Hope for Christmas

by Stacy Finz

  “We’ll have to add Harper,” Justin said, and the room got quiet. Hope suddenly became fixated on programming the new phone Drew had gotten her.

  After everything was cleaned up they put Paige down for a nap and the kids went outside to try out Justin and Cody’s new drones. It was nice that they included Hope but Emily worried whether they would include her in the future. She was so different from the ranch kids they knew.

  “I hate to do this on Christmas but we have to talk, Em.” Drew threw the last of the wrapping paper and mangled boxes into a garbage bag. “Kristy and I have to be at work on Tuesday, which means we have to leave sometime tomorrow.”

  Emily’s heart sank and she looked to Clay for moral support.

  “You want to discuss it in here or in my office in case the kids come back?” he asked.

  “Your office sounds good.” Drew put his hand at the small of Kristy’s back and followed Clay through the hallway into a set of double doors. “This is nice.” He looked around at the framed pictures of the ranch harkening back to the Gold Rush and at the brown leather furniture that had worn well over multiple generations.

  “Thanks,” Clay said, and pointed to the sofa. “Make yourselves comfortable. Anyone want a drink?” He walked to the small wet bar at the far end of the room and poured himself a healthy glass of Jack Daniels, Emily noticed.

  The three of them shook their heads no. She took one of the wing chairs next to Clay and braced herself.

  Drew turned to Emily. “I don’t want to be away from our daughter any more than you do but it makes sense that she goes to school here. It’s a safe, caring environment. Kristy and I can see that. The cookie swap Friday . . . well, it was like something out of Mayberry. And I’m afraid after Morton a place like the Bay Area will overwhelm Hope. But I can’t just be a Disneyland dad, Emily. And seven years is a lot time to catch up on. I’d like her on weekends but the drive back and forth will eat a whole day. So . . . I don’t know what to do.” He threw up his hands. “We’re thinking of getting a second place here, maybe telecommuting a day or two to work from Nugget.”

  Emily couldn’t believe her ears. It was a hell of sacrifice, knowing that both he and Kristy were ambitious career lawyers. But it certainly worked in Emily’s favor. She glanced at Clay to see what he was thinking only to get a poker face.

  “That would be wonderful. Can you afford a second home, though?” It really wasn’t her business. But she knew it cost a fortune to live in the Bay Area even on their big salaries and Kristy’s IVF treatments had probably eaten a good chunk of their savings.

  “We’ll figure it out,” he said, and she looked at Kristy for a read on her feelings about all this. Nothing. Her face was blank, which led Emily to believe that this transition was going to be tough on her.

  Clay cleared his throat. “I have a plane. I can fly Hope back and forth.”

  Emily wanted to nudge him into closing his mouth. She didn’t want to give her daughter up on weekends or holidays or summers where she’d be four hours away. It was selfish but she preferred the situation Drew proposed. That way Hope could hop from house to house just a few miles apart.

  “Our friend, Griffin . . . his Sierra Heights . . . has beautiful homes. Homes you’d pay a few million for in Silicon Valley. They’re wonderful investments,” she said.

  Clay seemed to stiffen and she had no idea why. This was the perfect solution.

  “Kristy and I thought we’d drive over there tomorrow before we leave and take a look. If those are out of our budget, we’ll look in town.” Drew turned to Clay. “Thanks for the plane offer. It’s above and beyond but it’s not your responsibility to shuttle my kid.”

  She could feel Clay chafe at the response, even though she knew Drew hadn’t said it to make him feel like an outsider. On numerous occasions, Drew had mentioned to her how generous Clay had been throughout the whole ordeal and what a good guy he was. She would tell Clay later when they had a moment to themselves.

  “I can call Dana, our local real estate agent, and have her set something up for you tomorrow.”

  “Emily, today’s Christmas,” Drew said.

  “She won’t mind because it’s for Hope. That’s how this town works. We look out for one another.”

  “Yeah, I noticed. That’s why I think it’s a good place for Hope,” he said. “Kristy and I are going to take a walk. Anything you’d like us to do before we go?”

  “Nope. I’ve got dinner under control. What do you say we eat at five?”

