Chapter 25 - Jace
JACE
In the soft gray light of dawn, they walked down the hill hand in hand through six inches of fresh, fluffy snow. Holly kicked it aside with her boots, sweeping her feet through the light fluff with a considering air.
“It’s enough we probably should plow, but not enough that you can’t drive in it,” she remarked. “And it’s not like anyone’s going to be coming out to the farm today, at least we don’t expect anybody. I don’t see why we can’t all just stay inside and enjoy our white Christmas.”
Jace had come to understand by now that the Porters were early risers, and so he wasn’t surprised when they opened the door to crisply delicious frying smells and the sound of a Christmas movie on the TV.
Kaden was sprawled in a nest of pillows in front of the TV, ignoring the colorful cartoon characters while digging through the haul from his stocking.
There were a few sharp barks from Rocket, and Cupcake came running to dance around Holly’s feet as if he hadn’t seen her in a year instead of for one night.
Holly scooped him up and they went on into the kitchen, where the Colonel was wearing a holiday apron, with a Santa hat perched jauntily on top of his large square head, and flipping pancakes.
By now Jace had learned not to underestimate the man, but that was still a sight to behold.
“Mornin’,” he greeted them, as casually if they hadn’t just come in from clearly spending the night together. “Grab some coffee.”
“I hope you made it strong, because I need it,” Noelle said, lurching into the kitchen in her bathrobe.
“I forgot how early everyone gets up here. And that’s even without the unholy terror bouncing on my stomach twenty times last night asking me if it’s Christmas yet.
I’m really regretting that second glass of wine now. Load me up.”
She grabbed a large mug from the dish drain and thrust it hopefully in the direction of the coffeepot. Jace poured it full, then filled cups for himself and Holly, and added one of the hazelnut creamers he had noticed Holly liked. She gave him a nod of thanks and took her cup.
Noelle, meanwhile, was putting in enough sugar and creamer that Jace couldn’t imagine she could taste much coffee underneath it all.
“Oh, wonderful,” she said after a long gulp, eyes closed. “I may live.”
There was a happy squeal and a crash from the living room.
“Or not!” Noelle yelped, and hurried out of the room, taking her coffee with her.
Holly went out to the barn to feed the chickens, accompanied by the dogs, and Jace offered to help with breakfast. The Colonel put him to work mixing more pancake batter from a recipe in a neatly organized binder.
“Holly gave me her present last night,” Jace said. “The more I think about it, the more overwhelmed I am. You don’t have to hold to it, sir, if you change your mind.”
“Nonsense,” the Colonel snorted. “Those houses have been standing empty for years, barring an occasional guest. I’d love to see someone living up there full time.”
The kitchen door slammed inward and Holly stood there, holding the basket she usually used for collecting eggs.
“Dad,” she said, holding up the basket, which had a bow on it. “What’s this?”
The Colonel flushed. “Your Christmas present, honey.”
There wasn’t just one dog sweater in the basket. There were several, all of varying degrees of lumpiness and slightly different sizes.
“Are these for Cupcake?” Holly laughed, sorting through them. “You must’ve cleaned out the dog section at the holiday bazaar. Dad, this is .... unraveling,” she murmured, picking at a loose end. “Okay, you definitely need to get your money back.”
The Colonel muttered something under his breath.
Jace made no attempt to hide his grin. “He made them, Holly.”
Holly’s eyes went wide. “He what? He—why?”
The Colonel ducked his head with a soft smile. “Why do you think, sweetheart? Merry Christmas.”
“Dad!” She threw her arms around him, egg basket and all. “When in the world did you make these? Wait, is that what you’ve been doing in the barn for the last week?”
The Colonel snorted. A flush spread up his craggy cheeks. “Gotta say I was glad you didn’t ask more questions, but what’d you think I was doing out there?”
“Avoiding Christmas, mostly,” Holly said into his chest. “Avoiding me, maybe.”
“Oh, honey.” He raised a flour-dusted hand to cup the back of her head. “Never.” Clearing his throat and blinking his eyes, he gave her a little push. “Now go see if they fit. Don’t show me, this is embarrassing enough as it is.”
“Cupcake!” Holly cried, all but dancing out of the room. “I have a Christmas present for yo-uuuu!”
The fitting was of course followed by a fashion show, with a reluctant Cupcake modeling his new knit tubes, some of which fit better than others. The Colonel went on flipping pancakes with a determined attitude, his ears pink.
A huge breakfast of pancakes and light, fluffy eggs came after that, and then they joined Kaden on the floor in the living room for a brief flurry of present unwrapping.
“Oh, it’s almost time for the family chat,” Holly exclaimed, sitting up abruptly.
