Chapter 1
Joci laid a damp towel over the glass bowl filled with her fresh bread dough.
The aroma of yeast and fresh bread rising gave her the shivers.
Her mother had always made fresh bread during the holidays when she and Jackie were growing up.
After her parents passed, Joci and Jackie continued the tradition.
At first, because money was tight. But afterwards, because it was comforting.
It made her feel connected to her mom in ways nothing else did.
As a single mom, trying to raise a rambunctious son on her own and start her own business, she needed those connections more than ever.
This year, though, she was so damned excited to continue a tradition and share it with her new family, as well as Gunnar, Jackie, and David.
She turned the kitchen faucet on with her elbow and washed the sticky dough from her fingers.
Reaching forward, she picked up her wedding and engagement rings sitting on the windowsill and slipped them on her finger.
Glancing at the sparkle, she had to swallow the knot that formed in her throat every time she stared at her beautiful rings.
It sent her back to their wedding day, which was only a couple of months ago, when Jeremiah had placed it on her finger.
"I love seeing you stare at your rings, Mrs. Sheppard."
She turned to see her handsome husband sauntering toward her. "I love looking at them."
Jeremiah stopped in front of her, pulled her close, and wrapped his strong, sturdy arms around her body. She never felt more protected, more loved, or more grateful than when she was in his arms.
She tilted her head back and smiled at him. "I need a favor."
He grinned, then bent and kissed her forehead. "Okay, shoot."
"The chair nearest the patio doors is wobbly. Would you be able to fix it this week? I don't want anyone getting hurt on Thanksgiving." She chuckled. "Or any time!"
Jeremiah bent down and placed a soft kiss on her growing belly. "Love you, little one," he softly crooned.
Another lump in her throat formed. She was so emotional these days.
He stood and looked deeply into her eyes. "I love you too."
Her smile grew. "I love you too."
Jeremiah turned toward the chairs but stopped at the counter when he spotted her orange binder. "What's this binder for?"
She grinned. "It's my Thanksgiving binder."
His brows rose. "A Thanksgiving binder? What on earth is in here?"
He began opening the binder, and she moved closer to share it with him.
"I put everything in there. A list of things I'll need for the season.
I have recipes behind this tab." She flipped to the recipes.
"I can make my grocery list easily, as I have a basic one ready to go.
" Flipping to the grocery list tab, she grinned.
"That's how I stay organized." She tapped her grocery list sitting on the counter next to her bowl of rising bread dough.
His brows lifted further. "The boys and I don't go through so much work; we just sit at the table and eat."
"I'll bet your mom would crack you upside the head if she heard that. She probably works all week to prepare for Thanksgiving."
Jeremiah nodded. "She does." He turned the pages of her binder. "Pumpkin pie. Whipped cream." He cocked his head. "You make homemade whipped cream?"
"Of course."
Rubbing his belly, which was still nicely toned, unlike hers was becoming, he said, "I'll get big."
Joci laughed. "I'll help you work it off."
He pulled her into a hug. "Oh, now I like hearing that."
She smiled sweetly as she pulled back. "Let's start now. The chair needs to be fixed, and I need the tote in the basement that's marked Thanksgiving."
His sexy lips turned down. "Oh, that's what you meant."
She laughed as she rubbed his back. "Later on, I'll show you something in the bedroom that I know you'll love."
"That's what I'm talking about."
He patted her butt and moved toward the basement door. His whistling filled the air.
Stepping to the grocery list on the counter, Joci reached for it and began reading her list. Feeling a fluttering in her belly, she froze and gently lay her hand on her tummy.
She felt it again, and tears sprang to her eyes.
Jeremiah appeared around the corner, dropped the tote, and rushed to her side. "Are you alright?"
Joci reached for his hand and laid it against her tummy, where she felt their baby move. It moved again, but felt more like bubbles. His eyes rounded. "What's that?"
"The baby's moving."
He sucked his breath in and froze, his hand still pressed gently against her belly. She watched him swallow, and his eyes glistened. "That's amazing," he breathed.
"I know."
They stood still together waiting for their baby to move again, but it seemed it had settled in and was content.
His lips found hers. "Thank you." He said between kisses. "I've never felt a baby move like that."
"When Barbara was pregnant, she didn't let you feel the boys move?"
"No."
He straightened. She watched the emotions flash across his handsome face, and she felt sad for him. But then again, when she was pregnant with Gunnar, she never let Keith touch her either. Not that he cared or asked. How sad for all of them.
Her eyes found the sonogram photo that Jeremiah had insisted on hanging on the refrigerator, so he could see it every day.
That photo looked like a blob, but she'd be having a new one soon.
Since she was both more mature than many moms at forty-four and had recently had the motorcycle accident, doctors were watching her closely.
Jeremiah stopped in front of the sonogram for a moment, then moved to pick up the Thanksgiving tote he'd dropped when he'd first come upstairs and carried it to the living room.
Then he went in search of the wobbly chair.
She took a cleansing breath to get rid of the sadness that had crept in while thinking about the past, then picked up her grocery list once more.
The back door opened, and she turned to see her handsome son, Gunnar, waltz through the door. "Hey, what's that car across the street doing?"
Joci's brows knitted slightly. Jeremiah strode into the living room and stood at the large picture window. Joci and Gunnar followed him. The car sped off almost instantly.
Jeremiah turned to them. "Do you have any idea how long that car was here?"
She shook her head. Gunnar shrugged. "I parked in the driveway and listened to the last five minutes of a podcast I was listening to. It was there the entire time. No one got out or in."
He huffed out a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. Let's not borrow trouble."
Gunnar nodded. "Okay. What's happening here today?" He looked at the bread rising in the bowl and gave her a thumbs-up.
Jeremiah turned the wobbly chair upside down and set the seat on the table. "We felt the baby move today," he replied.
Gunnar's smile was infectious. "You did? That's awesome." He turned to her. "Can I feel?"
"If she starts moving again, I'll let you know. Right now, she's resting."
"Could be a he."
"Could be a she too," Joci chuckled.
"Fair."
Joci moved to the living room and opened her tote.
She was diligent about wrapping her decorations up and packing them carefully.
Quite a few of them had been her parents, and she couldn't bear to let anything happen to them.
She reached in and pulled out a rectangular package.
Unwrapping the packing paper carefully, she smiled when she saw the chalkboard with white scrolling on the perimeter.
She'd always loved this chalkboard, and every year she wrote one word on it, which was her word for the season.
She reached into the tote and found the little container of chalk and opened it. In white chalk, she wrote her word for the season - Blessed.
Gunner peered from his seat at the table where he was holding the chair still for Jeremiah, then his eyes found hers.
He nodded. Her eyes glistened, and she took a deep breath.
She was blessed. So many bad things could have happened that could have drastically changed this year, but she was blessed to have been spared the worst of it, despite the things that did happen.