  “Sounds perfect.” Drew nodded at both Clay and Emily. “Thanks again for hosting us. This has been . . .” He choked up and Emily reached for his hand but Kristy briskly took it and pulled him out of the chair.

  “We’ll see you at dinner,” she said.

  After they left, Emily said, “Was it my imagination or was that weird?”

  “What part of it?” Clay got up and poured himself another Jack. He usually didn’t drink hard liquor in the middle of the day. “The fact that your ex-husband wants to live next door or that his wife feels threatened? Because frankly I don’t blame her.”

  Emily reeled back in surprise. “Threatened? By what?”

  “Don’t tell me you’re that dense? Now that you have your daughter back what’s to stop the two of you from getting back together?”

  “Is that what you think Kristy’s worried about or are you crazy enough to go there, too? My God, Clay. You, the boys, Paige, Hope are my everything. I love Drew like family but I’m madly in love with you. You’re the last person I want to see before I go to sleep at night and the first person I want to see when I wake up in the morning. You’re my life. And everything we’ve built together here, on this ranch . . . I wouldn’t give up for anything. You’re my heart and soul and if you feel even one ounce of insecurity, I’ve failed you.”

  In two steps, he had her wrapped in his arms. “Not you, me. I just love you so much. I never knew life could be this good until I met you. And when we had Paige and then found Hope in Morton . . . well, damn, it didn’t get any better than that.”

  “No, it didn’t.” She breathed him in. Soap, whiskey, man. “And it’s only going to get better. But are you going to have a problem with Drew living here?”

  He was quiet for a long time. Nestled against his wide chest all she could hear was his heartbeat. Then finally he said, “For your and Hope’s sake I’ll get used to it.”

  “It won’t be full-time and I promise he’ll never come between us. Ever. As much as I’m in love with you, he’s in love with Kristy. I just hope she’s as understanding as you, because not having Hope go back and forth from here to the Bay Area means the world to me. The change for her is already so much. Living between two places with two different families after losing Maureen and Duke . . .” She let out a breath. “I just want her to feel that bond with me again.”

  He lifted her chin and held her gaze. “She will. Just give her time.”

  “And you? Are we good, Clay?”

  “We are now. I guess I just needed some reassurance, which is stupid.”

  Given that his late wife had been unfaithful throughout their marriage, Emily understood. The last few weeks would’ve been trying for any couple. But Clay was her rock and she wanted to be his.

  “Good, because my feelings for you are unshakable.”

  “Yeah?” His lips curved up in that signature cowboy grin that never failed to make her tummy dip and then he kissed her long and passionately.

  Chapter 13

  “They’re moving to Nugget?” Rhys leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the desk.

  Clay had popped in to say hi while running errands and to catch up with his best friend. They hadn’t had time to talk since they’d found Hope. “Part time. Griffin’s giving them a great deal on a four-bedroom. That way they’ll have the extra square footage to grow into the place and Hope can have her own room when she stays over there.”

  “How do you feel about Emily’s ex living a few m
iles down the road?”

  “The truth: I wasn’t thrilled with it at first but it makes the most sense, and Emily’s over the moon that Hope won’t be splitting her time between here and the Bay Area. Drew’s an okay guy.” He grinned because in the five days since Christmas it had been like a second honeymoon for him and Emily. They’d been all over each other, hugging and kissing. And at night, while Paige slept, laying in each other’s arms, leaving no doubt in his mind that they were solid and that Drew wasn’t a threat.

  “And Hope? How’s she adjusting?”

  Clay made the so-so gesture with his hand. “Half the time she’s moody and sullen. It breaks Emily’s heart that Hope doesn’t remember her. You think that’s normal for a six-year-old to completely forget her parents?”

  “I think it’s probably a defense mechanism, especially if the Lanes told her that her parents died. The mind is pretty powerful when it comes to protecting itself from painful truths.”

  “Yeah, maybe. I just wish the kid would cut Emily a break. She’s a sweet little girl when she wants to be. And she likes to bake, which makes Em happy. They’ve been doing that together. But it’s always Maureen this and Maureen that . . . it’s grating. The woman was a goddamned felon.”

