Page 7 of A Rancher's Love
It was the best kind of chaos.
It wasn’t until after supper that Ginny even attempted to make heads or tails of the crowded room. Tamara and Caleb pulled her aside as everyone else fell into a comfortable routine of clean up and preparation for evening activities.
“I didn’t bother to text you an update that the horde would arrive before you,” Caleb admitted. “Figured you needed to come home anyway, and a few extra people wouldn’t scare you.”
“Afew?” Ginny counted heads as another couple arrived at the back door. A shout of happiness rose from Luke as he raced to greet them, Kelli hard on his heels.
“It’s been a perfect storm,” Tamara said. “That’s Diane and Jack. They’re staying with Luke and Kelli for the holidays. My sisters are here tonight, and my dad, because my brothers-in-law’s families all made last minute plans—never mind the details. It’s a tangled mess, but basically, we’ve got a full house.”
“But we’re glad you’re back,” Caleb insisted, rising to his feet in response to a call for help from one of the less familiar men in the room. “We’ll talk tomorrow about your plans. Or the next day. But soon. We’ve got news to share.”
He was gone before she could poke any further. Ginny eyed Tamara who had remained behind. “Are you pregnant?”
“Shut your mouth,” Tamara said wryly. “I’m not masochistic enough to dothatagain. No, it’s different good news, but you have to wait until we’re down to immediate family.”
“I am patience personified,” Ginny drawled.
“Good, because I am so far behind on Christmas Day prep, it’s not even funny. We need to get the kids to sleep before we can put up the tree, and with everyone storming the castle unexpectedly, that’s going to take a Christmas miracle.”
“Or a really fabulous elf who masquerades as an auntie.” This Ginny could willingly do. “Let me take care of the girls. It’ll be fun to get caught up, and I can keep them occupied until they pass out.”
“If you’re sure, I’d appreciate it. Sasha and Emma will be thrilled.” Tamara eyed her eighteen-month-old son currently sitting in his grandpa’s lap, blinking hard in a desperate attempt to stay awake. “Thank goodness that one will pass out on time.”
For the next couple of hours, Ginny fell back into the still familiar, yet brand-new sensation of caring for her nieces.
“Uncle Walker called. He said Santa left some presents for us at his house,” Emma informed her as they sat on her bed and worked on dressing dolls in holiday finery. “He and Auntie Ivy will bring them over tomorrow.”
“That’s good. I’m sure sometimes Santa’s sled must get a little overloaded.”
Sasha’s face twisted through a series of strange contortions, her lips especially grinding together as if she were fighting to keep from speaking out of line.
Sure enough, as soon as Emma slipped away to the bathroom, Sasha scooted up against Ginny’s side and dropped her voice to a mere whisper. “The whole Santa thing is old news to me. I mean, the bit about him being everyone, and not a real person. But I’m not sure Emma’s figured it out yet, soshhhh. I don’t want to spoil it for her. Okay?”
She pressed a finger over her lips and nodded decisively.
“I won’t say a word,” Ginny promised. “I’m a good secret keeper.”
The conversation turned to the excitement of tomorrow, and that they’d have not only presents in the morning with Mama and Papa, but that their friend Talia was coming over for a birthday gift exchange—it was all very exciting, and Ginny loved the time to simply relax with the girls.
She’d spent oodles of time with them, from the time they were babies, but being away for three years meant she’d missed a lot of big recent changes. Finding out who they were now was wonderful and humbling.
So much to relearn. So much to figure out.
Lights finally out, goodnight kisses complete, Ginny rejoined the crew in the living room and helped set up the tree as the Stone tradition dictated. Laughter continued to flow around the room, but there were enough people, she easily stayed on the edges. Which meant she spent more time observing and less sharing her own plans.
Only, when she’d covered her third yawn in under five minutes, Ginny found her sister-in-law and quietly let her know she was headed to bed.
“Umm, about that.” Tamara’s smile looked a little frazzled. “I hate to tell you this, but there’s no room at the inn.”
Ginny paused. She’d slept in her old basement room the last couple times she’d visited, but there were a lot of guests still milling around. “Want me to stay with Dustin in the cottage?”
Her sister-in-law shook her head. “He’s got a friend with him for the next two weeks. You do not need to hang out with a couple of twenty-two-year-olds. Also, Luke and Kelli have their friends staying over, the crew quarters are full. Bottom-line, would you mind crashing in one of the trailers? The one next to the south barn is clean, and there are bedsheets in there.” Tamara made a face. “I’m not sure if anyone got around to actually making the bed, though.”
“I can handle that,” Ginny promised. She laid a hand on her sister-in-law’s arm. “It’s okay. I’mfamily. You don’t need to guest me up.”
Tamara wrapped her in a big hug. “I’m very much looking forward to getting to know you better. I’ve always enjoyed the time we’ve had in the past.”
“Me, too,” Ginny said honestly. “Plus, we need to reminisce in Caleb’s presence about how you were a total badass and took him to the ground the first time you two met.”
