Page 33 of Merry Christmas, Cowboy (Home to Texas #2)

C hristmas eve at the Russell house always meant honey-baked ham with all the fixings. Tonight, was no different, her mom and dad were a big help in the kitchen, helping her prepare side dishes of mashed potatoes, green beans with almonds, and fresh buttery biscuits.

“Hand me the butter, Mom. I’ll lather up the biscuits.”

Her mother grabbed the butter from the fridge. “Here you go, honey. Those biscuits came out just about perfect, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes, I would say.” She gave her mom a smile.

But both of her parents knew she was hurting inside.

They knew she was pretending, and they were happy to pretend along with her.

She wasn’t about to give in to temptation and cry her eyes out.

That would have to wait until they were on their way home.

The last thing she wanted to do was ruin her folks’ holiday.

They’d come here to spend Christmas with her and have a good family time.

When the phone rang, she wiped her hands on a dish towel and picked it up on the second ring.

“Hi, sis! Merry Christmas.”

“Sam? Is that you?” He sounded far away, because well, the call was coming from some far away military base. He was serving out the last of his deployment overseas. “Oh, my gosh, it’s so good to hear your voice.”

“It’s good to hear yours too, brat.”

“Mom, Sam called me brat again,” she said, chuckling into the phone. Her parents were right in front of her, waiting on their turn to talk. “Wait, I’ll put you on speaker, so we can all talk.”

“Hi, honey,” her mother shouted into the phone. “Merry Christmas.”

“Mom, you don’t have to shout. He can hear you.”

“I can hear you just fine, Mom.”

“Hey, boy,” her father said. “How’re you doing out there in that desert land?”

“I’m doing okay. Missing the family.”

“Oh, we miss you too,” her mother said.

“Well, you won’t be missing me for long. I’m coming home. My deployment is up and I won’t be reenlisting. It’s time for me to come on home.”

“That’s the best Christmas gift you could’ve given us, Sam.” Her mother’s face lit up.

“When, Sam?” her dad asked.

“I should be back in the States in March.”

Each of them had a chance to speak to Sam for several minutes, and when the call was over, a newfound joy entered her heart.

This news was just what all of them needed.

Dinner was eaten with gusto as the three of them reminisced about Sam and his antics while growing up.

Her folks laughed harder and smiled more than they had since they’d arrived.

The news buoyed her up too. She’d been praying for her brother’s safe return. And those prayers were being answered.

A knock came at her door and she walked over to the peephole to see who it was. “Coop’s here,” she announced. She opened the door with a smile. “Hi. Come in.”

He held packages in his arms. “I really can’t come in. I’m only here to drop these off to you.”

“To me?” She glanced at the Christmas gifts. “Why, I’ll be seeing you tomorrow. Unless that’s changed.”

“No, nothing’s changed. Well, except that Garrett and Cody aren’t coming for Christmas. He, uh, thought it would be better for you, if they didn’t come.”

“I don’t want to be the reason they don’t spend Christmas with you.”

“Tell that to Garrett. He’s pretty stubborn about it. You see, these gifts aren’t from us. They’re from the Browns. Garrett figured you didn’t want to see him right now, and well, he wanted to make sure you got them.

“So here you go.” He made the transfer, putting the gifts in her arms. “And for what it’s worth, Garrett is having a hard time with this.”

She nodded. She got it. He was still grieving his sister’s death. She’d wanted so much for him to have a good holiday and it was too bad things had gotten so complicated. “It’s the one-year anniversary of his sister’s death.”

“I don’t think that’s it, Nic. I think he’s pretty upset with himself… about other things.” Coop stared into her eyes and she got the message.

“Thank you for bringing these things over. I appreciate it.”

“No problem. Well, see you tomorrow.”

“We’ll be there.”

Once Coop left, she glanced down at the packages, finding gifts for everyone. “Mom, Dad, have a seat in the living room by the tree. You have gifts to open.”

Her parents were curious enough to come over without question. They sat down and she handed out the gifts. “These are from Garrett and Cody.”

“Honey, are you sure you want to do this?”

“Dad, Garrett’s not a bad guy. Yes, he hurt me, but not intentionally. His only crime was in not telling me soon enough. But I understand his reasons. And maybe I fooled myself into thinking we had a chance. But he never lied to me about his intentions. He was always going to leave.”

“You’ve come full circle, sweetheart,” her mother said. “And I agree with you about Garrett. Both of you have had a hard year.”

“Well, Dad, age before beauty,” she said with a wink. “Go ahead and open yours.”

