Chapter 20
How was it possibly Christmas Eve?
As tradition demanded, supper dishes had been cleared away and now they were setting up the tree and decorating the living room. Caleb stood awkwardly, arms thrust forward, grasping the prickly branches of the massive spruce to hold it vertical while Sasha tightened the screws in the tree stand.
No, the real question was, why were they still doing this?
Eventually, the new little ones might appreciate the magic of the house putting on a holiday dressing overnight, but for now it was only Tyler in the main house. He was old enough to know what was going on.
Heck, ten minutes before his bedtime, he’d carried in a pile of presents he’d made and put them on the kitchen table.
“I’ll leave these here so Santa can put them under the tree.” Then he’d given Caleb a kiss goodnight and trotted off to his bedroom.
Tamara trailed after him to tuck him in, offering Caleb an easy shoulder shrug.
The world had changed more than a little over the past year. Caleb was still trying to do more than accept that fact.
“I am all sewed out, but I did it.” Emma slumped into the room and dropped wrapped presents onto the coffee table before collapsing onto the couch. “Eight matching sets of pyjamas for the cousins.”
Sasha offered a hoot. “Woohoo. Good job. We’ll have to get them to put them on right away so we can take pictures all together.”
“That’s going to be the cutest family picture ever,” Emma agreed. She pulled herself to vertical. “What needs decorating? I’m ready to roll again.”
Caleb snorted. “Glad to see that a five second rest is all you need to reboot your batteries.”
“It’s Christmas Eve,” Emma pointed out. “Holiday magic is everywhere.”
Decorations went up. Tamara came back from tucking in Tyler and got busy in the kitchen for a minute. The scent of apples and chocolate rose on the air even as she joined the rest of them in the living room.
Sasha paused, a decoration in the palm of her hand. “It’s funny. I know this decoration, but the memory of it seems blurry. Like I remember it, but it looked different.”
Caleb glanced over, and his heart stuttered.
Sasha held one of the ornaments Tamara had made the first Christmas she’d been in their lives. A shiny thing with a picture of baby Sasha, that was in fact night and day different than the original that had held more pain than pleasure.
“Can I see?” Tamara nodded when Sasha raised it high enough. “Ah, yes. I remember that. I made that the year I was your nanny. There’s one for you, too, Emma.”
Emma poked her head up from the box of ornaments she was digging through. “You made them? Why?”
“The originals were tarnished. But I wanted you to still have baby ornaments. So they’re not the same, but in a way, they’re better.”
“Sick.” Emma pawed through the box until she found hers. “Come on, Sasha. Let’s put ours next to Tyler’s. He’ll get a kick out of that.”
The girls hung ornaments, chatting easily.
Caleb looked his wife in the eyes. “I love you,” he said softly.
She grinned back. “I know.”
He snorted. “Let me help you in the kitchen.”
“Sure.” She led him to the counter, gasping as he caught her around the waist and tugged her tight to him.
He kissed her, holding tightly as she smiled against his lips. Behind them the girls laughed but kept on decorating.
When he finally pulled back, her cheeks were rosy. “Well, now.”
“I love you,” he repeated, contentment a blaze in his gut.
This time, she pressed a palm to his cheek. “I know, and…” she quickly added, “I love you, too.”
By the end of the evening, when the girls and he and Tamara headed off to bed in different directions, the house looked more than suitably festive.
Caleb woke as usual at four o’clock. Warmth cradled him in a comfortable cocoon, spooned against Tamara.
This? Would never get old.
He lay there for a few more minutes, breathing in time with her, content in their connection, even in rest.
Finally he had to get moving, though. He nuzzled a kiss to her neck then slipped from bed before he truly woke her. The day would be long enough, with their own breakfast celebration and then the rest of the Stone family joining them for dinner.
Tomorrow, all of Tamara’s family would gather at Karen’s this year.
Hmm. Maybe the Stone family gathering needed to start rotating host houses as well. Just because it had always been dinner at the main house didn’t mean it had to keep on that way.