  “It can’t be easy. But finding her alive and well . . . Jesus, Clay . . . you know the statistics. You’ve gotta know how lucky you are. How about the boys? How are they dealing with all this?”

  “Okay, I guess. These days, the only thing Justin thinks about is Cynthia and Cody has always been an easygoing kid, except for the anxiety, which is much better now. I think when Justin goes off to college, he’ll like having a sibling at home closer to his age than Paige. And she seems to tolerate them.” He chuckled. “Actually, it’s kind of cute how she follows them around . . . Samuel, too. He’s been good with her.”

  “They all lost mothers,” Rhys said about the boys. Sam’s mom was killed in a hit-and-run, leaving Rhys and Maddy to raise him. And Jen . . . for all her problems, Justin and Cody had loved her and grieved her passing. “For all intents and purposes, Maureen was Hope’s mother.”

  “Yeah. Well the kid’s got Stockholm syndrome. Enough about us, how was your Christmas? You get Maddy that grill?”

  Rhys laughed. “Nah, I took your advice. Got her jewelry, instead.”

  “And you’re still married.” Clay lifted an eyebrow in an I-told-you-so fashion. “I better get moving. I still need to get a haircut and Emily’s got a baking blog to write for the Nugget Tribune. I promised to take Paige off her hands for a few hours.”

  “What are you guys doing tomorrow for New Year’s Eve? We’re having a bunch of people over. Maddy wasn’t sure whether you wanted to stay home with just the family.”

  Clay shrugged. “I’ll talk to Emily and see what she thinks.”

  He strolled out of the station house and waved goodbye to Connie, who was fielding calls. The Nugget Mafia had taken up residence at the barbershop, instead of Griff’s Gas and Go, which in the last couple of years had become their new home.

  “How’s things going with the girl?” Owen asked, and motioned for Clay to take a seat in his chair before swishing a cape around his neck.

  “Harper’s doing great.”

  “Thought her name was Hope,” the mayor said.

  “She goes by Harper now.” Clay didn’t want to get into it, not with these guys, who were the worst gossips in town.

  “Sounds like a boy’s name,” Owen said.

  “Well it’s not.” He pointed at his hair in the mirror. “Just a little off the sides and back.”

  Owen pulled his scissors from a canister with blue sanitizer and began to snip at the edges of Clay’s hair. “That cookie swap deal that Annie and Emily organized was a big hit from what I hear. According to Donna, it raised a lot of money. Darla says she sold quite a bit of product that day.” He gazed at a line of shelves filled with fancy shampoos and hair-styling goop.

  “That’s good.” The cookie swap was the farthest thing from Clay’s mind but it was a better conversation topic than whether Harper was a boy’s name. “Emily says there’s talk of it becoming an annual event.”

  “I thought it was pretty stupid, myself. But Darla was happy. And the Baker’s Dozen coven was falling all over themselves with self-congratulations.”

  “Yep,” Clay said absently. “You almost done?”

  “Why is everyone in a hurry these days?” Owen continued evening out the sides, then shaved the back of Clay’s neck and spun him around so he could see the cut from all angles. “Good?”

  “Perfect.” The fact was he was in a rush to get home.

  Owen took off the cape and met Clay at the cash register.

  “What do you got here?” he asked, perusing a display of hair clips.

  “Darla got it in her head to sell them.” Owen looked unimpressed. “Who’s gonna spend fifteen bucks on a blingy barrette?”

  “I don’t know, it seems to me that Darla knows what she’s doing. I’ll take the one with pearls for Emily.” Clay pulled out his wallet and laid a couple of twenties on the counter. “On second thought, give me the pink rhinestone one, too.” Hope was crazy for pink. He’d get one for Paige but she was a little on the bald side, he chuckled to himself and pulled out another twenty.

  On his way out, he called Happy New Year to the mafia.

  Owen called back, “Tell Emily I couldn’t be happier for her. Damn Christmas miracle, finding that girl.”

  Yes it was. He just wished Hope would let Emily in, make her feel like the girl’s mother, instead of like a stranger.

