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“Don’t get me wrong, it has its uses. Just not drinking it.” Ruby grinned at Kenzie. “Remember when we used the pot they brewed last winter to patch that leak in the henhouse roof?”

Kenzie burst out laughing. “I do! I always said the stuff they made was thick as pitch and tasted worse. I never expected they’d prove me right.”

Their laughter was so infectious Tildi joined in.

If the homemade creamer tasted this good, she couldn’t wait to dig into the sweet roll. Taking an embarrassingly large biteof the gooey goodness, a moan of pleasure escaped her. As predicted, it was just as delicious as the coffee.

Scanning the kitchen, she took in all the delicious treats on cooling racks around the kitchen. They had made every kind of fudge and other Christmas candies she could imagine, as well as several she couldn’t name.

“You two are serious about your desserts! I know the guys are hardy eaters, but I’ve seen full New York City bakeries who didn’t have that many treats. Who are all the confections for?”

Kenzie followed Tildi’s gaze across the kitchen and shrugged. “Well, it is the holiday season. When we get everything baked and bagged, it’s going into all those boxes.” She pointed to a large table off to the side stacked with pretty gift boxes waiting to be assembled. “Once we have them packed, we’re delivering them all over town. We need to hand them out this weekend, but for now we’re storing them so they’re out of the way until tomorrow. We sure could use your help. Do you mind?”

Did she mind? Did she mind being treated like one of the family, even though she’d done nothing to earn the right to be? Her mother hadn’t been the baking type. Or the cooking type, except for soup kitchen photo ops set up to benefit her father’s political ambitions. No, her mother was more of the scheduling fund raising events with all the “right” clubs and civic organizations. The ones her father had insisted she be a part of to uphold his image.

Tildi had been embarrassed every year at Christmas when their friends all brought wonderful homemade gifts for the teachers. She’d never once had a gift to give a teacher, much less to the neighbors and friends.

Tears stung Tildi’s eyes. Was this part of being in a real family? She had nothing to compare it to, but it sure felt like it.

Kenzie noticed Tildi’s tears and misunderstood. “Hey, no pressure. Boone told us you would need to rest a lot when you first got here. Just forget I asked. It’s all right.”

Tildi wasn’t tired at all. She wanted to put together those gift boxes as much as she wanted to take her next breath. “No, I want to help. Ignore the tears, they seem to appear all the time these days for no reason. It doesn’t mean anything. Please, let me join in the fun.”

Kenzie smiled, hopping off her bar chair and giving Tildi a hug. “Not sure how much fun storing all this candy will be, but awesome, I’m glad you want to help. We have a ton of stuff to do yet. We’ll get started as soon as you finish your breakfast.”

Tildi pushed off her chair. “Oh, I don’t have to eat this. We can start now.”

“Are you kidding? Ruby will smack me with the wooden spoon she always keeps in the pocket of her apron if I stop you from eating one of her famous sweet rolls. But, in the spirit of sisterhood, and so you won’t feel pressured to rush, I’ll have another one, too. That way you don’t have to eat alone.”

The joy growing inside Tildi bubbled out in laughter. “Your noble sacrifice is deeply appreciated.”

Kenzie grinned. “What can I say, I was born to be a martyr.”

Twenty minutes and two sweet rolls—each—later Ruby set up a Christmas candy storage assembly line.

“You’re making me look bad. You’re fast,” Kenzie said once the candies were all put away. “I guess Ruby’s been right all these years. Many hands do make light work. Being the only girl, I’ve always wanted a sister. I’m sure glad you’re finally here.”

Tildi had to work at not crying. Again. Seriously, when were the waterworks going to calm down? She’d cried more in the past three weeks than she had the entire year she’d been Nico’s prisoner. What the heck?

But that wasn’t what had her eyes stinging this time. Kenzie’s words reminded Tildi she did have a sister. The only bright spot in her life until Boone. Everything in her wanted to reach out to her sister, Breezy, but she hadn’t done it yet. She was the worst sister in the world. Why was it so much easier to build a relationship with Kenzie than it was to rebuild one with her actual sister?

She packed that away to think about later and turned to Kenzie with a smile. “Assembly lines and packing away food is my specialty. After working for a catering service for years, it’s the one thing I can do.”

Ruby walked in from the small storage room off the back of the kitchen. “I got almost everything in the cold pantry. We’re going to have to ask one of the boys to get the Escalade ready for this weekend. It’s a tank to drive, but it’s the only thing that will hold all the boxes we’ll be delivering. I swear, in another year or two we won’t be able to call Wilder a small town. Where are all these people coming from?”

“You know you love it, Ruby. This time next week, everyone in town will be calling to ask for all your recipes.”

“Oh, Lord. That’s just what I need. At least we’ll be past getting the Friendsgiving celebration together and on the table.” Ruby tried to sound aggravated, but the excitement twinkling in her eye told a different story.

Kenzie winked at Tildi and grinned. “This year you’ve got two accomplished sous chefs in the kitchen with you. This is going to be the best Friendsgiving ever. Besides, you know you love it.”

“I thought we missed the Friendsgiving get together. Boone was so disappointed.”

Kenzie clapped her hands, hopping in excitement. “I know! It was a surprise for him. I told him this morning and he was excited, though I think it was as much for you as for himself. He’s so totally in love with you.”

Tildi’s heart swelled. “You think so?”

Kenzie rolled her eyes, the official brat confirmation. Of course, Tildi felt Boone’s love every day. But the fact that Kenzie could see it put the icing on the cake.