Ralph and Charles both stood and shook my hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Vivianne.” Ralph smiled.
“The pleasure is all mine.”
LouAnne also stood and shook my hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you from David.”
Turning to David, I winked. “I hope it was all good.”
She laughed. “Oh yes. He said you make Ladd very happy.”
“Well, he makes me equally happy.”
David cleared his throat. “Speaking of Ladd, he’s in the kitchen.”
“Thanks. It was nice to meet you all,” I said as I turned and walked that way. The smell of tasty foods only intensified as I got closer.
“Wow! It smells so good,” I enthused as I walked in and went straight to Ladd. I reached up and kissed him softly on the lips. “Merry Christmas.”
He smiled at me. “Merry Christmas.”
I glanced around at the people in the kitchen. Everyone was moving about, busy doing something. “I’m so sorry I overslept. I had my alarm set, but I see I was way off the mark!”
Gus grinned. “Ladd snuck into your room and changed it. We wanted you to sleep in since you’re our guest.”
My mouth dropped open. I hadn’t even paid attention to what the clock said when I slapped it to turn the alarm off.
I turned to Ladd with a raised brow. He just grinned. “I knew you’d be up at the crack of dawn to help. I wanted you to get some sleep. Today is going to be busy.”
“He’s right,” Lilith said, walking up and kissing me on the cheek. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”
“Merry Christmas, Lilith.”
“Vivianne,” Nellie said, “I’d like you to meet Rachel Mitchell.”
“Oh, I just met your husband, son, and daughter,” I said as we shook hands.
“I’ve heard so much about you, Vivianne.”
I felt my cheeks heat as everyone in the kitchen turned their focus on me.
Rachel smiled at me. “Everyone is so happy about the engagement and thrilled to have you become part of the family. I’m looking forward to getting to know you.”
“Thank you so much, Rachel. I’m looking forward to getting to know you and your family, as well.” Glancing around, I asked, “What can I do to help?”
Nellie looked about the kitchen, then back to me. “You can start bringing the food to the dining room and setting it on the table, I suppose.”
I jumped into action. I’d never seen so much food in my entire life. Even at events I was allowed to attend with my father and mother, I never saw such an abundance. Those usually just had hors d’oeuvres. There was a platter full of waffles, one with pancakes, cinnamon rolls that Ladd said had gingerbread spice in them, a hash brown casserole, ham and cheese croissants, bacon, a few different quiches, biscuits, deviled eggs that resembled little Christmas trees, sausage balls, and bowls of fruit.
“Do you think there’s enough food?” LouAnne joked as she set a platter down on the large sideboard in the formal dining room. It was set up buffet style. A smalltable had been added at the end of the sideboard, holding paper plates and plastic silverware.
“I don’t think I’veseenso much food.”
She laughed. “We wanted to be sure we had enough for the kids from the orphanage.”
My heart soared. “That’s wonderful!”
“They’re here,” Jason called from somewhere in the house.
“That’s them,” LouAnne said, squeezing my arm and motioning for me to follow her. “Let’s get the rest of the food out.”
