’re here.”
“Then you better go say hello,” Tag said.
Opal squealed and headed for the front door in her sexy, shiny black heels. She pulled open the door and flowed right out onto the front porch. “You’re here, you’re here!”
Tag shook his head good-naturedly and made to follow her. Easton and Allison had a little girl named Violet, and he figured he could be useful in bringing in some suitcases. Mike and Gerty and Easton and Allison had gotten out of the truck, and the four of them clustered with Opal at the bottom of the steps. They all laughed and talked over one another, and for a breath, a mere slip, time stopped.
A hole opened up for him in the group. He could be the sixth person there, and when Wes and Bree exited the house and went down the steps, the group expanded for them too. They had room for him in their family, and Tag hadn’t seen it until now.
“Opal’s wrong,” he whispered to himself. She wasn’t an outlier in her family. She didn’t sit on the outside of anything.
She was the glue that held them all together. She bridged the gap from the oldest brother to the youngest, from her parents to her siblings, and she did it with grace, power, and beauty.
Tag felt himself falling in love with her, and with that came the terrifying sense of freefalling into an abyss. Of jumping out of an airplane without a parachute to save him. Of letting go of the past and stepping into an unknown future.
“Tag,” someone called, and he pulled himself back to earth and anchored himself there. He hurried down the steps and to the back of the truck to get suitcases, but Opal intercepted him.
“Here he is,” she said, hooking her arm through his. “Tag, this is my baby brother, Easton, and his wife, Allison. My momma just took Vi inside.”
“So great to meet you,” Tag said kindly. He shook Easton’s hand, noting the khakis the man wore, with the pale yellow collared shirt. He wasn’t cut from any of the same cloth as Tag, but he had a good smile.
Allison was likewise proper, with her flowered maxi dress. She had dirty blonde hair that parted right down the middle, and when he shook her hand too, she had a firm touch.
“Great to meet you,” Easton said. “We’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Is that so?” Tag asked.
“Opal texts about you all the time,” Gerty said. “Spoiler alert.”
“Just about Boots and Rooster and the fact that I converted you to candy canes in your hot chocolate.” She grinned at him. “Why are we standing outside in the cold?” She looked up into the blue, blue sky, which should’ve made them all feel warm.
But when it was this clear in the winter, that only brought sub-zero temperatures to go with the blinding light. Oh, and it meant a storm was rapidly approaching.
Tag did move to get the suitcases then, and he followed everyone into the house—where he found West looking at Violet like she was an alien invader in his house, and Easton had put his backpack on the corner of the table.
“At least he missed the plate,” Tag murmured as he grabbed it and set it beside the door. Then he took the bags over to the kitchen door and set them out of the way. He’d take them with him when he went to his cabin, as Easton’s family would be staying out in the trio of cabins this holiday season. Steele had taken the one next to Tag, which left one more on the end for them.
Tag had helped Opal get it aired out and heated for her brother, and he’d carry the bags out there for them too.
Behind him, West squealed in a less-than-delighted way, and that caused no less than all four Hammond women to lurch toward him as he ripped a toy away from his cousin. Tag wanted to burst out laughing, but he didn’t want Bree, Opal, Gerty, or Allison to see him.
Thankfully, the door opened, and a metal tray started to enter ahead of Carrie. Tag lunged in that direction to help her, as he’d already spotted the beautifully decorated Christmas cookies. Sleds, stockings, snowflakes, and more.
“I got these,” he said, taking the tray from her.
“Oh, Tag,” Carrie said as she released the tray. She wore an earnest expression as her eyes darted around the kitchen and living room. “Kyle needs a hand getting out of the truck. He sprained his ankle this morning, and….”
“I’m on the way,” he said. He slid the cookies onto the counter beside the fridge and then bustled outside to help Kyle. Their generational house didn’t sit as far from the main farmhouse as the trio of cabins did, but they’d driven over tonight.
He met the older gentleman’s eyes through the windshield, and Kyle wore a hint of resignation in his gaze. “Thank you, Tag,” he said as he opened the door. “I thought Carrie was going to come back out, but you’re better.”
“Maybe Opal could look at your ankle,” he said as he shored up the man’s arm with his hand and shoulder. “Lean on me, Kyle. Can you put weight on it?”
“Yes.” Kyle groaned. “A little, but not much.” He slid from the truck, and Tag absorbed all of his weight until he could get his good foot down.
“Okay,” Tag said a bit breathlessly. The wind kicked up and grabbed the brim of his cowboy hat. He let it fly off his head, because he didn’t want to drop Kyle. “Here we go.”