Her dad ripped the wrapping paper, and opened the box. Inside was a card that he read aloud. “To George, for the carpenter in you.” He worked through the paper lifting out a brand-new leather tool belt. “This is… too much.”

“Oh, George, it’s a wonderful gift. You two were always talking about tools.”

“Yeah, we were. It’s a thoughtful gift.”

“Yes, it is,” Nicole said quietly. “Mom, go ahead and open yours.”

Her mother was quicker about opening up the package. Inside she found a tin of homemade cookies. “Look at that,” she said. “Cody decorated them himself and signed the card.” She showed everyone the name he’d printed out on the card. “That’s very sweet.”

“Now for yours,” her mother said. “Go ahead, open it up.”

She didn’t know what to expect as she opened the box. “There’s no card.” She pushed away the tissue paper and lifted out a good-sized pine cone, decorated with red and green and gold paint. “It’s an ornament from Cody for our tree.” Her eyes watered. “He likes painting these.”

“What’s that tied to it?” her mother asked.

She saw something dangling and reached around to the base. “It’s a g-gold bracelet, with one charm. It says, Best Christmas Ever.”

Nicole closed her eyes tightly to keep from shedding nonstop tears.

She loved the gift, so much. As much as she loved Garrett and Cody.

It was by far the best Christmas gift she’d ever received.

Because that was all she wanted for Cody and his uncle.

To not be sad during the holiday. To have a good time this season while in Last Stand.

Garrett wanted her to know she accomplished that goal, and it meant so very much to her.

“Oh, honey.” Her mom came over to give her a big hug. “That’s a beautiful sentiment. Are you okay?”

Nicole nodded, unable to get any words out.

“He’s a good man, that Garrett,” her father said.

Nicole couldn’t disagree. For her, it had been the best Christmas ever too.

*

On Christmas eve, Garrett tucked Cody into bed at nine o’clock. “Get some good sleep, Code. When you wake up, you just might find what Santa left for you.”

“Okay, but Uncle Garrett? Will you be sure to wake me if it snows tonight?”

“You have my promise, Cody. If it does, and I hear it, I’ll come get you.” He didn’t have to warn Cody that it probably wouldn’t snow again; the boy had heard it from him at least a dozen times this week. “Now, get some rest.” Garrett kissed Cody on the forehead.

“Uncle Garrett?”

“I’m here,” he said.

“Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas to you too, Cody.”

*

The first thing Cody did when he woke up Christmas morning was to run into the parlor and look out the big front window. It broke Garrett’s heart to see the disappointment on his nephew’s face when he discovered with his own eyes it hadn’t snowed overnight.

“I guess it didn’t snow,” he said, dejectedly.

“No snow, sorry, Code.”

“It’s okay. Maybe sometime today.”

“Yeah, maybe. Hey, looks like Santa made a stop here last night though. Come see what he brought you.”

Cody dug into his gifts, thrilled with his remote-controlled Jeep, and the new superheroes toys he’d opened.

Garrett might have gone overboard in the gift giving department this year, an overcompensation for Cody’s loss.

They played with the Jeep for an hour, Cody bumping the darn thing into every single piece of furniture in the house until he finally figured out how to control it.

And every few minutes, Cody would stop to look out the window. He’d frown and then go back to playing.

Garrett tried his hand at making waffles with whipped cream and warmed berries for breakfast, but he had a box of sugar doughnuts on standby just in case the waffles bombed. They ended up eating both and then topped it off with hot cocoa until they were both high on a sugar fix.

Around noon, a knock came at the door. He opened it, surprised to find Nicole on his doorstep. “Hi,” he said. His dang heart nearly burst from his chest. She looked amazing, her cheeks pink from the cold, her hair covered in a white knit cap and her face, so beautiful he could hardly stand it.

“Hi.”

She had two wrapped gifts in her hand. “Would you like to come in?”

“Only for a minute. I have something for Cody. And for you.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“Of course, I did. We did Christmas together. And this is part of Christmas.”

“Cody,” Garrett called, all the while staring at Nicole.

Cody took one look at Nicole and ran over to her. “You’re here!”

“I’m here.” She hugged him fiercely. “Cody, I came to thank you for my gift. I love it. I know you painted that ornament all by yourself.”

He nodded. “I did.”

“And my folks appreciated the lovely gifts you had for them too. My mom really loved the cookies, Cody. She might even share them with me.”

He giggled.

She looked at Garrett. “All of the gifts were appreciated. Thank you,” she told him.

He could hardly speak. He cleared his throat. “Welcome.”

“I have something for you too,” she told Cody. “Here you go.”

She handed him his gift.