Catoctin Mountain, Maryland
Present
“Does the Christmas Eve event still happen? Do you still play Santa? Except, obviously, for tonight, I mean?” Lex asked as they set out on the path to pick out a tree, Gemma secure on JT’s back and babbling excitedly as she grasped his hair like she was a rat trying to control a French chef.
Her breath puffed out in white wisps, making him hope Gemma was as snug as she’d looked in the hooded fleece footed jumpsuit he’d bought her. She wouldn’t work up a sweat hiking uphill like he and Lex would.
“The party still happens, and I still buy all the presents, but they hire a Santa, and Lisa stopped running the event when she moved to Florida. Isabel—Senator Ravissant’s wife—took over some aspects of the organizing when she worked for Talon & Drake, but she’s pregnant now and busy with running a shelter for runaway teens, so I believe she’s passed the torch to another politician’s family.”
“I met Isabel at Lee’s wedding.”
“Right. Sorry. I forgot the wedding was at the Ravissant estate. You were supposed to spend Christmas with them at Lee’s too.”
“And you said you were coming here for the holiday to escape being around kids.” She reached up and tugged on Gemma’s foot, which was kicking him in the shoulder. “Joke’s on you.”
He laughed. “I think this is going to be the best Christmas I’ve had in years.”
He meant it. The last good Christmas he’d had was a year before the wedding that wasn’t. There was nothing better than Christmas with Lex, except, possibly, Christmas with her and Gemma.
Snowflakes drifted lazily around them—this was the front edge of the storm that wouldn’t hit with force until late afternoon. After getting a tree, JT would chop wood to ensure they’d have plenty of heat should the power go out.
Right now, he just enjoyed the fresh air, the weight of Gemma on his back, and having Lex by his side as they headed toward the patch of small evergreens he and his dad had planted several years ago, just for this purpose of someday having Christmas trees to harvest.
He still had a lot of anger at his father for the things he’d done, but one thing he’d worked on the last few years was remembering and honoring the man he’d loved. He and Lee had tackled that journey together.
Joseph Talon Sr. had many obvious faults and had made some horrific choices, but he also had been a good father and stepfather. Better than Lee’s actual dad.
When Lee was in his teens, his relationship with his long-divorced birth parents had turned toxic, and he’d moved in with JT, who’d only been twenty-one at the time. Joe had stepped up as well, being the father figure sixteen-year-old Lee had needed.
Joe had loved both his sons, but he’d lost his way in politics, caring more about winning than how he did it.
But on days like today, a hike to harvest a tree JT had planted with his dad was a good way to honor the father he’d loved.
Lex began singing “Walking in a Winter Wonderland,” and JT joined in, much to Gemma’s delight as she made nonsense sounds that he assumed was her providing her own lyrics.
They reached the planted grove by the pond. JT waved his arm toward the trees that ranged from six to fourteen feet tall. “Take your pick. I can bring the snowmobile up to drag it down if it’s big. Ceiling height at the peak in the living room is sixteen feet, but we’d have to trim to fit the stand if you want anything twelve feet or taller.”
They walked through the grove, discussing the pros and cons of each, with Gemma weighing in based on criteria JT couldn’t begin to understand.
The girl had an opinion, and it was fricking adorable.
In the end, Gemma chose a skinny nine-footer that he’d have no trouble dragging down the hillside. It had gaps in areas and was rather scraggly on one side, but it was the tree Gemma wanted, and that made it perfect.
He lowered the pack to the ground and Lex plucked her daughter from the seat. The girl didn’t have snow boots. Her only protection from the cold was fleece footies. “You can head back while I cut it down. I know she’ll get restless not being able to walk around.”
“And miss watching you harvest a Christmas tree just for us? No way.”
She bounced the girl on her hip and sang Christmas songs to Gemma while JT stretched out on the ground and sawed at the trunk.
He hummed along, the tune providing rhythm to the sawing as wet snow soaked into his coat. The smell of mud and pine and cut wood filled his nostrils as bells on Bobtail rang as the horse dashed through the snow.
Gemma babbled in tune, and her giggle filled the copse of trees as the snowfall picked up momentum.
JT’s heart swelled three sizes.
This was a Christmas unlike any other. He couldn’t remember feeling such simple joy.
The power flickered while they decorated the tree, but it didn’t go out. Alexandra knew JT had a generator if needed, but they’d only use it sparingly, as power could go out for days. Plus, the noise would be an insult to the quiet snowfall that made everything beautiful.
She’d thawed a small prime rib roast that she’d found in the chest freezer, and if she had to, she could cook it in a Dutch oven on the woodstove griddle tomorrow for Christmas dinner.
She almost hoped that would happen because there was nothing better than an improvised meal, and it would be that much sweeter for being Christmas. A gift for JT as a thank-you for his help. Cooking had always been her escape over the years, and the only real gift she could give to her millionaire boyfriend. Food made with love.
As they decorated the tree, there was a very simple—made with canned peaches—cobbler in the oven that made the kitchen and living room smell heavenly.
JT handed her a glass of white wine. Christmas music played through the in-house speaker system. She said, “Thanks,” and clinked glasses with him.
Gemma ever so carefully placed a plastic ornament ball on the lowest branches of the tree. “See, Mommy? Good?”
She smiled at her daughter and clapped her hands. “So good, baby!”
“She’s amazing,” JT whispered.
“Of course she is.”
He laughed. “I never had any doubt.”
She looked at her daughter and felt her heart ready to burst. After all the fear and horror, she had this moment to cherish. Having Gemma had been the best decision she’d ever made.