Page 57 of Loving Luna

Behind her, her group of merry Christmas cronies, Hayleigh, Wren, Daisy, Eli, Georgie and Reese were all dressed in similar attire, their eyes gleaming with excitement.

“You’re here! Come in, come in!” Sadie cried. “We’ve got sooo many plans and ideas to share.” The group of elves behind her nodded emphatically and I stepped in out of the cold.

“Wonderful! I can’t wait to hear them. Thank you all for helping me with this!”

“Thank you for letting us!” Wren cried. “We’ve been planning for hours and I honestly don’t think we’ve had this much fun since we planned the Great Turkey Rescue a few years ago.”

“Oh good. That means whatever you’re planning is sure to be epic.” I looked around at the excited faces, that looked ready to unload all their ideas on me right that second. “Is there somewhere we could go sit down and talk? Do I need a pen and paper for notes?”

“You might.” Sadie grinned. “We can go in the dining room. It’s got the biggest table. Plus, I bet we can get Mia to bring us cookies and cocoa!”

“Ah Mia does make the best cookies and cocoa, aside from Chef Connor,” I agreed with a smile. Mia was my roommate, and a service submissive who helped out a lot at the Big House.

“Not so fast!” Master Derek’s voice boomed so loudly across the large house, I heard him before I saw him appear as if by magic out of nowhere. He put his hands on his hips and glowered at the group of mischievous elves, but he was smiling and his eyes were twinkling so none of them were taking his gruffness seriously.

“Yes, Daddy?” Sadie put on her sweetest grin and blinked innocently up at him. “We’ve got a lot of hard work and important Christmas business ahead of us. We need the cookies and cocoa to help keep our strength up and keep us in the Christmas spirit.”

As he usually did when Sadie was involved, Master Derek melted at her cuteness, though I was certain he hadn’t really been upset to begin with. His wide grin when he answered proved that I was right. “So it will, angel. So it will. And I’ve no issue with the cookies and cocoa for my most merry Christmas elves, but what did I say about when Luna got here?”

Sadie’s face fell and she looked instantly guilty. “That you needed to talk to her first so you could get back to the office.” She looked up, her eyes bright and her expression chagrined. “Sorry, Daddy. We just got so excited and forgot.”

“I can see that you did. You little elves just run along to the kitchen and tell Mia I said to put a rush on those Christmas cookies. Maybe I can sneak one or two before I head back to the office.”

“Yay! Yes, Daddy!” Sadie rushed forward to press a big kiss on his cheek, then ran off toward the kitchen with her band of merry elves hot on her heels.

When we were alone, Master Derek smiled. “Luna, glad you made it so quickly. Please, step into my den.”

When we stepped into the den, which was basically a cross between an office and a study, much more inviting than his office at the Ranch, Master Derek took a seat in a large leather recliner and gestured at a matching one across from it. Behind us, a fire crackled in a fireplace, warming the room.

“So.” He folded his hands in his lap and leaned forward. “I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pull it off with such short notice, but I made some calls and explained the situation and as it turns out, I can offer you and Drake a home on the Ridge, with plenty of room for Miss Hettie. In fact, we actually have a home that just finished being built with a whole separate basement mother-in-law apartment. It was being designed for one of our other staff, but as their needs aren’t quite as immediate as yours, they have agreed to go ahead and let Drake have the place and we can re-start construction on their home in the spring.”

I gasped, feeling immediately guilty. “Oh, no, Sir! I couldn’t. I don’t want to take anyone’s home! I just thought maybe there was an empty one that wasn’t claimed yet.”

Derek nodded and grinned. “And there was. But that was plan B. As I stated, this staff member’s needs aren’t quite as immediate, and they had no problem helping out Drake and Hettie in this way. In fact, they were happy to do it. We’re a family here, and we always want to help our own, but sometimes, in cases such as Drake’s, it’s hard to know what to do. Everyone I’ve spoken to so far were not only happy to hear about your plan, they were excited, and almost all of them offered to help. I’ve given Sadie a list of the offers I got so she knows where to start and what she’s got to work with already. I’m sure she’ll fill you in.”

Tears sprang to my eyes, and I nodded, too overwhelmed with gratitude to speak. I opened my mouth like I was going to, but ended up just waving a hand in front of my face to indicatehow choked up I was, and when I finally caught my breath, my voice came out in a croak. “Sir, I…”

“Asked for some of that Ranch Magic and are receiving it in spades?” he countered with a grin. “Just let it happen, Luna, and be thankful. The home is actually move-in ready. So we can go on this as soon as you’d like and if you’d like me to get Drake out of his apartment for a while, I’m sure I can come up with some sort of Dungeon emergency I need his help with.”

“That would be great, Sir. I was thinking… not Christmas Eve, but like maybe the day before?”

Derek shook his head. “I don’t think that will work. There’s already a bunch of stuff planned those days, and most of us already have commitments. I was thinking more like… three days from now?”

“Three days?” I squeaked. “Can we… could we… would that actually work?”

He shook his head, looking as stunned by his own suggestion as I felt. “Honestly, I have no idea. Why don’t you go talk it over with my Christmas elves and call me later with your answer?” He glanced at a clock somewhere above my head and stood. “I really do need to get back to the office. I’ll call Drake this afternoon and ask if he’s ready to come back to work. Make it sound dire that he pick up some extra Dungeon shifts. We’ve got a full house for the holidays, so we really could use his help anyway, so it will all work out.”

“Thank you, Sir!” I jumped to my feet, anxious to go meet with Sadie and the others. As soon as I pulled open the door to his den, I could hear them exclaiming excitedly from the dining room across the house.

It took everything I had not to sprint to them. Their excitement was infectious and when I got to the dining room, I could see they’d started without me. All of them had notepads and pens in front of them and were bent over, making plans.They each had mugs of hot cocoa in front of them and chocolate smiles. A tray piled high with chocolate chip cookies sat in the center of the massive table. I snagged one before taking a seat between Wren and Hayleigh. I’d barely gotten my butt in the seat when Mia appeared with a steaming mug of hot cocoa and placed it in front of me before taking an empty seat across from me with a grin.

“I was told I could join in the planning festivities. It sounded like they were having loads of fun. They haven’t stopped chattering this whole time,” she teased.

Even now, they were still talking amongst themselves in low, hushed voices. It was the quietest I’d heard them since I’d arrived. Eyes narrowing, I cleared my throat, and waited until all eyes swung toward me, their gazes catching mine.

“So, are you going to fill me in on these plans anytime soon?”

“Of course!” Hayleigh exclaimed. “We were just getting a few details settled first.”

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