The Lawman's Holiday Wish. Ruth Herne Logan

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СКАЧАТЬ brain revved into overdrive as she passed the park sign: Kirkwood Lake Bicentennial Kickoff! Join us for a Fall Festival of fun and food as Kirkwood Lake begins its year-long, 200-years-young birthday celebration!

      Piper and Lucia had reserved a festival spot during the bicentennial planning phases last spring. There was plenty of room to include a dairy booth. That would give Rainey a chance to meet folks, show them she’d changed and tempt them with the wonderful goods from the dairy store. Tackling the problem head-on might bring back old customers and attract new ones, crucial elements for the upcoming holiday season.

      Can you do this? Face people, hour after hour, keeping your game face on?

      Her resolve faltered as she turned into the farm driveway, but then she hauled in a deep, cleansing breath.

      God had blessed her.

      She was stronger now than she’d ever been. Sure, she’d take hits. After the cool welcome she’d encountered in town the first month, she’d be naive to expect otherwise.

      But she was made of hardy stock, and endowed with a faith that moved mountains. Determined, she parked the car and dashed into the house for a notepad and pencil, before going on to the dairy store located behind the farmhouse. As she rushed through the empty dining room, the afternoon light shone on Christmas pictures of Dorrie and Sonya.

      So much time gone. Memories Rainey could never be part of because she hadn’t been here.

      The twins were dressed alike in the first picture, but even then Dorrie’s eyes had gleamed with mischief, while Sonya’s gentle gaze begged for love. The next image showed them a year older, sitting with Santa at the Fireman’s Hall. The girls had posed with the jolly old elf individually, then together in front of a huge Christmas tree. To the right of the tree was a beautiful crèche, carved figures of the Holy Family in a rugged wooden barn.

      The final picture showed the girls last year, playing angels in a living Nativity scene sponsored by a local church. They’d been dressed in white bedsheets, their latte-toned skin contrasting with their robes. Gold garland halos nestled against their dark hair. Beyond them lay a sheep and a lamb, while slightly older children played the parts of Mary, Joseph and the wise men.

      It wrenched Rainey’s heart.

      She lifted the first picture, of the girls as adorable toddlers. Was she wrong to have left?

      Probably. But her leaving had ensured the girls safety and that was what mattered. Rogue cops were nothing to be taken lightly, and bad cops who’d had witnesses disappear before?

      They’d posed a direct threat thwarted by her whistle-blowing phone calls.

      This year would be different. She wouldn’t spend this Christmas alone, crying as she tended animals in an empty veterinary clinic outside Chicago. She’d be here in Kirkwood, with the girls and her mother. With Uncle Berto, Piper and the Harrison family next door. For the first time in three years Rainey wouldn’t dread the change of seasons and the lonely holiday. This year she’d join in the celebration, because this year she was home. And no matter what happened, she was home to stay.

      She joined Noreen in the store and used the next few hours to roughly sketch how she’d like the dairy booth to look.

      At seven o’clock, she closed the store and headed for the house, reenergized. The family gathered for a meeting each Friday night, where everyone aired ideas and compared notes. At tonight’s get-together she’d convince them to let her put her best foot forward. No matter what, she had to make them listen to her concerns about the loss of business. And take action. Even if it meant Rainey had to find a different job. She crossed the wide yard and hurried into the house.

      Wedding plans were spread out across the large dining room table. Farm notes were laid out in similar fashion in the kitchen.

      “I saved food for you.” Lucia smiled at Rainey as she came into the room. “Nice and warm, in the oven. You eat and we talk.”

      Food was the last thing on Rainey’s mind, but her mom’s caretaking was a welcome respite from the negativity she encountered whenever she stepped off the farm. “Thanks, Mama.”

      “Okay.” Rainey’s sister, Piper, called for attention as people grabbed seats. “Wedding first. Let’s take thirty minutes to coordinate things and make sure we’re synchronized.”

      “Are we planning a wedding or strategizing a battle plan?” Zach Harrison wondered, but then the New York State trooper flashed a smile toward his fiancée.

      Piper leveled him a look, then laughed. “How can we have seven adults in this family and not one of us has ever planned a wedding?”

      Zach’s father shrugged. “Zach’s mother did all the work for Julia and Evan’s wedding. My job was to sign the checks.”

      Zach held up ringless hands. “First-timer.”

      Piper acknowledged his hand and added, “And your only time, buster.”

      Her mom made a face of regret. So did Uncle Berto, Lucia’s brother.

      “Julia’s planned a wedding. Maybe we should have her come over,” Zach suggested. His sister was living in his house next door, until she closed on her own place two miles south.

      Berto sprang out of his chair. “I will go watch her little boys and she can talk flowers and fancy cakes and things. On wedding day, I will be a bear.” He drew up his shoulders to make himself look bigger. “Moving things, setting things up, taking things down, this I can do. Planning a party?” He strode to the door, looking relieved. “Miss Julia will be better equipped.”

      Lucia waved him on. “Go. It is a good idea. The boys like their uncle Berto.”

      “Me, too.” Piper sent him a look of gratitude. “Thank you.”

      Julia joined them less than five minutes later. She carried a clipboard and had a pen stuck behind her ear. She walked in, scanned the planning notes on the table, and within thirty minutes had a timeline of the wedding day mapped out. “I’ll transfer this to my laptop this weekend,” she told them when they wrapped up the session. “And I’ll email it to each of you. Notify me if anything changes and I’ll keep it updated.

      “Everything’s been ordered,” she continued. “We’ll use the front barn for the reception if the weather turns bad, and we have six days after the wedding to get ready for the bicentennial festival. That takes us right into the holidays. We’ll be fine as long as we pay attention to details.”

      Marty Harrison grinned at her. “You are your mother’s daughter, for sure.”

      Julia’s smile turned bittersweet. “I see Mom’s face when I look in the mirror. But that could mean I’m getting old.”

      “That’s my vote,” Zach quipped.

      Julia punched his arm, then laughed when he hugged her. “Mom would have loved seeing you get married.” The wistful note in her voice said she missed their late mother. “And she’d adore Piper.”

      Zach nudged his future wife. “Me, too.”

      “And now, the farm plans.” Piper moved to the kitchen table, but not before she met Zach’s СКАЧАТЬ