RYAN TRIED to stay upbeat and not put a damper on everyone’s Christmas morning, but it was tough when he was hurting so much inside.
The children, at least, were having fun. They squealed as they played with their toys and ran through the house. Wrapping paper lay discarded everywhere.
He’d given Nia the stroller she wanted and the doll she’d been begging for that went with it, the baby that wet and cried. Now, he could see, he’d live to regret it. She’d forced him to bottle feed and diaper the thing ten times already.
“The baby’s hungry, Daddy,” she said again.
“The baby’s going to get sick if you keep making me feed it.”
“Uh-uh, she tee tees it out.”
“So I noticed.” The diapers weren’t completely waterproof. He had a big wet spot on his shirt.
She pushed its stomach and it cried again to be fed.
Nana Sipsey, sitting next to him on the couch, patted his leg and told him she’d take over nursery duty. He might want to go out on the porch and get some air.
“Thanks. I could use it.”
He handed over all the doll paraphernalia. Grabbing his jacket, he went out and sat on the top step. A few minutes later, Joe joined him.
“Too much noise for me,” his brother told him. “I don’t see how Charlie and Barb stand it. That little one is a real terror. How come if he can’t talk he can scream so loud?”
“Wait until you have four of five of your own running around. You’ll think their voices are music.”
“No way. Kids are too loud and too sticky.”
“They don’t always smell good, either, but I promise it won’t matter when you get ready to settle down.”
“I’ll never be ready for that. Give me wine, women and more women.”
“You’re hopeless. You know that?”
“Yeah, but having a hell of a good time.”
They both looked off down the drive at the sound of a vehicle. Ryan stood as a familiar gray truck came closer. He wanted to fly from the porch and meet it, but pride wouldn’t let him.
“Well, I’ll be,” Joe said, getting up. “Look who decided to come back. Wonder why?” He grinned and slapped Ryan on the back. “I think I’ll go in and let you two have a private reunion.”
So many cars and trucks were in the yard, she had to park down the driveway a bit. She got out, walked to the house and stopped at the bottom of the steps.
His heart felt like a lead weight inside his chest. What was she doing here? He was afraid to be happy, afraid she’d simply forgotten something or wanted to tell him off in person for his plane ticket gift.
“I thought you’d be halfway to New York City by now,” he said.
“So did I.”
“Why aren’t you?”
“Because I finally realized what an idiot I am. I’ve been searching for something that’s been in front of me all this time.”
He didn’t dare breathe. “And what’s that?”
“Real life.”
“Real life isn’t very exciting.”
“Isn’t it? Oh, I don’t know.” She walked up the steps and faced him. “I can’t think of anything that will give me more of an adrenaline rush than playing the tooth fairy, taking my little girl to ballet lessons or winding down at the end of the day by talking to the man I love.”
“Susannah, be sure.”
“I am sure. I love you, Ryan. I love Nia. I love your mother and Nana and Joe. I’m certain I’ll come to love Anita and Charlie when I know them better.”
“And what happens in three months or six months when you get the itch to go ramble or jump off a bridge?”
“Why would I want to go anywhere when the best place on earth is this mountain? I’ve created something beautiful, had sex with a handsome stranger and starred in my very own movie. That should be enough to satisfy any person for a lifetime. Oh, and I’ve danced in a ballet. You had something to do with that last one, too, didn’t you?”
“I might have.”
“I suspected it when I watched the movie, which I loved by the way. The movie was on my list and so was the ballet. I figured if you had a hand in the first, you probably did with the second.”
“I got Joe to ask Sandy to find you a part in the recital. I wanted you to be happy. And if dancing and being in a movie got you a step closer to that goal, then I felt I had to try and give them to you.”
“You were wrong. I was wrong, too. I don’t need anything to be happy but you…and Nia.”
“What about Paris?”
“When I held your note in my hand and realized I could fulfill that dream, I didn’t want it. I really don’t care about the Eiffel Tower. I have Snowbird. Eating French onion soup in a sidewalk café can’t compare to cheese and bread on a rock that looks like a sitting dog.”
He reached out and touched her face. “I love you so much. When you left, I died inside a little bit.”
“I’m sorry I hurt you. I believed I was past my grief, but I wasn’t. I ran from what we have because it hurt to care for someone and to have someone care for me. But I’ll never run again. I promise you.” She stepped closer and put her arms around his waist. “Will you forgive me for being such a fool?”
“Every day for the rest of my life.”
He kissed her and a cheer went up from inside the house. They laughed at the faces in the windows, everyone pressed to the glass watching them.
“We have an audience,” he said. “And I warn you, they can be a rowdy bunch.”
“Then let’s really give them something to hoot about.”
“My pleasure.”
“NANA WAS RIGHT!” Nia shouted, throwing herself into Susannah’s arms. “You’re here! You’re here.”
