Page 1 of Unexpected Christmas with the SEAL

“Everythingwillbefine,”Hannah said for what felt like the millionth time. “I’ve been here before. I know not to let the animals starve. I know how to muck a stall. And besides, all these critters love me. You see how excited they get when I walk into the barn? I may even open all the stalls and have just a big ol’ 4H cuddle puddle.”

Her Uncle Asher grunted and shook his head in disapproval. He knew she was kidding, but there was a flash of unease in his blue eyes that said he didn’t all together believe she was kidding.

“Well, you can let out everyone but Fumble,” Nate, her other uncle and the far less grumpy and less serious one, said. “That dick of a goat is in solitary confinement for the foreseeable future.”

“He’s just misunderstood,” Hannah said, grinning. “I can relate.”

“We’ll only be gone to the wedding for a few days. And you can always call Cal. He’s on standby,” Asher said.

“I’ll be fine. You managed this place on your own—whilehumping my friend. I have nobody to hump, so I’ll definitely be able to keep myself busy.”

“Stop sayinghump,” Asher grumbled.

Hannah snorted and flicked her long, dark curly ponytail over her shoulder before pulling her phone from the back pocket of her jeans and checking the time. “Don’t you two need to get a move on? Isn’t your flight in like five hours? And it’s international to the exotic land ofCa-na-da, so you need to be there early. Have you studied the local dialect? Local traditions? I hear they like it if you sayhelloandbonjourwhen you meet them. And to always apologize, even if you’re not the one at fault.”

Nate snorted and hitched his duffle bag over his shoulder. Asher merely rolled his eyes, then slung his duffle bag over his shoulder, too.

“Go, go! I’ll be fine. No mares are getting ready to foal. No goats are getting ready to kid. And I’ll make sure I keep Fumble locked up like freaking Hannibal Lecter. Only let him out for a dinner of fava beans and a nice chianti.”

“Fucking smart ass,” Asher said with a surly grumble, opening the door to the farmhouse and stepping out into the chilly late December air. Even though Asher and Nate were her uncles, they were only ten years older than her, since their dad had been from her grandfather’s second marriage. So, she grew up with her uncles acting more like brothers or cousins.

Though, sometimes Asher liked to pull the uncle card and demand respect.

Of which Hannah rarely obliged. It was just too much fun to poke the gruff old bear. Though, he had softened substantially since marrying Hannah’s best friend Triss. And now the two of them were expecting a baby. So not only was Hannah’s best friend also her aunt, but she was giving Hannah a little cousin soon. That would surely soften up Asher even more … hopefully.

They headed to one of their trucks and she stood on the front porch, tugging the sides of her long, cable-knit gray cardigan around her and crossing her arms. There was snow on the ground, but not so much that flights were getting canceled. And as it stood right now, there wasn’t snow in the forecast for a few days, so the guys needed to take this window of pleasant weather and get their asses to the airport.

Normally, they had ranch hands that worked daily on the ranch, but most of them were off for Christmas. A few would pop by to check on things, but Hannah knew she had everything under control.

“Behave!” Asher said with a stern glare of warning before swinging his big frame behind the steering wheel.

“I always do,” she teased.

“Yeah, right.” He shut the truck door and pretty soon the Ford pickup was rumbling down the gravel driveway toward the main road.

Hannah didn’t stand on the porch for long before her toes started to tingle, so she headed inside, where a cup of tea called her name.

Since Triss moved in and married Asher, the farmhouse had experienced a significant facelift. The kitchen cupboards were freshly painted a clean and bright white. The kitchen walls were now a friendly butter-yellow with no-nonsense roll-down blinds over the window. And the living room was far less dark than Hannah remembered. Triss mentioned painting that a brighter beige color, too.

There were also quite a few feminine touches, like throw pillows, blankets, houseplants, and other homey things. Nothing kitschy, and certainly no knickknacks, but you could tell a woman lived in the house now.

Asher and Triss were building a house elsewhere on the property, but they’d hit a snag so building was at a standstill. There was a supply shortage that builders were experiencing across the country. Which meant small, rural builds suffered because all available supplies went to the big cities first. So even though they had broken ground on their new place, it wasn’t quite ready for them to move in.

And now, Triss’s sister, Mieka, was also living on the ranch, since she fell in love with Nate over the summer. As far as Hannah knew, Mieka and Nate were going to continue living in the farmhouse, while Asher and Triss eventually moved to their own place with the new baby.

Triss and Mieka flew out to the wedding ahead of Asher and Nate, since it was their baby sister, Rayma, getting married. They needed to help with wedding prep, the bachelorette party, and they also just wanted to spend some time with their other sisters.

It was bizarre being in a house that was usually so full of life, noise and happiness, but was suddenly eerily quiet.

As someone who worked and lived in downtown Manhattan, Hannah wasn’t used to the quiet that surrounded her as she padded through the warm farmhouse into the happy, spacious kitchen with the live-edge table and old mismatched chairs.

Normally, she could hear street noise all day long, and her upstairs neighbors stomping around in her apartment building. There was no such thing as true “silence” when you lived in the chaos that was New York.

But she also loved it. It’d been her home since she finished grad school and got a job at the clinic she was with now. She loved her job as a speech pathologist. It was her true calling. And it was grad school where she met Triss. Her BFF and now, technically, her aunt.

Theclick clickof nails on the hardwood floor had her heart rate relaxing. Bruno, her uncles’ merle Australian Shepherd, came sauntering into the kitchen. He did a classic downward dog stretch, giving her some serious puppy eyes. Only his puppy eyes differed from most, since his eyes were actually different colors. He was a beautiful dog, though, and smart as a whip.

“It’s just you and me for a few days, buddy. Are we going to spoon at night? I’m cool with it as long as you promise not to fart in the bed.”

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