He smiled.“Merry Christmas, honey.”
Then she dressed, and they headed downstairs.Travis was gone.Leyton was there.
“What did Dan say about having someone stay here with us while Rory and Lacy are here?”Frank asked.
“He said it was fine since we’re so close by.But after Christmas, if you two are alone, we’ll have someone staying with you until we catch these guys.”
“All right,” Florence said.
Just then, Rory and Lacy arrived, wishing everyone a merry Christmas and giving hugs all around, even to Leyton.
“Merry Christmas, everyone.If you have any trouble at all, call us.”Then Leyton left.
“The snow is really picking up,” Lacy said.
“We want you to stay overnight.”Florence motioned to the guest rooms upstairs.“Once the gifts are wrapped and under the tree, you can choose a room.”
“All right, if it’s terrible out, we will,” Rory said.
Frank figured he knew he would be needed at the ranch, but he wouldn’t risk Lacy’s safety either by returning to the ranch during a blizzard.
Florence turned on the Christmas music, Lacy lit the cinnamon-scented candles, and Frank plugged in all the Christmas lights.
Lacy and Florence began making fresh cinnamon rolls while Frank made everyone coffee, and Rory worked on the eggnog topped with nutmeg.Then Lacy grilled some pork sausages to eat with their cinnamon rolls.
They were soon sitting down to breakfast, and Frank and Florence were telling about the reindeer on the roof that turned out to be cougars.
“Oh, no, I can’t believe they keep coming here.”Then Lacy frowned.“They probably thought I would be here last night for Christmas Eve.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Frank said.
“Me too.”Florence drank some of her coffee.“Frank and I still need to wrap presents.”
“We need to run out to the pickup truck and bring ours in,” Lacy said.
“Okay, well, we’re going to head upstairs and wrap up things and bring them down.”Florence carried some of the mugs into the kitchen.
Lacy brought in some of the others.
Then Lacy and Rory left the house to gather presents, and Frank and Florence ascended the stairs to wrap theirs.Florence brought wrapping paper, Christmas bags, tape, and bows out of her closet and divided them between them.She had put Christmas presents in Lacy’s guest room.Frank had used the other one to hide his gifts.
With arms full of wrapping and such, they entered the bedrooms and shut the doors.After a while, they carried the packages downstairs and put them under the tree.
“It looks like a lot of us were nice and not naughty,” Lacy said.
Rory kissed her.“I’ll say.”
Lacy kissed him, then headed for the kitchen.“Coffee or cocoa for everyone?”
“Cocoa,” Florence said.
“Same for me,” Frank said.
“I’ll help you.”Rory went into the kitchen with Lacy, and the aroma of chocolate and sweet whipped cream filled the air.
When they sat down with their mugs of cocoa, they stared at the Christmas tree for a few minutes.Rory loved having family like this for Christmas.It wasn’t the same as sharing Christmas with the ranch hands.
“Do one of you want to do the honors and play Santa?”Florence asked.