There wasn’t a lot to do in the barns, and Caleb headed back to the house well before six. Light shone from the kitchen windows, stretching over the snow to create a welcoming path.
The light by the back door softly illuminated the porch swing. Someone wrapped up in a blanket sat curled up on the seat, rocking gently.
Caleb redirected and ended up beside Sasha. “You’re up early.”
She shrugged. “I’ve gotten into the habit of being up early. Sleeping until six is hard.”
“Want some company?”
“Sure.” She wiggled her feet out of the way. “Coffee is on if you want a cup. I thought you might be back before too long.”
“Then I’ll nab one and join you.”
By the time he was back with a steaming cup in his hand, Sasha had made room for him and pulled in a chair so he could prop up his feet.
He sighed contentedly as he stretched out against the seat cushions. “This is a treat.” He glanced at her. “You ready for the next adventure?”
“Adam and I set up the first quarter schedule.” Sasha sipped her tea, staring out toward the barns with a small smile curving her lips. “Uncle Frank took a quick look then told us he approved and to have fun with all our wild ideas while he’s here training.”
She looked so much like Tamara in that instant. Not her looks, of course, but in the tilt of her head and a dozen other small mannerisms. In the way she was confident in her abilities yet trying to be accommodating.
Caleb wanted to take a picture so he could show his wife. Show her the magic that she’d brought into their lives when she’d come to rescue a lonely single dad so many years ago.
“It’ll be good to have Frank here more often,” Caleb shared honestly. “I’ve always liked the man. Didn’t always like what he was doing, but his failures were more about pride or misunderstanding than ill intent.”
Sasha looked at him with surprise.
Yeah, he’d never thought this was a conversation he’d have with his daughter, either, but here they were.
If things had gone differently, he’d have shared this with Dustin. So it made sense to offer the same advice and observations to Sasha.
“If you’re going to work with a man, you need to know his heart. Someone who acts foolishly can hurt you. Someone who acts out of maliciousness can break you.”
“Uncle Frank is a good man.” Sasha said the words slowly, as if weighing what conversations under this new paradigm should include. “He’s old school at times, but then…” she paused to smile at him. “Sometimes so are you.”
“Sometimes the old way is best.”
“If it ain’t broken…” Sasha quipped.
They sat in silence for a moment, the quiet December morning stealing in to surround them with peace.
Finally, she nodded. “I think at the core of it, Uncle Frank is lonely. But I’m not going to Crooked Creek to fix anything, and certainly not to fix Uncle Frank.
” She met Caleb’s gaze straight on. “I do think growing the connections between the ranches can make all of us stronger. We’ll see new ways to help each other.
We’ll see gaps in our training. We’re going to step up our game across the board, and that’s got to be a good thing.
No matter how hard the changes might be. ”
Caleb tried to listen the way he would have to Ashton or Tucker. To push aside the fact she was young. His daughter. Part of his heart.
He dipped his chin slowly. “It’s a very good thing,” he agreed.
She smiled then put aside her cup. She curled up against him, and as he wrapped his arm around her and held her, he had to agree.
It would be hard, but it would also be good. Only one thing left to be done.
The morning chaos of breakfast and presents eased into the pre-chaos of the afternoon Stone family gathering.
Tamara, Emma, and Sasha were joined by the other ladies.
A second round of presents were piled up under the tree before the guys grabbed all the kids older than a year and took them outside to burn off energy.
It took less than five seconds for Dustin to hit Caleb smack in the face with a snowball. “Oops. Sorry, that one misfired,” Dustin claimed.
Caleb raised a brow. “Itchy snowball trigger finger?” he asked.
Dustin grinned. Caleb pounced.
A minute later they were scuffling, Caleb rubbing his youngest brother’s face in the snow.
“Uncle Dustin. Uncle Caleb.” Small bodies threw themselves on top of him.
Demi somehow landed on Caleb’s head, smashing his face into the snowbank.
Moving carefully so as not to squish their miniature attackers, Caleb and Dustin rolled apart, pulling kids off like burrs.
