I was about to tell him about how much I liked the ceiling when I was interrupted by the blaring of a horn being honked loud and long from the vicinity of the driveway. We both stiffened, listening for additional sounds. The horn honked again and we were spurred into action.

I jogged down the hall looking for my pants and pulling them and my boots on in a rush. Drew, sadly for me, shrugged into a long-sleeved shirt, but he didn’t make any attempt to change out of his flannel pajama bottoms or put on shoes. He then tossed me one of his sweaters. When it was over my head, he looped his arm around my waist and pressed me against him for a quick kiss.

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you, too,” I said.

We both smiled at the certainty in each other and headed for the door.

The sight that greeted us was unexpected but in no way unwelcome.

A parade of cars was pulling into the short driveway. I recognized Drew’s truck, which Beau had driven up the mountain. Roscoe, Sandra, and Alex were stepping out of the passenger side, Alex from the front seat, and Sandra from the back of the cab along with Roscoe.

Then came Jethro’s truck loaded up with the rest of the Winston boys.

Then came a police cruiser.

Drew glanced at me and wasn’t quite frowning. Rather, it was a glare of mild irritation because we both guessed that Jackson James was driving the cruiser.

The crowd unloaded themselves and started toward the steps, chitchatting with each other like today was Sunday and they’d just left church.

Jethro reached us first. He was carrying what looked like a cake container and he wore a shit-eating grin. “Well, hello, you two. My, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”

“Jethro.” Drew nodded at my brother once. “What’s going on?”

“It’s Christmas Eve. We thought we’d bring the party up here. Also, Ashley forgot her clothes at the house, so we brought those too.” Jethro patted Drew on the shoulder and walked into the house like he’d been invited.

Roscoe came in next. He was carrying my suitcase and looking pleased as punch. “I’ll just go put this in your bedroom. You know, the one you two share.”

Beau and Duane followed, their arms full of food, Beau shaking his head as he mounted the steps. “I swear, Drew. You need to get rid of Jackson James; let him know Ash is your woman. He didn’t say it when he pulled us over for speeding on the way up, but I’m pretty sure he’s expecting to share sandwiches with Ash here sometime soon.”

Duane nodded his agreement. “I hate that guy, always pulling me over.”

“Were you speeding?” I asked.

“Hell, yeah.” Duane paired this with a wink and a grin.

Cletus and Alex were deep in conversation as they approached the porch; I saw that Cletus was clutching his chessboard, and Alex was holding several boxes.

“Oh, hey Ash…Drew.” Alex nodded to us like it was perfectly natural for him to be there. I loved that. I loved that he felt that way.

Cletus stopped just long enough to give Drew an intense stare. “So…now can I welcome you into the family?”

Drew nodded. “Yep. Now you can welcome me into the family.”

“Okay. Welcome to the family.”

Then Cletus and Alex disappeared inside.

Sandra came next, carrying a large punch bowl full of white fluid.

“It’s moonshine eggnog,” she explained, huffing a little under the strain of the heavy bowl. “It’s not actually all that bad. Quinn didn’t like it, but then he doesn’t like anything except his wife.”

“Where is everyone? Did they fly back?” I asked, moving to help her.

“No, no—I got it. Everyone flew back that night after Jethro told us what he’d done. To be honest, it was a relief.” Sandra walked quickly inside, calling over her shoulder, “It saved us from having to plan something similar.”

Billy climbed the stairs with leisurely steps, holding bags full of wrapped presents. His expression was cool yet untroubled. When he reached Drew and me, he stopped. He glanced at me then he moved his eyes to Drew and said, “I expect you to treat her right. I expect you to make her believe in magic again—fairies, rainbows, all that shit. We understand each other?”

Drew nodded, reaching out his hand to my second brother. “Yes, sir. We understand each other.”

Billy glanced at Drew’s hand, placed one of the bags on the porch, then accepted it for a brief, firm shake. He then glanced over his shoulder as he picked up the bag and added, “Ashley, will you get rid of that guy, please?”

