Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 55769 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55769 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
Trish Logan, down to the bone, was “crazy town.”
But she was also hilarious, loved her daughter, loved Hank with her daughter, and family was family, and it didn’t need to be said, Christmas was family time.
“I did promise her Christmases,” he reminded her.
“I know, but this year, with things…” she trailed off.
It was hard for her to talk about it.
It was hard for any of them to talk about it.
So he didn’t make her talk about it.
“I know,” he murmured.
“We had to stay in Denver. For Vance.”
Everything was fine now. It was a miracle, but it was.
But she was right. They had to stay in Denver, especially Roxie.
For Vance.
“This is about Tex too, I assume,” Hank noted.
She nodded. “Mom has him back, and as usual with Mom, she’s going for the gusto.”
“It’s gonna be okay,” he assured her.
“It’s not going to be okay,” she returned.
“Sunshine,” he wrapped his hand around her neck, “it’s going to be okay.”
She searched his eyes. After a few beats, hers settled.
Because that was what he was for her.
Her rock.
She was his everything, and that was what he was for her.
So, yeah.
It was going to be okay.
Because even if it wasn’t, he’d make it that way.
“Oh my God!” Roxie yelled from the kitchen.
Luke and Hank, both in the back room watching a football game, looked at each other.
And they both grinned.
Roxie showed in the room and shouted, “I just knew I shouldn’t let Tex pick them up from the airport!”
After delivering that, she flounced out.
Luke and Hank were buds, but they didn’t hang often. Luke was there to be witness to what happened next.
Hank didn’t blame him, and he was surprised he didn’t have a house full of Rock Chicks and Hank’s friends. Trish and Herb’s entertainment value was second to none, and it was far better to watch it unfold than to listen to what went down after the fact. (Though, that was good too.)
Both men stood and strolled from the back room into the kitchen where they saw Roxie standing in the open front door, shouting out of it.
“Mom! It’s December twenty-third! We already have a tree!”
Hank instantly looked over the kitchen sink out the window.
And sure enough, outside in the freshly fallen snow, Shamus was dancing around Herb and Tex, who were carting in a massive fir tree.
Explaining how that could happen, Tex’s El Camino wasn’t at the curb. He’d borrowed one of Lee’s company Explorers. And it looked piled high in the back with wrapped Christmas presents.
Hank bit back a bark of laughter.
“You can’t have too many Christmas trees, Roxanne Giselle,” Trish announced reproachfully, right before she pulled her daughter forcefully into her arms and hugged her so tight, you could see how tight it was, doing this while swinging her back and forth.
She then caught sight of Hank, let Roxie go and shoved her aside with such force, Roxie’s hair swayed.
She called, “Sweet Jesus! Praise the Lord!” while coming his way.
“Hey there, Trish,” he greeted, moving toward her and still holding back laughter.
“Sweet Jesus!” she shouted.
“Not in the house two seconds, and she’s covering it in Sweet Jesus,” Herb grumbled from the direction of the door as Trish hugged him tight.
“It is Christmas, Sweet Jesus seems the way to go,” he heard Luke say under his breath.
Hank put a stop to the swaying by standing firm, but he hugged Trish back, and he did it still holding back laughter.
She let him go and turned to Luke.
Hank watched with interest to see what happened next. Not many people hugged Luke Stark.
Trish Logan was not many people.
Although Luke didn’t reciprocate, Trish wasn’t deterred, and even when it was over, she reached up to pat his cheek and mumbled, “You’re a good boy.”
Luke Stark.
A good boy.
That was too much. Hank was almost certain he sprained something trying not to bust out laughing, but Luke’s only response was his lips forming a smirk.
“Trish Logan, I told you, this huge-ass tree ain’t gonna fit in this room,” Herb announced, standing with Tex in Hank’s living room with the tree up and unfurled. He then looked to Hank. “Son,” he greeted, his eyes going to Luke. “Luke.”
They both said the same thing in reply.
“Herb.”
And Herb told no lies. The tree was massive and taking up all the available space. So much, both Tex and Herb were partially obscured by the branches.
Trish was taking off her coat with no apparent concern that there was a probably very expensive tree that could not remain in that house (it also probably couldn’t be returned) taking up the living room.
“It’s not meant for in here. It’s meant for the family room,” she declared.
Oh shit.
Hank and Roxie’s tree was already set up in the family room. It had been since the weekend after Thanksgiving. It was a beautiful live tree, with all new ornaments, and even if Hank wasn’t much of a shopper, he’d enjoyed traipsing from store to store all over Denver with Roxie to find exactly what they wanted.