Page 71 of The House on Memory Lane

She wiggled her hips in response, making him laugh.

Then they started digging through boxes.

The first box she looked at was from her early childhood. She didn’t need to go through it piece by piece to know her mother had saved every bit deliberately, and she wanted the whole thing.

As she set it aside, Kyle held up a medal hanging on a blue ribbon. “I think this is maybe high school stuff? Track competitions, and…” He picked up a small statue next. “Art projects?”

“Oh wow, that takes me back.” She shifted over to sit next to him. There were clay figures, a neat stack of paintings, and then at the bottom…

Laney slapped the cardboard flaps on the box shut. “Don’t look at this.”

“Why not?”

She caught her husband’s hands in hers. “Trust me. Your Christmas present is inside there, okay?”

“Yeah.” His eyes danced. “Damn it, now I’m curious.”

She kissed him instead of spilling the secret. She pushed up on her knees and gave him a good one, a deep, long kiss that made him groan and sink his hands into her hair.

Together, they slid to the attic floor, and they made out until they were breathless.

“Nice distraction technique,” he whispered against her mouth.

She pressed her hips against his, feeling the hard throb of his erection against her mound. “Thank you.”

His laughter filled the space, and she rolled away, shoving another box at him after checking to make sure it didn’t have anything inside that she might also want to wrap and put under the Christmas tree for him.

Christmas Eve swirled in like an aggressively shaken snow globe, which made Laney smile.

She got up early with Buddy and bundled up to take him for a slow walk around the house. He found the shelter of a big evergreen to pee under, then climbed back up the steps to return to the warmth.

Her mom came over from the farm to have breakfast with them, then they all headed out to the woods to cut some greenery to decorate the schoolhouse. Buddy led the way, enjoying the bright but cold day a lot more with Bean along for the tromp.

When they returned, her sister Evie and brother-in-law Liam had arrived to collect their kids for a few hours.

“Merry Christmas,” her sister whispered as they hugged.

Laney thought about using the moment to ask about their mom, but set it aside.

And then the cousins were gone, and it was just the four of them—and the border collie—left to decorate the house. Kyle and Bean working on the tree, Laney and her mom trimming the windows with greenery and ribbons, and some extra ornaments from the attic.

“Here you go, honey,” Claire said, handing her a stretch of silver ribbon. “Listen, how would you feel if I gave your sister the farm for Christmas?”

Laney jerked in surprise, the ribbon slipping from her fingers. “What?”

Claire fluttered her hands for a moment, then clasped them tightly. “It would be so nice to have them next door, right? And they’ll need more space now that the boys are young men. They might bring partners home at some point. And it’s so nice to see the little ones play together…”

Together, they turned to look at where Bean—not that little anymore—was stretching her arm up, nearly touching the top of the tree as she hung an ornament on a branch.

Out the window, Laney could see the farm where she grew up, at the top of the rise.

In the summer, they walked back and forth between the two properties all the time.

She pictured Bean growing up, and having some of her family that close.

“Oh Mom,” Laney said, suddenly overwhelmed with tears.

“Because Bean will have this place,” Claire whispered, pulling her in for a hug. “And I have savings for you, you know. You’ll get something, too.”

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