Page 7 of Secret Santas and Holiday Dances

Chapter 4

Liam sat at the large round table his father had specially made when Liam had been only sixteen. His dad had been tired of shouting down a long table every dinner, and this had been the solution. He’d had it made big enough then to accommodate their growing family now. All around Liam, his family—sisters, brothers-in-law, brother, mother, and father, and his ten nieces and nephews sat laughing, telling stories, and sneaking pieces of candy as they put together their gingerbread houses, one of their yearly family traditions.

The Friday before, which had also been the first Friday of the month, they’d decorated the twelve-foot-tall Christmas tree that stood in the foyer and the six-foot family tree in the den. His family was all about traditions and they had lots more coming up. He loved it—especially now, after years of having missed out.

He fiddled with two of the side pieces of his house, trying to stick them together with a fine layer of frosting, but the moment he let go, the sides dropped. His nieces laughed at him from across the table.

“It worries me you do handyman work in your spare time,” his younger sister, Jenny, said, pointing at the ruins of his house.

Ryan scoffed at her from a couple of seats down. “Spare time? Who are you kidding? We’re scheduling those hours in while we should be in the office.” Ryan liked to come off exacerbated, but he enjoyed helping around the community—it’s part of the reason Liam had decided to become an attorney in a city small enough to overlook on a map, and more likely to have sheep running down Main Street than any kind of big lawsuit in the works.

Liam smeared the edges of his gingerbread walls with frosting, this time erring on the side of too much, then mushed the sides together. He grinned at Jenny and winked. “There, that better? This’ll hold ‘til the second coming.”

She rolled her eyes and went back to her own house—a perfect little cottage with red licorice for roofing, gumdrops for siding, and candy canes at each corner. To say her house looked like it belonged on a cooking show would be putting it mildly. Instead, she just had to compete with the rest of his family, who all came up with their own masterpieces. His brother, George, was currently making a miniature copy of the family’s barn, complete with double doors, a pitched roof, and decorative siding. His other little sister, the youngest, Lula, was making Santa’s sleigh, with decorative runners and everything. He didn’t even want to talk about what his oldest niece, Penny, was making.

His brothers-in-law were the only ones keeping Liam’s house from looking too pathetic by comparison and kept the creative content to an almost normal level.

Liam was typically a competitor, but his mind just wasn’t in it tonight. He couldn’t stop thinking about Grace. He’d invited her every day at lunch for the rest of the week and was met with a lukewarm reply every time, until today, when she flat out rejected him. Turned out her boss was going to need her from six to ten-thirty when the gallery closed. She didn’t want to come after closing, either.

He worried about her. Was that normal Friday night behavior for a twenty-two year old? Sure, she had her cousins—tons of them all over Harvest Ranch, and sure, they invited her to everything, but Grace was still very much alone and that’s the last thing he wanted her to feel during Christmas. The image of her staring at his mouth earlier popped into his head, and the way she’d licked her lips, and he let loose an almost inaudible groan. He shouldn’t be thinking about her lips at all!

“Thinking about Grace?” Ryan asked in a stage whisper, one hand cupped to his mouth.

Nearly everyone at the table looked at him in one swift movement, then quieted to hear his response.

The sides of Liam’s made-to-last-through-the-apocalypse ginger bread house collapsed as if on cue.

Liam shot a death glare at his business partner, who was now sporting a very pleased grin.

“I knew it!” Jenny clapped her hands together. “I knew you liked her.”

“Ooo, Liam has a girlfriend.” Penny hopped up and down in her seat.

Mom sat a little taller. “That pretty little thing you have lunch with now and again?”

“We’re just friends,” Liam said.

George let out a snort. “Now and again? Try every day.” Liam glared at his brother, the traitor.

Ryan burst out laughing. Dad grinned and the womenfolk, including his six nieces, let out sighs.

Dagnabit, he didn’t need his family thinking something was going on between him and Grace. They’d never leave her alone. They’d never leave him alone—and he would not replicate George’s misstep.

There was no hope for it. His only chance at changing the subject was to play dirty. He quirked a grin at George. “This coming from the guy madly in love with a woman he’s been best friends with for years.” He leaned forward—elbow on the table. “How is Emma Lee? She hasn’t been over since yesterday. I miss her.”

His four nephews and both brothers-in-law, let out “Ohs,” and Liam swore he heard a “wrecked!” in there.

George’s face flared red. “That’s not . . . we’re . . . I’m not in . . . she’s . . . she has nothing to do with this.” His voice lowered a threatening octave.

“All right, all right,” Dad said. “Some of us have a barn dance to get to tonight, but that’s not happening until we get these ginger bread houses done and vote on which is the best.”

Liam and George exchanged one more dirty look before George went back to his ginger bread barn. But it would come up again. The brothers loved to harass one another.

“You’re still coming to the dance tonight, right?” Helena, Liam’s older sister, asked.

Liam nodded, though he wasn’t really listening. He hoped Grace was okay. Maybe he’d just pop in and invite her to the dance one more time.

“Done!” Penny stood from her chair and signaled to her beautiful and ornate ginger bread mansion—through a large front window, he could even see a chandelier made of rock candy.

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