Walker stood nearby. “Careful, Demi,” he warned far too late.
“You’re a terrible supervisor,” Caleb complained.
“Not supervising, I’m here to deliver a message,” Walker offered with a grin. “Carter says you have five minutes to prepare before the horde attacks.”
Caleb and Dustin glanced at each other, going from adversaries to teammates in the blink of an eye. “Damn. How fast can you build a fort wall?” Caleb asked his brother.
A convenient snowdrift, a bunch of quick digging, and a stockpile of snowballs allowed them to last against the older children until the dinner bell rang out. The clear sweet tone carried over the entire ranch with the call to come home.
Dinner. Conversation. The house full of the scent of delicious food and hot drinks and all the comforts of the holiday.
Full of family, now settling willy-nilly into the living room. Ivy, in her place of quiet in the corner, slightly apart but still connected. The little ones opening presents—paper flying like colourful snowflakes.
Caleb watched everything as if he were both participant and recorder. Trying to soak in and retain every moment of the night.
All the cousins in matching red or blue pyjamas—including Sasha and Emma.
“I can’t believe you made us sets as well,” Sasha said as she settled on the floor in her bright red flannel pants and sleep shirt. She took David in her arms for the family picture. “You sewed ten sets of clothes? You’re unbelievable.”
“Jinx helped,” Emma confessed. She took Kayla, and soon they were surrounded by the rest of the children, including a very patient Carter, who, at twelve, was a little old to enjoy being dressed like his baby cousins.
Pictures were taken, and everyone returned to presents. To talking and eating and listening to Ashton play the fiddle until only one present was left under the tree.
Caleb stood and reached for it. “I’ll be the elf for this one,” he told Carter.
Carter handed over the plain brown wrapper. “It’s not very Christmasy.”
“Nope. It’s something perfect for all year round,” Caleb assured his nephew. He glanced around the room. “Sasha? There’s one more for you.”
She looked up, curiosity on her face. “Really?” She stood and joined him. “I got something from every family already.”
Caleb cleared his throat, and the room mostly hushed. “This is from Silver Stone herself.”
He held out the package and Sasha took it solemnly.
When she unwrapped it and spotted the picture, she smiled at first. Then she swallowed hard and, meeting his gaze, nodded. “It’s the perfect present. Thank you.”
He nodded back.
Sasha took a big breath then turned to the room. The faces of all the family shone back, waiting to find out what was going on. She held up the frame so they could see.
It was the family portrait they’d taken this past September. One with happy faces and lighthearted humour and brand-new babies who were no more than bundles.
“I’m taking you all with me,” Sasha informed them. “Doesn’t matter where we’re living, we’re always going to be a family.”
A cheer went up and some laughter. Dustin rose and gave Sasha a hug, then Kelli, and eventually the entire room was moving in circles to share hugs and thank-yous.
Caleb leaned on the kitchen island and watch his world revolve.
Tamara slipped in beside him and wordlessly tucked an arm around his waist, leaning into his side.
They held each other. Connected. Strong. In spite of changes, they were all on solid ground.
He kissed Tamara’s temple. “Merry Christmas,” he told her softly.
“The present for Sasha was perfect.” She twisted to meet his gaze. “I love you.”
He couldn’t resist. “I know.”
Her smile bloomed an instant before she laughed.
And that was perfect too.
Saying I hope you enjoyed the story is far too small. I hope you feel as if you sat down with friends and soaked in the love.
Usually this is where I’d tell you what’s coming next, but we have come to a place I never imagined. We’ve reached THE END. There’s nothing more planned for Heart Falls.
I know. That feels shocking to say, but it’s true.
I hope you go back and revisit old friends or fill in the gaps for any books you might have missed. Maybe even go all the way back to Rocky Mountain House and the Six Pack Ranch where it all began.
I do plan to write more, but in the nooks and crankies of my next adventure. Make sure you’re on my mailing list to hear what happens next. The mailing list really is the best way to get current information.