Chapter 23
JILLIAN
Jillian drifted through the week after the formal, feeling like she was still on the dance floor.
Everything with Tripp had clicked into place, as if she finally had the right piece of the puzzle and now she could see the whole beautiful picture.
She helped him with the house after school, with the girls pitching in or just keeping them company. And she found herself thinking again and again how much he felt like part of the family.
Tripp ate dinner with them almost every night, making her grandfather laugh with his funny farm stories, and eating more than Jillian ever thought a human man could.
And he texted with Jillian before bed each night, like always, but their talks were more intimate now. Jillian shared everything with Tripp, from her plans for the girls’ Christmas to her worries over her grandparents, and even her dreams of the future.
And Tripp did the same. They talked about his family and about the house on the farm that was his, just waiting for him to move into it one day.
And he talked to her about his dreams for the farm—plans for updates to the barns and creative ideas on equipment modernization that honestly surprised her.
Tripp had a light heart and a wonderful sense of humor, but when he was serious about something, he really was all in.
She had no doubt he would make all his best ideas a reality.
The girls had their holiday activity day at school, and for the very first time, she was actually able to attend and volunteer. The high school principal brought in a substitute nurse, and Jillian put on a pretty Christmas sweater and headed down to the elementary school for the day.
It was so much fun to see the children’s art projects and serve them homemade treats.
Tripp stopped in just as the winter concert began.
It was so special to have him by her side as they listened to the girls and the classmates enthusiastically belting out “Jingle Bells” and “Let It Snow” to an audience of proud parents.
On Christmas Eve, he came by with eggnog and candy for the girls. Mari and Posey were excited to show him their Christmas Eve books. And Tripp surprised Jillian by giving her a gorgeous cashmere scarf, as well as matching pink Christmas sweaters for her and the girls.
“They’re beautiful,” she told him as they all hugged their soft sweaters close.
“The girl at the shop said you would run from me again when I gave them to you,” Tripp said darkly, as soon as the girls were distracted with their books again.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Jillian told him, trying not to smile.
And when he kissed her goodnight on the front porch, she found herself wishing they didn’t have to say goodbye every night.
But that was a wild thought. They had only been dating such a short time. And with all she and the girls had been through, Jillian knew in her mind it was best to move slowly, even if her heart disagreed.
Christmas morning, Jillian woke before the sun was up and slipped out of bed, amazed that the girls hadn’t beaten her to it.
She smiled as she gazed down at them in their slumber. Mari was holding her new book close to her heart, and Posey was hugging one of Jillian’s old toys, a worn stuffed cow called Sukey.
She made it downstairs and started the coffee, then decided to make some coffee cake to go with it.
She put the radio on to just above a whisper and danced a little to “Walking in a Winter Wonderland” as she stirred the batter.
If she wasn’t worried about waking everyone, she might have even sung along.
I guess Tripp Lawrence is rubbing off on me, she thought to herself.
But she had known that already. From her ridiculous grand gesture at his house with the boombox and the limo, to letting the boys pull their silly balloon prank, to the way she was dancing in the kitchen this morning, she had clearly learned to let her hair down a little.
And only the very best things had come of it.
Posey and Mari were the next ones up, and they giggled and whispered so loudly on the way down the stairs that Jillian was pretty sure Gram and Grampy wouldn’t be too far behind them.
Mari helped Jillian finish with the coffee cake while Posey set the table. And by the time breakfast was ready, her grandparents were on their way down the steps.
“Goodness,” Gram said. “Something smells delicious.”
“Santa must have brought us breakfast,” Grampy added.
This sent the girls into a whirlwind of delighted laughter. Then everyone was hugging each other and wishing each other a Merry Christmas.
Just as they were about to sit down, the doorbell rang.
“Now that’s odd,” Grampy said with a funny twinkle in his eye.
“I’ll get it,” Jillian offered. “You all serve yourselves.”
She had no idea who in the world it could be so early on Christmas morning, and she hoped that there wasn’t anything wrong.
She wasn’t supposed to see Tripp until later, but when she opened the door, there he was.
She smiled in relief, but her smiled faded when she saw the intensity of his cerulean gaze.
“Tripp,” she said uncertainly. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” he said, his voice husky and low. “May I come in?”
She stepped back without speaking, her heart speeding up in her chest. What on earth was happening?
They had texted last night, and everything was fine.
She and the girls were supposed to be going over to the farm later this morning to spend time with his family, so what on Earth was he doing here now?
Tripp stepped inside, but instead of going all the way back to the kitchen after he kicked off his boots, he stopped in the living room.
She blinked up at him, wondering if he really did have bad news. Why else wouldn’t he follow his nose straight to the delicious breakfast that was waiting? And why wouldn’t he want to greet the family and get Christmas hugs from the girls?
“I got this finished yesterday when you and the girls were baking,” he said softly, flicking the wall switch and bathing the room in soft light.
Her heart lifted instantly. He had put in the lighting for her grandparents, and it was a perfect, warm light for reading and knitting, set just over the sofa and the big comfy chair.
There was even a small chandelier over the table where she and the girls liked to play board games.
It had a round oiled-metal base with what looked like wide candles with tiny bulbs inside them, and it made her think of the pictures in the Scandinavian Christmas book she’d had as a child.
“Oh, Tripp,” Jillian said softly. “This is the best Christmas gift ever.”
“Hopefully not the best one,” he said with a smile in his voice.
She turned to thank him, but he was down on one knee.
“Oh,” she breathed.
“Jillian,” he said. “I know you might not be ready to take this step yet, and that’s fine.
But I want you to know that I am. I’ve adored you since we were kids, and now you’re even more amazing than you were back then.
