His eyes widened.“For me?”
She nodded.“Open it.”
He grabbed the box and ripped open the paper.His shout of delight filled the room.He pulled out three hardcover books.The edges of the pages were gold with images of dragons and brucans.Nash had no idea how they’d done that.
His son did.“Special editions?Of all the books?And they’re signed.And there’s stickers and bookmarks.Even a mug.”
Charlie shot to his feet and threw himself at Olivia with a hug that seemed to nearly squeeze her in half.“Thank you.Thank you.”
Olivia laughed, but her eyes shone.“You’re very welcome, Charlie.You’re the first person to have Kayaia’s Choice in the special edition.”
The look of awe that crossed Charlie’s face was one Nash would never forget.He doubted Olivia would either.
Then he opened the third book and his eyes widened further.“Dad.It’s to you.”
Nash didn’t know what that meant, but Charlie didn’t make him wait.He rushed over and plopped himself onto the arm of the couch.“Look.Olivia dedicated the book to you.”
Nash’s heart slammed against his chest.Sure enough, there was his name, right there in print.
To Nash.My personal and forever hero.
Unable to speak, he traced his fingers over the words and swallowed hard.Then he pulled Olivia in for a hug and buried his face in her hair.
Charlie took the book to race around the room, showing everyone.It gave him a moment to compose himself and whisper.“Thank you.I’ve never been so honored.”
She squeezed him tightly, and her voice shook when she spoke.“It’s true.Thank you for everything.”
Once the book had been passed around and admired, Charlie looked at Nash and Olivia.“Do we get to find out what’s in the boxes you guys bought now?”
Nash was glad to swallow down the emotions and turn to fun.“We do.Who’s first?”
A game of rock, paper, scissors decided Olivia would go first.“Pass one box to everyone, Charlie.Ella can help with yours.She’s not quite big enough for her own yet.We need to open them at the same time.”
As Charlie passed out the gifts, Olivia’s eyes misted.“This is something for everyone at the farm.I wanted to thank you all for giving me and Ella a safe place to live.A home.And for helping keep us safe the other day.Although I bought them before that.”
Before they opened anything, Nash pointed at the other boxes.“Charlie, why don’t you hand out those, too?They’re labelled with names.Then we can open everything at the same time.”
Despite the protests that neither he nor Olivia needed to buy anything, the group tore into the presents, and exclamations of delight filled the room.
He squeezed Olivia as he realized she’d bought winter equipment for the group as well.“Great minds think alike.”
She laughed.“Thankfully, not exactly alike, or we would have had only one activity.This way we’ve got two to learn.”
Another round of rock, paper, scissors had them deciding to try the skates in the morning and the snowshoes in the afternoon.
Charlie whooped.“Thanks, Dad.Now we get to use the rink for real.”
And erase the memories of Parsons trying to take Olivia.
The Malssums had grown up in Vermont, so they all knew how to skate.The rest of them were beginners.
Ford quickly made benches with boards and bricks, and then Nash brought out the nets, pucks, and sticks he’d bought and hidden in the barn.Charlie’s jaw dropped.“Dad.You got those, too?Thank you.You’re the best dad.The King of Christmas.”
His hug was short but fierce before he sat to pull on his skates.
From her spot in her wagon with Oggie, Ella cheered them on as they stumbled along the ice.Nash wasn’t steady enough to hold her.Not yet, but he’d work at it until he got there.
Charlie was the first to really get the hang of it.He was skating backwards before any of the rest of them were sure they weren’t going to fall.
