Page 55 of Son of a Preacher Man

“Close your eyes now.” He glanced to Dillon, who stood behind her, pressing his fist into the small of her back. “How high do you wanna go?”

“As high as the sky.”

He couldn’t see Linnea’s face, but he felt her smile on his chest. She remembered. “And you’ll get there. I’ll help, but you’ve got to do your part.”

“Pump those legs.”

“That’s right.” Smiling, Kodiak closed his eyes once more. “Imagine the wind blowing through your hair, the sun warm on your face.”

And gently, he placed her in Dillon’s arms.

I love you, sweet sister, forever and always. You were worth every sin.

Just after midnight on Christmas Eve, Charlotte came into the world. Kelly was the first person that he called.

It was time.

A time of miracles and new beginnings. For Linnea. For Dillon. And for him, too.

She sat in her sister’s family room, swirling ice cubes in her glass with her finger. Looking outside, past blinking multi-colored lights, snow softly fell, dusting the stark landscape in white. As a young girl, Kelly loathed this place, and she still did. Stagnant and stifling, its small-town charm held little appeal. Certain there was something better out there just waiting for her, at eighteen she moved to Chicago and had been there ever since.

Thirty now, life hadn’t turned out exactly as she’d planned it, but then, does anybody’s? Kelly never anticipated the curveballs that would come her way. Once naïve, innocent, and far too trusting, she’d made a lot of mistakes. So fucking many. And some mistakes? Well, they can last a lifetime.

Sipping her watered-down Baileys, Kelly glanced over at her niece. Katie was just like her. Being only ten years apart, they’d always been close—as close as sisters. It wasn’t surprising to anyone, least of all her, when Katie followed in her footsteps. Lord knows, she’d tried to protect her, to keep her from making the same terrible mistakes that she had, but she failed.

Miserably.

Katie sat across from her, all pretty and prim, under her husband’s wing. It seemed as if he always had to be touching her in same way, like she might disappear if he didn’t. Hell, she was cuddled up in his lap half the time, Brendan petting her like a puppy. Weird. Her niece thought it sweet. At least they were keeping the PDA to a minimum, playing the respectable married couple—no doubt for the family’s sake.

If they only knew.

Katie’s father would have a coronary.

Kelly’s sisters would have a field day.

Living vicariously through others, as if they didn’t have lives of their own, Kristie, Kim, and Kara thrived on idle chatter. Offering up their unwanted opinions. Sticking their noses where they didn’t belong. As the youngest of the four, Kelly had been putting up with their tiresome meddling her entire life.

Luckily for Katie, Brendan, with his authoritative charm, won them over. Everyone except her, that is. But then Kelly wasn’t young and dumb anymore. She knew better.

Barely twelve hours into this holiday gathering, and already she wished it was over. The liqueur coating her tongue made it fuzzy. Gross. With Miracle on 34th Street playing on the TV, Kelly left them to their movie, tossing what remained of her drink down the sink.

“Auntie, your phone’s going off.”

She glanced back over her shoulder. Katie held up her phone, a wide grin on her face, Kodiak flashing on the screen.

“Give me that.” Snatching the phone from her niece, Kelly returned to the kitchen. “Hey, you. Miss me already? It’s late.”

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

“No.” And even if you had, I love hearing the sound of your voice. “Everything okay?”

“Oh, yeah, everything’s fine. I’m at the hospital. Linnea just had the baby…”

Kodiak told her all about Charlotte, and she listened. How beautiful she was. How much she weighed. While his pride in becoming an uncle was evident, there was a note of sadness in his happiness.

“I just needed to tell you.” A long pause followed. “Oh, and Snicks?”

“Yeah?”

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