An Aspen Creek Christmas. Roxanne Rustand

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       Chapter Three

      At the sound of a car pulling to a stop outside, Hannah glanced at her watch and gave the table a final, critical glance.

      Four settings of her grandmother’s china were placed on the cranberry tablecloth, flanked with her own silverware, folded linen napkins and her mother’s sparkly water goblets.

      Warm, flaky biscuits were already nestled in a napkin-lined basket and, from the sound of approaching footsteps outside, the rest of the dinner had arrived.

      She hurried to the front door and ushered in Keeley and Sophie, some of her best friends in town. The aroma of roasted turkey, buttery sage dressing and sweet potatoes flooded her senses.

      She closed her eyes and inhaled. “This is incredible. I can’t believe you did all of this for us!”

      Keeley and Sophie set the food on the counter. “We have at least one more trip in,” Sophie said with a cheerful smile as she turned for the front door. “Then we’ll leave you in peace.”

      Ethan, seated in one of the upholstered chairs by the fireplace, stood and turned to face them with an easy grin.

      Keeley blinked and darted a quick, questioning glance at Hannah, her eyebrows raised. Sophie stumbled to a halt and simply stared.

      Disconcerted, Hannah cleared her throat. “Uh, Ethan Williams, I’d like you to meet my dear friends, Keeley North and Sophie McLaren. They knew things were going to be a little crazy here and volunteered to bring Thanksgiving dinner. And, um, Keeley and Sophie, Ethan is—or was—my sister’s brother-in-law. He came to see his niece and nephew.”

      Sophie looked as if she were on the verge of melting into a puddle of awe and admiration over the unexpected visitor.

      Keeley recovered more quickly. “Nice to meet you, Ethan.”

      When he made no move to step closer and offer a handshake, she slid another glance at Hannah then gave him a welcoming smile. “Did you travel far?”

      “I flew in from Dallas—this morning.”

      “Well, I’m sure the children were happy to see you,” Keeley murmured. “As you’ll see, we brought way, way too much food, and I hope you’ll all enjoy it.”

      Sophie finally found her voice. “I’ve been dying to meet the kids. Where are they?”

      Hannah tipped her head toward the bedrooms. “Just hold on a minute.”

      “We’ll go ahead and finish bringing in the food.”

      Ethan followed the two women outside to help, and soon containers of mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole and three pies filled the counter.

      Molly edged to the threshold of her room and glanced at the newcomers, then bowed her head, but Hannah had to go into Cole’s bedroom to convince him to come out.

      Keeley beamed at them both. “I am so happy to meet you two. Molly and Cole, right? I hope we’ll get to see a lot of you around town.”

      “I hope so, too,” Sophie echoed. “My son Eli is in fourth grade, and I know he’ll be very excited about meeting you both.”

      “Tell Hannah to bring you by my shop anytime,” Keeley added. “I always have fresh homemade cookies for special visitors.”

      Hannah glanced between them. “Can you join us for dinner? It would only take a moment to add some place settings.”

      “Wish I could,” Sophie said with a wistful smile. “We have a lot of catching up to do. But Josh is on call at the ER today, so I need to be home with Eli.”

      “And I need to get back to my store. The day after Thanksgiving is usually really busy. But I hope you’ll all enjoy the meal.”

      Hannah walked them out to Keeley’s SUV. “This was so kind of you—going to all this work. I can’t thank you enough. I know the kids missed having their Thanksgiving dinner yesterday.”

      “Poor kids,” Sophie said in a somber tone. “I can’t imagine how tough this year has been for them. And what’s with the uncle? The kids were down in Texas and got on their plane just yesterday, yet he’s already made a trip from Dallas up here? What’s really going on?”

      Hannah darted a look back at the house. “It’s...a long story, but basically he says he wants custody.”

      Keeley gasped. “Isn’t it a little late?”

      “And what about the kids—uprooted then being hauled right back?” Sophie chimed in. “That’s just not right.”

      “I agree. Totally. And I plan to fight him every step of the way, if it comes to that. But he is their uncle, so I can hardly shove him out the door...at least not yet.”

      Sophie’s eyes widened. “You’re going to let him stay here?”

      “We haven’t discussed how long he’ll be in Wisconsin or where he’ll stay. I hope he’ll be leaving in a day or so. But, no, I СКАЧАТЬ