As Billy walked inside, Drew and I turned our attention to beardless Jackson James. He was hovering in the driveway, standing just in front of his car. When he saw me looking at him, he gave me a little wave.

I gathered a deep breath and returned his wave with a polite smile, saying to Drew, “Do you think you can handle that crowd in there?”

“I think so…for a little while, at least.”

“I’m going to go find out what he wants,” I said, tilting my head in Jackson’s direction.

Drew nodded, his eyes tranquil and bright. “You do that.”

He leaned down and gave me a soft kiss, then walked inside to deal with our crazy family.

I eyed Jackson for a beat before I walked leisurely down the steps to meet him on the driveway.

“Hey, Jackson.”

“Hi, Ashley. I hope you don’t mind me following Duane for a stretch. When he said you were in town, I thought…well, I need to talk to you about what happened with Darrell, when you took the gun.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, hugging myself against the cold. “Did I take the gun? I don’t remember that. I remember you handing me the gun.” This was the story I’d told the police on the day of the attempted kidnapping.

Jackson smiled. “Yeah. Well, thanks. And I’m sorry I went to park my car rather than come help you. I didn’t know what you were doing. I should have followed you.”

I shrugged, walking to the hood of his car and leaning against it. It was still warm. “It’s over now. Nothing can be done about the past.”

Jackson turned so that we were still facing each other, the house behind him. A troubled frown cast a shadow over his handsome features; he studied me for a beat before adding, “Well, your daddy and his buddies pled guilty, no contest. They’re doing three to five in Bledsoe County. So, at least you won’t be seeing him for a while.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Ashley,” he said suddenly, taking a half step forward, “I’m really sorry about your momma. She was a very kind woman…a good woman.”

“Thanks, Jackson. I appreciate that.” My eyes drifted over his shoulder, detecting movement from the house. Beau and Duane were standing in the window facing the driveway. Their arms were crossed. Their faces wore similarly stern expressions. They were looking at us.

Jackson, noticing the direction of my gaze, twisted to look over his shoulder. Both my brothers took this opportunity to use the index and middle fingers of their right hand to point to their faces, then turn the fingers back on Jackson in the universal symbol for I’m watching you.

They did this in unison.

I rolled my eyes. “Just ignore them.”

Jackson looked back at me and grinned. “Nah. It’s fine. They don’t like me much since Darlene Simmons and I went on a date.”

“When was this?” I remembered Darlene from high school. She was two years older than us—same grade as Duane and Beau—and every guy’s cheerleader fantasy.

“Oh….” Jackson squinted, bent down, and picked up a rock from the driveway. “I guess about three years ago.”

I barked a laugh. “Looks like they need to get over it.”

He nodded, his warm brown eyes searching my face, a hesitant smile on his lips. A brief silence fell between us as he looked at me and I allowed him to look.

At last—seemingly shaking himself—he said, “Ashley, I didn’t want to be bugging you while you were going through everything with your momma, but I did want a chance to speak with you for just a few minutes.” He halted, hesitated, his eyes sweeping over my face.

“Sure.” I shrugged.

“The thing is,” he started, stopped, glanced at the rock in his hands, “I wanted to apologize, for the way I treated you after high school. I wasn’t nice, and I wasn’t fair, and you deserved better.”

The words were nice and they made me realize that I needed to hear them. I also realized that it’s never too late to apologize, but some apologies come too late.

“Don’t worry about it, Jackson. I appreciate the apology, but that was all a long time ago.”

He nodded, looking up at me again. “Yeah, but I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time.”

I pressed my lips together and gave him a smile, which he returned. We stood quietly looking at each other for another beat before he said, “So…you and Drew Runous, huh?”

My smile grew. “Yeah. Me and Drew.”

His eyes narrowed. “Is it serious?”

I nodded, my smile morphing into a giant grin. “Yep. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s a chronic condition.”

***