Susannah laughed and twirled her around. “I missed you, too.”
“Nana said if I wrote what I wanted on my leaf for the tree, it would come true. See?”
She took her by the hand and pulled her over to the little wishing tree. Susannah looked at the leaf with Nia’s name on the front. Someone had helped her print her wish in Cherokee. “What does it say?”
“That I wish you’d come and live with me and Daddy.”
She glanced up at Ryan and he winked. “Sounds like a great idea to me,” he told his daughter. “But maybe we should marry her first.”
“Really? We’re gonna get married? All three of us?”
“All three of us,” Susannah assured her. “I can’t walk down the aisle without you.”
“Yippee!” Nia started jumping up and down. “We’re getting married!” she told her grandmother.
Susannah was hugged and kissed and crushed all over again by every person in the room.
“Can you handle all this attention?” Ryan asked. “This family tends to be a bit demonstrative.”
“Are you kidding? I love it! I never thought I’d ever be part of a family again.”
“Come with me.” He pulled her away and out the front door. “I want you all to myself.”
“Do you still have the key to the center? Take me there and show me your mosaic.”
“Right now? I had something else in mind.”
“Please?”
“Whatever you want.”
He drove them over and unlocked the front door. When they got to the extension, he told her to close her eyes. She heard him flip on the lights. He guided her inside and around the tables and chairs that had been set up for last night’s dedication of the room and the mural.
“Okay, ready? Open your eyes.”
She stood and stared, taking it all in. She’d seen most of it, of course, but the effect of the whole piece was glorious. And the vignette of the Whitepaths on the last panel…
“Oh, Ryan!”
He had them around the kitchen table in a scene that was so familiar. Nana sat peeling potatoes into a pan. His mother and siblings had gathered around like they often did when they helped prepare a meal.
The scene represented home and family.
And she was there with them, standing next to Ryan. They both had their hands on Nia’s shoulders. He’d even managed to work in her snowbirds by showing part of the outdoors through the kitchen window.
She walked over and touched the tiles, the faces of her soon-to-be family. The nearby plaque said the mosaic had been designed and created by Ryan Whitepath…with help from Susannah Pelton.
“It’s wonderful. But you shouldn’t have given me any credit.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you. We created something beautiful, and like you said, people will appreciate it for years to come.”
“But why did you include me with your family? You couldn’t have known I’d come back.”
“You were part of us from the very beginning, even if you didn’t realize it. Our own little redbird with a broken wing who came to our mountain one day and changed all our lives.”
“Nana Sipsey and her vision.”
“She told you?”
“Nia did. But I didn’t understand all of it.”
“Nana said you’d heal Nia of her grief and pain. And that you’d heal yourself…”
“She was right. I do feel as if I’ve finally put the past behind me. I loved my mother, and I miss her more than I can ever express, but it’s time to move beyond her illness and what it did to both our lives. She wouldn’t want me to continue to suffer.”
“No, she wouldn’t.”
“And Andrew…God! He was a jerk. I can’t imagine why I’ve been stupid enough to grieve over what he did. I’m glad he left me. Otherwise, I never would’ve met you. I finally understood last night, how lucky I am to get a second chance at happiness. I wondered what on earth I was doing, sitting alone in a motel room on Christmas Eve when I could be with the man and the child I love. Nothing can compare with Christmas on this mountain.”
“Not even April in Paris?”
“Especially not that.”
“I’ll take you to Paris on our honeymoon, if you want.”
“No, my traveling days are over. The last two months have been some of the best of my life. Now I’d rather stay on Snowbird with you and Nia and spend every Christmas as we’ve done this year.”
“That suits me just fine.”
“We should get back. Your family won’t eat without us, and I don’t want to spoil their dinner.”
“Our family,” he corrected her.
She smiled with joy. “Yes, our family. They’re probably waiting for us.”
They locked the center and drove home. As they got out, she could hear laughter from inside Annie’s. She halted at the bottom of the steps.
“Something wrong?” Ryan asked.
“No, something’s very right. I’m imagining all the wonderful Christmases we’ll have together. Nia helping me decorate the barn. The family gathered at the table for dinner. Yesterday, I was desolate. Today, I have so much to look forward to.”
“We both do.”
“Nana Sipsey predicted I’d find a place for myself here. I think she always knew we’d end up together. Do you believe she really does have second sight?”
“I never did until now.”
“I wonder if all her prophesies come true.”
“My mother says so.”
Susannah thought about another of Nana’s visions—Nia surrounded by many brothers and sisters, two with identical faces.
“Do twins run in your family?”
“Yeah, my mother’s a twin. Aunt Eileen lives in Texas.”
“How do you feel about having more children? Lots and lots of children?”
His eyebrows lifted. “Fine…I guess.”
She slipped her arm in his and smiled. “Maybe you should start getting used to the idea.”