Page 6 of The Yes at Yuletide

Willa and Cactus, Mitch, Frost, and Charlie—who they’d decided to call Chaz, since Preacher had married a woman named Charlie.

They arrived next, and Charlie made a beeline for the kitchen, Preacher lugging a big blue plastic tub behind her.

Ranger and Oakley came in with their kids, and Montana twitched toward going to get their darling baby girl. She could easily hold that precious soul all day and all night, for Fawn was exactly like her name. Downy soft, dewey sweet, and quiet.

So quiet for a baby, and Oakley loved her to death. Her mother had been here for the past six weeks, and Montana smiled at Blanche Hatch, who wore a dress fit to meet the Queen of England. She watched Oakley slide her eyes down her mom’s legs and then look at her husband, as if she couldn’t believe Blanche would ever wear such a thing.

The dress was a little gaudy, but Montana had never lived overseas. Perhaps they wore things with that many ruffles over there.

Ace and Holly Ann entered, as did Etta with her mother. The Walkers had been steadily dripping into the barn too, and they’d mingled among the Glovers.

Montana drew in a deep breath of the strength of family, and she smiled. The feelings of joy, peace, and contentment that she and Aurora had found their place to belong surged, and she did allow tears to touch her eyelashes when at last, Aunt Jackie and Uncle Bob stepped into the barn.

She moved from her observation point then, going to hug the two people who had given her a second chance at a new life.

Chapter Five

Oliver Osburn woke on Christmas Eve, feeling as giddy as he had when he was only five-years-old. Actually, maybe nine or ten years old, after his mom had married Tripp Walker, and after their Christmases had started having presents again.

After Tripp, they got to eat more than pancakes. He got to see his mother smile again. He got to go to Seven Sons and ride horses, talk to Tripp’s brothers, and play with his baby cousins.

After Tripp, life had definitely taken a huge upturn for both Oliver and his mom. He never wanted to do anything to let his father down, and he hoped today would be a roaring success.

His biological father had sent a card, and Oliver reached for it as he sat up on the edge of the bed. His mom had given it to him yesterday, but Oliver hadn’t had the heart to open it. He barely spoke to his biological father, having burned the bridge between them over a decade ago when he’d met with the custody judge and asked to be placed with his mom and Tripp full-time.

His dad hadn’t quite forgiven him for that, and the requests for Tripp to adopt him over the years certainly hadn’t helped. The fact that Dan had sent a card was a pure miracle, and Ollie finally slipped his finger under the flap and tore open the envelope.

It held a greeting card in thick cardstock, with an embossed picture of wedding bells lifting from the front.

Congratulationsscrawled across the bells in a scripty, romantic font.

Ollie opened the card and several bills fell into his lap. Dan had scratched out a note of congratulations to Ollie and Aurora, having scribbled out part of Aurora’s name to get it right. That spoke to the level of detail he wanted to include, and Ollie picked up the five twenty-dollar bills.

He honestly had no idea how much it would cost to live in Savannah. He’d never bought groceries for himself. He’d never paid rent. He’d never made a car payment.

His mother and father had sat him down last week, with Aurora at his side, and they’d gone over a budget with them. They knew how much the rent was on the one-bedroom house in Savannah. That went at the top.

Electricity, Dad had said.Water, sewer, garbage.

The list had gone on for a few more utility bills, all of which were required to live.

Then you get to stuff that just makes life nice, his mom had said. Cell phones. Eating out. Buying luxury items at the grocery store. Clothes.

Those could be avoided if there was no money, or they could splurge and go to dinner when they passed a big test.

Aurora had earned a scholarship to the SCAD with her impressive fashion portfolio. Ollie had to pay his tuition, and his dad had pulled him aside yesterday and said he’d be paying for all of Ollie’s schooling.

“Ifyou work hard, son,” he’d said. “I’m not paying if you’re going to play video games and order out for every meal. If you have that much free time and expendable income, you don’t need my help.”

“Yes, sir,” Ollie said now as he had then. He felt a bit overwhelmed, but he wasn’t going to back out of this. He was going to marry the girl he loved today, and they were going on a honeymoon for a few nights. Then, once they returned from Colorado, he could start the rest of his life.

He got up and pulled a shirt over his head, went down the hall with the scent of maple syrup hanging in the air, and entered the kitchen. Mom stood at the stove, flipping eggs, while Dad put a plate of pancakes on the table.

“There he is,” Dad said, beaming at Ollie. “The man of the day.”

“I thought Grandma and Grandpa were comin’ for breakfast today,” he said, his stomach a little nervous.

“They are, baby,” his mother said. “They should be here in a minute.”

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