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“Roast. Mashed potatoes, gravy—”

Luke grinned at Gus, taking in the Christmas decorations and the two noble fir trees that were already up in the high-ceilinged great room, awaiting decorations and Luke leaned down to Ella. “Now this is how Christmas is done, Jyn-gerbread.”

“Oh, we’re only halfway done,” Cami told him. “We haven’t even gotten to the lights outside yet.”

Eloise looked excited and shy at once. “Where’s Lolly?”

“She’s right over there, overseeing all the fun.” Cami showed her the little bouncy seat that Lolly was sitting in, watching the roomful of people in fascination. Her little fists were in the air as Ella leaned down and slipped her fingers around Lolly’s. It was probably just gas, Gus thought, but it seemed like the baby actually smiled at Eloise.

Sarah and Eloise soon went to work completing the popcorn string Sarah had been working on all afternoon while the rest of them spread out with ornaments and lights.

They worked as teams, hanging ornaments on the two trees that bracketed the crackling fireplace. Though he and Ella had gotten Christmas trees over the years, most of them were countertop versions or smallish trees that fit into their current living situation. Most often it was an apartment.

But this… this warm, cozy home, filled with the sights and smells of Christmas, filled with family and laughter—this was something almost foreign to him now. Surely foreign to Luke as well, since his growing up never included family at all. Not until Lissa.

Shay and her boyfriend, Cooper Lane, and Shay’s son, Ryan, were all part of the decorating crew. Cooper’s father, Ray Lane was clearly there with Sarah, who made no secret of her feelings for him whenever he passed her—never without a look or the brush of a hand. Gus had met Ray several times this fall when Ray and Cooper were staying out at the Hard Eight. Ray had finished a round of cancer treatment recently and was looking good and healthy. But Gus suspected his good health had a lot to do with Sarah and this family.

Liam’s oldest brother, Will was up on a ladder adding tree toppers while his fiancée, Izzy, was in the kitchen, taking something that smelled suspiciously like gingerbread out of the oven. He’d met Will and Izzy here on the ranch a few months ago while treating one of the Hard Eight’s ranch horses, and they’d invited him, Luke, and Eloise to their upcoming nuptials here on the ranch. He liked Will a lot and several times, he, Liam and Will had bonded over beers at the Graff Hotel bar.

As he settled into the decorating, he couldn’t help but think how the Hardestys were all so different from one another. He and Liam had become friends after he’d delivered a difficult calf alive from one of their cows who was on the brink of losing both the calf and her life. The way Liam talked about his family—Cami in particular—reminded him that he’d always wondered what a big family like this one would be like. A family where there was laughter and opinions and forgiveness. He was the closest Luke had ever come to family and the thought of losing him to geography made his chest ache.

As the tree filled with ornaments, Cami handed Eloise a box filled with candy canes once she and Sarah had finished the last of the popcorn strings. “It’s a tradition to put these on the tree, but I won’t tell if you eat one while you’re decorating.”

“Just one,” Gus warned with a smile.

As he and Cami watched Ella warm to the task of hanging candy canes on the trees, Lolly started to cry. Immediately, Cami, Sarah, and Liam surrounded the baby bouncer, arguing about who would get to pick her up. Cami won, and cuddled Lolly against her shoulder.

“Lolly has stumbled upon an embarrassment of riches here in the parenting department,” Cami said to Gus, “with everyone wanting to love on her. I hope that helps a little, considering what she’s lost.”

Gus nodded. “Must be why her mother chose you. She must have known you and your family would take good care of her.”

“Do you want to hold her?”

“Oh,” he said, “No, I don’t have to—”

“C’mon. You know you want to.” She held the baby out to him.

Gus reached for her and pulled her up against his shoulder like the pro he was, rocking his hips and rubbing her little back.

He sent Cami a little smile. “I almost forgot how good this feels.”

“You are a natural, Dr. Claymore.”

He inhaled Lolly’s sweet baby scent. “You never think you’ll miss all the late nights when you walked like this for hours with them, but…”

Cami held Lolly’s little foot. “I can imagine you kind of do.”

“Yeah. It goes by quick.”

“I guess,” Cami said, “it has to, or parents would expire of sleep deprivation.”

“You do look a little tired. Are you getting any sleep at all?”

“Some. I am tired, but she’s worth it. She’s such a good baby. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to part with her. Speaking of which, look what I found.” She walked over to the coffee table where one of Ryan’s high-school yearbooks lay. She opened the page she had marked and pointed to a photo of a pretty young girl with long, blonde hair who looked for all the world, like Lolly. The name beside the photo read TARAHOWARD.

“Wow.” Gus stared at the photo. “You found her. Do you know her?”

Cami shook her head. “Not at all. She was never my student, that’s for sure. But I started thinking, what if she had a younger sibling who had me as a teacher? The name though isn’t familiar. I went back through my old class rosters and couldn’t find a Howard in any of them. I may be trying to walk down the wrong road.”