Page 80 of Protective Cowboy

The doorbell rang and Autumn hurried to welcome the first guests.

It was Winnie and Nick, stomping snow off their boots. They carried bags brimming with colorfully wrapped gifts.

“Ho, ho, ho!” Winnie called out cheerfully. “Nick brought his homemade eggnog! Do you guys have any brandy?”

Next, Grandma Abigail bustled in, cheeks pink from the cold, and carrying a large Yule log cake. “Let me see that handsome boy!” she exclaimed, bending to kiss Jayden.

Matt swooped in and rescued the cake as it threatened to slide off the heirloom crystal platter engraved with poinsettias.

Autumn’s parents arrived a few minutes later, along with Spring and his two girls. They shook snowflakes out of their hair as they shed coats and scarves.

Finally, Matt’s parents came in, with his mom carrying a green bean casserole, and his dad and Lily hauling a Santa-sized sack of presents between them.

The house filled with laughter and chatter as Matt poured drinks for everyone and she pulled the golden-brown turkey out of the oven to rest before carving.

They all gathered around the dining table, which had been extended with an assortment of folding tables covered in borrowed tablecloths and serving platters, and surrounded by mismatched chairs. It was anything but picture-perfect, but the warmth radiating from the people seated there made it the best Christmas dinner she could imagine.

Phillip would’ve hated the clashing decorations and lack of coordinated place settings. But he wasn’t here, and thank goodness for that!

Her Christmas this year might not be Instagram-perfect, but Autumn loved it because everyone looked happy to be here.

Over heaping plates of food, her family swapped stories and inside jokes. The meal tasted all the more delicious for the company.

As she helped herself to more stuffing, Autumn realized this Christmas mattered more than any picture could capture. The love around this table was the greatest gift of all.

I’m so glad I didn’t move to Seattle. I would have missed out on so much.

∞∞∞

After dinner, the family gathered in the living room. The fire crackled merrily in the fireplace as the kids eagerly eyed the pile of colorfully wrapped gifts beneath the Christmas tree.

“All right, time for presents!” Dad announced.

It was a long-standing tradition that everyone got to open a single gift on Christmas Eve.

The kids cheered and scrambled to grab a gift, shaking boxes and speculating wildly about the contents.

The adults weren’t any better. Autumn watched Winnie weighing two boxes in her hands, trying to guess which held the better present.

“Just pick one, Winnie,” her husband Nick told her, laughing. “You’ll get to unwrap the other one tomorrow morning.”

One by one, they each opened a gift, oohing and ahhing over new toys, clothes, and books. The living room filled with the sounds of tearing paper and exclamations of delight.

Then it was Autumn’s turn. As she went over to the tree, she noticed Grandma Abigail, Mom, and her sisters watching her with avid interest, nudging each other and exchanging conspiratorial grins.

Her curiosity piqued, she cocked an eyebrow at them, silently demanding an explanation.

“Later,” Winnie mouthed, then winked at her.

Puzzled, Autumn selected a medium-sized box wrapped in silver paper. As she returned to her seat, she noticed her mom and sisters trading dismayed glances and shaking their heads.

“She picked the wrong one!” Winnie stage-whispered.

“What do you mean, the wrong one?” Autumn asked, eyeing the present on her lap suspiciously.

The living room fell silent. Something was definitely going on.

Matt cleared his throat. “I was hoping you’d open my gift tonight.”

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