He’d been getting texts from his brother for several days now about his mother- and father-in-law, as Tuck had never really spent a lot of time with them while dating Bobbie Jo or since they’d been married. Blending two families certainly wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to do, and instead of spouting off and causing a problem, Tucker had matured enough to simply text his brother and vent things out instead.
Deacon had a smaller family text that included his parents, Jane and Cord, Hunter and Molly, and Tucker and Bobbie Jo, and he sat up and took a selfie of himself with rumpled hair and his black sleep shirt.
Merry Christmas to everyone. I love you all, and hope that maybe we could have the holidays here at the farm next year together.
If he started planning now, he could avoid a situation like what he currently found himself in.
All of the adults in his family replied, sending selfies of themselves as well, some with the hashtag#SaturdaySelfieor #ChristmasComeAsYouAre.
Jane and Cord were still clearly in bed, their heads pressed close together on one pillow as they grinned up at the camera. Daddy sat at the bar at his house in Coral Canyon, and Momma pressed her cheek to his, the two of them, the half-dark and half-light combo that Deacon found inside Tuck every time he saw his older brother.
Tuck had a picture of just himself on the back deck, saying he’d come outside for a bit of fresh air while Bobbie Jo helped her momma make pancakes for breakfast. Molly had extended her hand way out in front of her to capture her face in the lower part of the picture and Hunt whisking something on the counter in the house right next door.
Satisfied and filled with love for his family, Deacon finally abandoned his phone on his nightstand and went to shower.
Several hours later, Deacon pulled up to Matthew Whettstein’s house, the man who had basically been a second father for him growing up. Matt had been the foreman at the Hammond Family Farm for almost thirty years, and Deacon wasn’t even that old yet. He was as steady as the sun and just as warm, and he stepped out onto the front porch before Deacon had even retrieved the three dozen rolls he’d stopped by the bakery and brought along for today’s meal.
“Merry Christmas,” Matt called, and he tucked his hands in his denim jacket pockets. “Looks like the weather held off. It’s good news for those people going up to Coral Canyon and over to loved ones’.”
“Sure is.” Deacon put a smile on his face and jogged up the steps and into Matt’s arms. “Thanks for having me.”
“You’re always welcome here, Deac.” He clapped him on the shoulder and then turned to lead him inside.
Deacon found that he had arrived last, behind Keith, Lindsay, and baby Nash. Britt and Lars sat cuddled together in one oversized recliner, looking at something on her phone. When he saw Deacon, Lars jumped to his feet. “Hey, Deacon, how you doing?”
He was a nice guy, an eternal optimist. Deacon wondered what that would be like—to perpetually see the good and feel happy about almost all things. He’d definitely inherited some of his daddy’s quietness and grumpiness, and Deacon did like things that were slow and steady, a little bit old-fashioned, and that felt good and downright homey. He didn’t need flashy technology or bright lights or the rush of a bull beneath him the way Tuck did, and he’d never aspired to be anything but a cowboy, a simple farmer.
He supposed God had put him last in his family for that very reason, as he’d never have to feel the pressure of being the CEO of the Hammond Manufacturing Company the way his uncle had, and then Hunter, and now his cousin Mike.
Jane had fought for her place in town with Cord and among everyone in the Hammond family, whether they were there by blood or not, but Deacon had never felt like that either. He fit, and he belonged, and he had his space. He always had. He’d never needed more.
He leaned down and swept a kiss across Britt’s temple. “How you feeling, Britt?”
“Really good today,” she said. “The baby’s moving a lot, though.”
Deacon smiled at her and then turned toward the kitchen, where Lindsay worked with Cosette, Boone, and Gloria. He wentto the cusp of the linoleum and took off his cowboy hat. “Howdy, everyone.”
Cosette moved right into him and hugged him hard. “Merry Christmas, Deacon. We’re so happy you’re here with us.”
He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t wanted to go out and see his aunt and uncle and his blood cousins, and he’d thought for a few minutes that perhaps it had something to do with Steele. But with Opal having the baby and then Gerty making another announcement via text and pictures, he knew it was something more.
After breakfast, she’d sent several of West opening his presents, and then one of her and Mikey, both wearing shirts—hers that readMomma x2,and Mike’s that said,I’m going to be a daddy again.
So they were pregnant again, and due in July, and Deacon should be happy for all the amazing, good things his cousins and siblings and friends were doing. And he was; he absolutely was.
So he shook Boone’s hand, gave him his cowboy hat to hang up, and then hugged Gloria and Lindsay. After the greetings finished, he turned to return to the living room, only to come face-to-face with Keith holding his six-month-old.
“I’ll take him,” Deacon said.
“He needs to be fed,” Keith said. “And I’m supposed to help candy the ham. Do you mind?”
“Not even a little bit.” Deacon took the little boy from Keith and then the burp cloth and the bottle.
“My momma’s got a rocking chair back in the guest bedroom,” he said.
Deacon nodded and went down the hall. Though he didn’t know where the guest bedroom was, and had never been there, it certainly wouldn’t be hard to find. He found it in the first bedroom on the left, and he settled into the chair in the roomwith the blinds closed, the sunlight dimmed and pure serenity streaming through it.
Little Nash gave a wail, and Deacon shushed him and tucked him securely into the crook of his arm, holding him tightly against his body, and smoothing the burp cloth over the baby’s chest. Then he offered the bottle, to which Nash glommed onto eagerly, his eyes also locked on Deacon.
