“I’m afraid my resources are limited in that aspect,” Ian confessed.
“Jacquelyn,” Ronan said and reached over to place his hand on top of mine. “Have you considered asking your son and his friends to help?”
My eyes widened in surprise. “Well, no, I hadn’t thought of that. Gabby did say she wanted it to be a surprise, but maybe I can convince her otherwise. I’ll give Jacob a call as soon as we finish dinner.”
Ronan gave my hand a reassuring squeeze before he let go and returned to his meal. I glanced up to see if Seth or Ian noticed, but they weren’t paying us any attention.
After a long, hot shower, I checked on Gabby one more time before I retired to my room for the night and dialed my son.
“Yeah,” he answered distractedly.
“Is that any way to greet your mother?” I playfully scolded.
“Mom, sorry. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, dear. Gabby is sound asleep. We had a very busy day.”
“I’m sure you did. She’s been talking about the village for weeks.”
“That’s why I’m calling. It seems there was a bit of a misunderstanding. Gabby thought my Christmas village was a real, life-size village, not a miniature one,” I explained.
“Oh no. Was she upset?”
“She was at first, but we came up with…a different idea. Hear me out before you say anything.”
Upon his agreement, I began explaining our idea and the plans we had already put into motion. “Basically, the ball is already rolling and this is happening. But, I called to ask if you and your friends would be interested in helping us get the village set up. And I also wanted to know if Gabby could stay through Thanksgiving to see as much of the process as possible since it was her idea.”
“Mom, you know I’ll help, but I’ll have to ask the guys. I’m sure some of them will be able to pitch in.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful, Jacob! The more the merrier. There’s plenty of room at the house if anyone wants to stay for a couple of days,” I exclaimed.
I exhaled in relief once we ended the call. I’d met most of Jacob’s friends from the motorcycle club, and those men were nothing short of mountains of muscle. I had no doubt one of them could do the work of three men.
4
Jacquelyn
Iwas up bright and early the following morning—partially because I had so much to do and partially because I was too excited to sleep any longer. Gabby’s excitement had her awake and raring to go only an hour after I was.
She entered the kitchen completely dressed with her hair in a high pony tail and her notebook tucked under her arm. “Good morning, Gigi! When can we get started?”
I placed my cup of coffee on the table and clasped my hands in front of me. “In just a little bit, but I wanted to talk to you about something first.”
Her little face fell and tears started to well in her eyes. “Oh, sweetie, it’s nothing bad. I know you said the reason you didn’t show Keegan and Jacob your drawings is because you wanted the village to be a surprise, but we need all the help we can get to make this thing happen. Would it be okay if Jacob, Keegan, and some of their friends from the club came to help us?”
“Can Papa come, too?”
“Of course, he can, if he’s available.”
“Will you call him? Please?”
I’d gotten to know Ranger around the time he found out Keegan was his granddaughter. Neither of us were Gabriella’s biological grandparent, but both of us were happy to step in and fill those roles.
“I’ll do it right now,” I told her and picked up my phone.
“Jacquelyn,” Ranger grumbled into the phone. “I haven’t even had my coffee yet.”
“I assure you I have just cause for calling before noon.”