I’m ready to marry you, ready to be as much of a father to those beautiful girls as they’ll let me, ready to take care of your grandparents, and to love all of you to pieces. ”
“Oh, Tripp,” she said, trying her best not to cry. “I… I need to talk to my family.”
“Of course,” he told her. “But just so you know, I spoke with your grandparents, and they gave me their blessing to ask…”
But he trailed off at the sound of excited whispers from the hallway.
Jillian turned to see Posey’s happy little face peeking in.
“Give them space, Posey,” Mari told her from the hallway. “We want her to say yes.”
“Did she already say yes?” Posey asked brightly, her eyes moving to Tripp.
“Come on in, girls,” Jillian laughed. “You may as well be here for this. It’s about our whole family, after all.”
Posey skipped into the room and Mari slunk in after her.
And when Gram and Grampy followed, looking not a bit chagrined, Jillian had to laugh.
“I would have asked them to be here in the first place,” Tripp said. “But I thought you might like me to ask you privately.”
“I’m glad you did,” she told him, her heart warming at his thoughtfulness. “And I’m glad everyone’s here now. So girls, are you telling me that this is what you want? You want me to get married again?”
“Tripp is nice,” Mari said firmly. “He gets me.”
“And he plays with me,” Posey put in. “Plus, he said we can have pink bedrooms at our new house on the farm, if you say yes.”
Jillian couldn’t help smiling at those two votes of confidence from her daughters.
“Gram and Grampy,” Jillian said, turning to her grandparents. “I thought I would be here with you.”
She didn’t say what she was really thinking—that she was worried they might need her here with them.
“You’ll be right across the way,” Grampy laughed.
“We can practically see Lawrence Farm from the kitchen window,” Gram said. “You can still see us every day if you want, especially if the girls would still like to come see us after school.”
“Yes,” Mari and Posey said at once.
“And now that the third floor is almost done,” Grampy said. “You can stay over whenever you want, or your parents and your sister can come and stay for the holidays next year.”
“It would be lovely to have everyone close,” Gram said with tears in her eyes.
Jillian turned back to Tripp, amazed that everyone in the family was content, like their whole future together could start just like that.
If she said yes.
“You can think about it as long as you want,” Tripp said softly. “I won’t ever change my mind, Jillian. I can hardly wait to love you forever.”
“Yes,” she cried, tears sliding down her cheeks.
“Really?” he asked, his voice husky.
“Really,” she said.
He slid the little ring onto her finger and stood to pull her to him and hold her close.
She leaned against his muscular chest, drinking in the sound of his steady heartbeat as her family made happy sounds of celebration.
Then she pulled back to look at him and he bent and kissed her so that a thousand doves seemed to take wing in her chest.
And she knew it didn’t matter where they lived, his strong arms would always feel like home.
When all the happy tears were shed, and the delicious breakfast was eaten, and the kitchen was sparkling clean again, everyone bundled up and headed out to the cars.
“We get two Christmases,” Mari told Posey as they headed up Fox Hollow Road and right into the driveway with the Lawrence Farm sign.
“We could have walked here,” Posey said.
“Yes, but we brought presents and cookies,” Jillian reminded her.
“And Gram and Grampy are in Tripp’s truck with him,” Mari said.
“They sure are,” Jillian said, nodding and feeling moved all over again that the Lawrences had invited all of them over for Christmas Day.
She parked in the driveway, next to a whole host of other cars, and smiled as they all piled out and headed up to Tripp’s truck, where he was helping her grandparents out.
The little farmhouse looked like a Christmas card. Smoke swirled from the chimney, and every light seemed to be on, glowing warmly in the windows and spilling out onto the snow. It was a cheery sight in the shadow of the mountains beyond.
Somewhere down to the right was a great big Victorian house, waiting for Tripp, Jillian, Mari, and Posey to move into it.
When that day came, this farm would be their home too, along with Tripp’s parents, and all his brothers and sisters and their children—a whole village of people to love and be loved by.
The idea brought fresh tears to Jillian’s eyes and she fought them back, not wanting to scare the girls or slow them down when they were so excited to share all the treats and gifts they were bringing.
Gram and Grampy each took the hand of one sweet little girl, and Tripp turned to Jillian.
“We’ll just go in and say Merry Christmas first,” he said, his thumb sliding over the ring on her finger in a way that told her he wanted to share their happy news. “Then I’ll come back out for all our stuff.”
“That sounds good,” she told him.
They followed her grandparents and the girls, their shoes crunching in the snow.
When the front door opened, there was a happy chorus of shoes from inside, and she glanced up at Tripp.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I get it now. We’re all a little sentimental around here, that’s all.”
She squeezed his hand, feeling so proud of this incredible man who was going to be her husband.
They headed past the living room with its twinkling tree, and down the hallway of photos to join the family that filled the fragrant kitchen with smiles and laughter.
“I hope this isn’t too much,” Tripp murmured to her, pausing just at the threshold.
“This is perfect,” she told him, meaning it. “This is everything I could ever want.”
“You’re everything I’ve ever wanted,” he told her, squeezing her hand.
And then they were being pulled into the room, with her sisters-in-law-to-be hugging her and admiring her pretty little ring, and Tripp being embraced and congratulated by his brothers, while everyone welcomed Mari, Posey, Gram, and Grampy to the family.
When Tripp caught Jillian’s eye, she could see the joy on her own face reflected in his. And he was more handsome than he had ever been.
They were right where they were supposed to be.
Somehow, they had been granted this incredible second chance, a beautiful Christmas miracle.
***
Thanks for reading Sweet Trouble!