Drake snorted at Dunder. “What’s your problem with her?”
Dunder barely shook his head.She’s the one with the problem.
“What are you talking about?!” Drake demanded as he strained against his older brothers. It took both of them to hold him back. They may be older, but time erased the size and muscle differences between them. If it’d been just Caleb or just Jack, he could have easily broken free.
Dunder lifted his antlers and his black eyes met Drake’s.Better that she leaves now.He flew himself back into his stall and kicked it with his back foot.You’ll thank me one day.
“I otta–” Drake growled.
Pax slid open the door to the welding shop. “Bring him in here.”
Drake fought with Caleb and Jack. “I have to find Clove. Let me go!”
Forest tripped Drake’s foot out from under him, making it possible for Caleb and Jack to drag him fast enough he couldn’t get traction to stand back up. They tossed him into a chair.
“You boys have fun.” Natasha winked at her husband. As she slid the door shut behind them as she asked Faith, “Do you want to grab a cocoa with me? I just . . .”
Whatever she’d just done was lost as they drifted away from the door.
Drake glared at the stained concrete floor. The workshop had all the tools and toys a welder or craftsman or woman could want. They all took welding and wood shop in high school and learned the basics, but Pax had found his calling in life and only came out to eat and sleep.
When no one spoke, he lifted his gaze to glare at his older brothers. They stood in a line with their arms folded and stared down at him, just like the baby brother they had to keep in line. He wasn't a baby anymore. He was a man who could make his own decisions. “I’m out.” He stood, and they closed ranks. “You all are wearing on my last nerve,” he ground out between his teeth.
“We can’t let you chase after her,” Jack drawled.
“Why not?”
“Didn’t you see Dunder?” Forest asked incredulously.
“Yeah, I saw him. He’s a crazy old reindeer who feels threatened by my—.” He came up short. It wasn't like he and Clove had defined their relationship. He assumed they were headed to the preacher sooner rather than later—if he had anything to say about it. He’d never called her his girlfriend before, and he hadn’t proposed.
“He wasn’t threatened by her,” Pax said, his quiet voice carrying more of a punch than any of his other brothers when they yelled. “He was aware of her unbelief.”
“In Santa?” Drake scoffed. “Give her one Christmas—two days!—on the ranch and she’ll be over that. I’m not worried about it.”
Pax waited a beat to answer, letting Drake’s comments melt into the floor before he replied, “Her unbelief in herself.”
Drake stared and stared. Then he stared at Forest, who nodded. “Dunder wasn’t trying to keep her apart from us—he was making her look inside. Instead, she ran away.”
“I can help her.” Drake took off his hat and dragged his fingers through his hair.
“It can’t come from you, or Felix, or anyone else. No one can believe in Christmas until they believe that they are worth what Christmas is really about.” Jack tapped his chest.
“She has to accept the love that’s offered—all of it, from the Source of Love,” Pax added.
“We can help build her up,” Caleb offered. “We’ll do our best by her, but she was hurt badly by the sound of things, and there are some things we can’t fix. She has to do the work and God does the rest.”
Drake blew out. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Give her some time,” offered Jack.
“And space,” added Caleb.
Drake shook his head. He didn’t want to do either, but if he didn’t want to scare Clove off, he should probably follow his brothers’ advice.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-SEVEN
Clove buried herself in the warm, teddy bear blanket in Anna and Abner’s spare bedroom, her phone in her hand. She had a difficult call to make and had to work up her courage to dial.