He helped Kyle the short distance to the steps and up into the house. “Let’s get you to the purple couch.” He spied it across the room, with only Mike on it, and both he and Opal seemed to notice Tag at the same time.
“What happened?” Opal asked, which drew everyone’s attention where neither Tag nor Kyle wanted it.
“Nothing,” Kyle said.
“He sprained his ankle this morning,” Carrie said from the kitchen. Tag met Opal’s eye, and they had a pretty significant conversation without him having to say anything. Since his accusation that she’d been flirting with Steele—and since finally kissing her again—Tag felt like he and Opal simply existed on a different plane than they had before.
He knew her better; she knew him.
“Let me look at it, Kyle,” she said smoothly. “I can at least wrap it so it’s stronger.”
“Sit down,” Mike said.
They got him to the couch, where Gerty sat next to him, West on her lap. “Gramps, you have to say something when something happens.”
“I’m okay,” he said, giving her a smile.
“Opal is a doctor,” she said. “She could’ve helped you this morning.”
“Let me have that baby,” Bree said, and she took West from Gerty. Tag didn’t need to hover, and he fell back to get out of the way. He stepped on a toy that squeaked, and he quickly lifted his boot as Violet giggled.
Max came over and nabbed the toy, and Tag scooped up the little girl. She was a pretty thing, with dark eyes and light hair, and he said, “Let’s get you a cookie, should we?” He retreated to the kitchen and picked up one of the smallest cookies—a Santa hat. He broke off the tip of it with the puffy white ball and handed it to Violet.
Then he popped the rest of it into his mouth while Opal tended to Kyle’s ankle. Activity went on around him, with Bree bringing West into the kitchen to get a cookie too. “And we better get these rolls formed and set for their final rise.”
“I’ll take the kids,” Tag said. “We can play on the bouncy couch with Grandpa.” He took West as Bree slid him into his other arm, and Tag headed for the other half of the couch where Kyle now sat with his ankle wrapped.
He settled down, feeling every eye on him as he did. “Wow, wow-ow-wee,” Opal whispered as she stood with the first aid kit.
“You’ve used that way too much this month,” he said to her.
“We have an announcement,” Easton said. “Opal? Can we do announcements right now? I don’t know what your plan is for tonight.”
“It’s—we’re going to do some visiting, dinner, games, and gifts.” She shot a look at Tag. “You can do an announcement now.” She seemed nervous, and Tag wished he could pull her onto his lap and comfort her too.
But Violet and West took up all of his current lap space, and the blow-up couch wasn’t as stable as he’d like. Still, he managed to reach up and touch Opal’s fingers on the hand that wasn’t gripping the first aid kit like a shield.
“Sit down, honeydew.”
She looked at him, then let herself fall back a step to perch on the arm of the couch. It moved a bit with her added weight, but didn’t shift too violently as to buck them all off it.
Easton glowed with the light of the full moon. “Well, Allison and I are pleased to announce that we’re going to have another baby next year.” He beamed at his wife, and Tag could not imagine two people more opposite than himself.
Opal could be quite refined too, a side of her Tag only saw when they went out to dinner. Otherwise, she seemed far more down-to-earth than Easton or Allison.
“That’s wonderful news,” Bree said, rushing into the living room to congratulate her son and daughter-in-law.
“Super great,” Mike said, laughing. He embraced his brother, and Wes engulfed them both with his impressive reach.
“Just great,” Opal said almost under her breath. Then Tag took the first aid kit from her; their eyes met; he nodded at Allison as she stepped away from Gerty’s light hug.
Opal propelled herself off the end of the couch and over to her sister-in-law, her voice absolutely gushing with rainbows and kittens as she said, “That’s so wonderful, Alli. I’d love to come stay with you when you have the baby.”
“Oh, I’d love that,” Allison said. “We’re due in April.”
Tag marveled that Opal could stuff her jealousy away so quickly, and he suspected it was because she wasn’t really jealous. He felt like that about the twins. He wasn’t jealous of their friendship or the life they had.
He simply felt left out.
And that pinched inside a person’s heart and soul in a way that words couldn’t describe. So when Opal finished talking to Allison, she came back to the purple couch and picked up Violet. “Hey, you sweet thing.” She pressed a kiss to the little girl’s forehead and sat down between Kyle and Tag.
He didn’t have to say anything, and Opal didn’t need to explain. He knew exactly how she felt, and he reached over and took her hand in his. A quick squeeze, an acknowledging smile, and Tag felt more connected to her than he’d ever felt to anyone else.
“Merry Christmas Eve, honey-love,” he murmured, and Opal pressed into his kiss against her temple.
“Merry Christmas Eve, Taggart,” she whispered back, and oh, how he loved his full name in her throaty whisper.