I shook my head. “No.” I looked around to see all eyes on me once again. “Trust me, my mother and father will not care about me getting married.”
“Do we need to keep it more on the down-low?” Nellie asked. “By that, I mean, we don’t have to run anything in the paper about the engagement or the wedding.”
Ladd squeezed my hand.
“If we could not do that, I’d appreciate it. At least not right now.”
Jason looked confused. “Why? Are you in hiding or something?”
A nervous laugh slipped free before I exhaled and decided to just get it out in the open. I was, after all, going to be a part of this family, and they all had the right to know the truth.
“My father is Senator Pennington.”
Lilith’s eyes went wide. “Why didn’t I piece that together? Oh, honey, I don’t blame you for not wanting to have anything to do with that man. He’s a piece of—”
“Mom!” Gus interjected, standing quickly and nearly knocking over one of the trays.
I covered my mouth to keep from laughing.
“Grams, I don’t think now is the time or place to give your political opinions,” David said with a half-hidden smile.
Dropping my hands to my lap, I slowly shook my head. “No, it’s okay. Lilith, you’re one-hundred-percent right. My fatherisa piece of shit. There’s a reason I’m estranged from my parents. So, to be clear now, I won’t have any family members at the wedding, and I’m okay with that.”
Nellie reached over and took my hand in hers. “Youwillhave family there. You’ll have all of us.”
I blinked back tears. “Thank you so much for making me feel so welcome in your family.”
She winked, then dropped my hand. “Okay, time to clean up. We have to be up early for our Christmas breakfast, then last-minute preparations for another River Falls Wilde Christmas Morning!”
Ladd frowned. “When did you change the name of the event? Actually, when did you give it a name?”
Lilith and Nellie both smiled, with Nellie bobbing her head at me. “It was Vivianne’s idea to put the family name in it. She said if we’re organizing and hosting, it should have the family name. We agreed.”
Ladd took my hand and drew me to him. He kissed me softly on the lips. “Have I told you lately that I love you?”
With a giggle, I held up my free hand, which happened to be the left. “You certainly have!”
My alarm woke me up the next morning, which was Christmas Day. I drew in a deep breath through my nose and let out a low moan. It smelled like heaven. Bacon, cinnamon, coffee…a mixture of so many different things, all of them delicious, and I couldn’t wait to get downstairs to help with the preparations. I had helped Lilith and Nellie yesterday with some of the food, but they’d insisted they had most of it taken care of.
I’d set my alarm and still hadn’t gotten up early enough to help with everything judging from the smell and sounds of things. I could hear voices filtering up from downstairs through the half-opened bedroom door.
Lifting my hands over my head, I stretched before I swung my legs over the bed and stood. Nellie had told me to dress casual for breakfast and the event. I pulled out a pair of jeans and my favorite sweater. It was cream colored with a Christmas tree on it. Simple but still festive.
I slipped on my brown ankle boots and put my hair up in a ponytail, put a little bit of mascara on, but left the rest of my face natural. With another look in the mirror, I headed toward Ladd’s room. After knocking lightly and not hearing him, I opened the door, only to find his room empty. Frowning, I walked in and called out his name. He wasn’t in the bathroom, either.
As I walked back into the hall, I muttered, “Wow, am I the only one who slept in?”
Quickly making my way downstairs, I could hear more chatter coming from the kitchen, as well as the family room. Alotof chatter.
Jason and Mike were in the family room playing a video game they’d gotten the night before, with four other kids their age. One was a young girl. David sat on the sofa with an older man who looked to be in his sixties, and a younger guy who was about my age. The young girl sitting across from them seemed around my age, as well, maybe a few years older. Nellie had mentioned they always had a few friends over to celebrate, and I was guessing these were those friends.
David glanced up and smiled when he saw me.
“Good morning, and Merry Christmas,” I said as I made my way into the room.
Standing, David walked over and gave me a quick hug. “Hey, Merry Christmas to you too!” He stepped back and turned to the others.
“Vivianne, this is Ralph Mitchell and his son, Charles, and his daughter, LouAnne. They own the ranch next to ours.”