Noelle was trying to entice Kaden into playing with one of his new toys, an animatronic fishing game that he was slightly too young for, but he seemed to be more enthusiastic about the box it came in.
“Jace, we normally try to get together on video chat with whichever of my sisters can’t be here for the holidays.
Dad, can we use the computer in your office? ”
It occurred to Jace very suddenly that he was about to meet the rest of Holly’s sisters, and the urge to panic-flee to Mistletoe Manor was strong.
But Holly put her hand in his, and he allowed himself to be led into the home office at the back of the house.
Noelle collected Kaden, the Colonel took the desk chair, and everyone else draped themselves around on whatever pieces of furniture were available.
Jace soon found out that the other sisters were a lot like he’d imagined from Holly’s descriptions.
Carol, the nurse, seemed like a no-nonsense type who had never had a day of fun in her life, definitely a lot of big-sister energy there.
Ivy was freckled and wholesome-looking and appeared to be outside somewhere; she had long Heidi braids, was wearing a pair of earmuffs that covered most of her head, and only chatted for a few minutes with her phone held in front of her face before saying she had to get back to skiing.
Merry, the youngest, was indoors in what appeared to be an office or maybe a dorm room, and she had a thin, pretty face and smiled a lot.
And they were all delighted to find out that their sister had a boyfriend.
“I bought you your present, Carol, but I haven’t sent it yet,” Holly admitted. “Everything’s just been so crazy. I’ll get it in the mail when the post office opens after the holiday.”
“Did mine come for you?” Merry asked, and Holly had to admit that it had not. “Okay, I guess I better check the tracking. I hope they didn’t send it to Florida or something.”
“Well, I got Noelle’s, and it’s gorgeous!” Ivy said. She pointed to the earmuffs, and waved a hand in the air. “And matching gloves. And now I really do gotta go, my ski buddy is leaving without me.”
“I’m glad you liked it!” Noelle called happily. “And we got the box you sent for me and Kaden, Auntie Carol. Thank you so much. Kaden just opened the gifts and he loves the fishie game. And I can’t wait to read the book from you.”
Holly nudged Jace. “Of course Carol sent hers early,” she murmured. “She’s always got to show up the rest of us.”
Carol snorted. “I heard that, and I’m going to remember it the next time I draw your name.”
“Well, maybe I won’t mail your present, maybe I’ll just eat it!”
“You got me the truffles, didn’t you? That box had better not be missing a few when it gets here!”
The friendly chatter went on, and Kaden shyly waved to his aunts, and then they signed off and went off to ... eat more food, apparently. There was a spread of snacks and nibbles set out on the dining room table, cookies and chips and fruit and nuts and sausage snack trays.
Noelle, Kaden, and the Colonel got into some kind of kids’ card game that involved a lot of yelling (on Kaden’s part) and giggling (on Noelle’s), plus the inevitable SQUEAKASQUEAKASQUEEEEEEK from under a pillow on the couch.
Jace was sitting and quietly watching them, enjoying the family holiday attitude, when Holly came up beside him and gave him a little nudge.
“Want to take a walk?” she asked softly.
Unnoticed by the rest of the family, they went quietly out to the foyer to don their coats, and then outside. The only other member of the family paying attention was Rocket, who bounced out to join them.
After the hectic bustle of the earlier part of the day, the winter stillness outside felt very serene indeed.
With Rocket bounding around investigating things under the fresh layer of snow, they walked slowly up to the tree farm, around the chain and up the untracked driveway.
The branches of the pines to both sides dipped low under a new weight of natural ornamentation.
“Hard to believe the tree season is over,” Holly said as they wandered between the rows of trees and fresh stumps.
“Well, we still get a little business for holiday wreaths before the new year, but then we’ll be down to planning next year’s replants.
Which we can afford now, thanks to the generosity of the community. ”
Ahead of them, Rocket frisked among the trees, tail wagging. Occasionally her frolicking dislodged a cascade of snow from the laden branches.
“Do you want to stay here?” Jace asked quietly. “I mean, do you think you’d be happy here? We don’t have to keep Mistletoe Manor. We could go somewhere else.”
“No,” Holly said immediately. “I need some kind of work outside the farm or I’ll start climbing the walls, plus the farm needs the extra income. I guess I’ll start looking in town after the holidays. But I really do love it here. I mean, if you want to leave—”
“No,” Jace said. He looked around: at the trees, the snow, the brief flashes of the playful dog, and beyond the snow-covered trees, what he could see of the hills and the fields.
“I don’t know what we might want eventually.
But right now, all I want is right here.
” And he caught her in his arms, causing Holly to squeak and then laugh.
“Right here,” he said again, and kissed her, long and deep, with the snow-covered trees all around them.