  * * *

  They were going to Samuel’s house for New Year’s Eve dinner and Champagne. Well, sparkling apple cider for the kids, which was fine by Harper. She’d once tasted Champagne at Leslie Hamilton’s house when they’d snuck what was left of a bottle to her room. It had tasted horrible and the bubbles had gone up Harper’s noise.

  She looked at herself in the full-length mirror in her room. Her stuff had finally come and she and Emily had set it up just the way it had been at her old house in Morton. The room here, though, was bigger and had a pretty view of the mountains, the river, and the apartment where Drew and Kristy had stayed. Everyone called it the barn. Even though it looked like a barn from the outside, it had fancy furniture and a ginormous kitchen, where Emily worked on her cookbooks, on the inside.

  Everything here was . . . well, she wouldn’t call it fancy but expensive, like it came from nice stores and not the Goodwill or a garage sale. Harper could tell that Emily didn’t like her old stuff from the Morton house and wanted to buy new. The whole time they’d decorated Harper’s room together, Emily had cried, which she did constantly. But the furniture and pictures were all she had left of Maureen and Duke. And even if they weren’t her real parents, she missed them and didn’t want to throw her old things out like they didn’t exist.

  So, Clay, Justin, and Cody had helped clear out the room to make space for her bed and dresser, which had come in a big moving truck. Then they’d carried in her nightstand, posters, stuffed animals, and boxes of clothes, even though she’d gotten a ton more for Christmas. Emily helped her hang all of it in the big walk-in closet.

  Next week, they were going to decorate her bathroom. Emily said they could paint it any color she wanted. She was glad she didn’t have to share with Justin and Cody because they were messy and it would be embarrassing if they walked in on her. She got her own bedroom and bathroom at Drew and Kristy’s new house, too. It was like a resort with a big swimming pool, tennis courts, a clubhouse, and a golf course. Kristy said Justin and Cody—and Paige when she got older—could come over and use the stuff whenever they wanted to. Even Cynthia.

  At first, Harper didn’t think Kristy wanted to live in Nugget but when she saw Sierra Heights her whole attitude changed. All of sudden she seemed excited and kept talking about all the friends they’d invite to the mountains. It was going to be weird having two houses but Harper was looking forward to
swimming in that pool. Cody said in the summertime they could also go in the river, which she used to do in Morton. It hadn’t been as bad as she thought it would be moving here.

  Emily even let her hold Paige and change her diaper and Clay let her sit behind him on Big Red. She was still nervous about going to a new school but at least she already knew Cody, Samuel, and Katie.

  “You almost ready, honey?” Emily tapped on the door.

  “I’ll be out in a few minutes.” The new skinny jeans she’d gotten for Christmas looked good on her, she thought. She started to stuff her feet into a pair of snow boots, then decided what the heck, it was New Year’s Eve and got down the pink cowboy boots Clay bought her and used his pink rhinestone barrette to clip her hair back. She gave herself one more assessing look in the mirror, decided she was ready to go and dashed down the stairs.

  Everyone was waiting for her in the hallway.

  “Took you long enough,” Cody said. “We’re just going next door for God’s sake.”

  “You look beautiful.” Emily smiled and gave her shoulder a little squeeze. It felt nice, even though it was annoying.

  “Good-looking boots.” Clay put her in a headlock with one arm and Cody in one with the other and marched them to the SUV.

  Emily buckled in Paige and they drove a short distance to a house that looked just like the Lumber Baron, only smaller. There were a bunch of cars in the driveway and Harper looked for Justin’s truck. He said he and Cynthia might drop by before going to a party. When they got inside there were a lot of people.

  Samuel took her coat and his sister, Lina, said they could go in his room and play video games until dinner was ready. Katie was there, too, so at least Harper wasn’t the only girl. Sam’s niece, Emma, and another girl named Lilly were the cutest little things and Harper asked one of their moms if she wanted her to babysit them. She could take Paige too.

  “That’s okay,” said the lady. “You guys go have fun. There’s plenty of people down here to watch them but that was very sweet of you to offer. I’m Sophie by the way. I’m good friends of your parents.”