Colorado Christmas (20 page)

The next December…

“My turn now!” Nicolas said, reaching for his baby sister.

With an indulgent smile, Becky handed four-week-old Lily Emma O’Malley over to him. He settled her against him and cooed at her. She offered him a toothless, deep-dimpled grin.

“Do you think she knows I’m her big brother?” he asked, his eyes imploring Becky for an affirmative answer.

“How could she not, buddy?” Will said as he sat on the sofa beside his adopted son. “You’ve done nothing but boss her around since she got here.”

Nicolas chuckled and tickled Lily under her chin, something he’d discovered was guaranteed to have her gurgling with pleasure.

Becky’s heart overflowed with love and happiness as the two men in her life gazed in wonder at the most recent addition to their family.

How things have changed in the past year!
she thought. It was a year to the day since she’d first met Will.

They were married at the end of January and she’d become pregnant almost immediately. Job sharing with Judge Stevens had turned out even better than Becky had hoped, and now that she was on maternity leave, another young judge had come to
live in Spruce Lake. Would Judge Jenny Chesterfield also find love in this quirky, wonderful town?

The old buildings on Main Street were gradually being restored, attracting a lot of publicity and even awards for their sensitive renovation. Frank had moved back to town and married Edna Carmichael. She still ran her florist shop on Main Street but would soon relocate the business to new premises a short walk from Frank’s and her restored Victorian home. They’d moved in before Thanksgiving, and the housewarming was a huge event, attended, it seemed, by half the town.

Frank, of course, needed an elegant home to call his own since he’d been elected mayor of Spruce Lake by an overwhelming majority.

Miss Patterson still lived in town, but next summer intended to move to the new independent-living units being constructed at the Twilight Years. Will popped in to visit her several times a week and she still baked him chocolate chip cookies.

Matt had been elected county sheriff. Will, true to his promise, had been both Matt’s campaign manager and project manager of the buildings’ restoration. The brothers had forged an even closer bond. They still bickered occasionally, but Matt had learned to take less umbrage at Will’s teasing and Will had found a new respect for his older brother.

Nicolas was thriving. He loved being part of the O’Malley clan. When school had resumed in January, he’d entered the same grade as Sasha. Now that they were cousins, they were more inseparable than ever, and Nicolas had made other friends at school, too. He’d competed in his first swim meet last summer. Although he’d come last in the race, the memory of the standing ovation he’d received from the crowd still brought tears to Becky’s eyes.

Sarah was right; Nicolas didn’t need to be intellectually challenged all the time. He’d learned far more about life by hanging out with Will than he would have if he’d attended a school for gifted kids. And he was happy. Unbelievably happy.

For the moment, they were still living in her rented Victo
rian in town, but come summer they’d be moving into the beautiful home Jack was building for them on Will’s land. She smiled at that. The ranchettes were a runaway success and she was delighted that Matt had purchased the lot next door—at a heavily discounted price—and would be their neighbor sometime in the future.

And Will had started skiing again. He and Matt had a regular ski date each week. He’d promised to teach Becky, once she felt ready to give it a try. She was sure that eventually she’d be able to face going up the mountains that had nearly claimed Nicolas’s and Will’s lives—but not just yet.

“Can we go buy our tree now?” Nicolas asked.

“It’s too cold to take Lily out, sweetie,” she said.

“I was asking Dad, Mom!” Nicolas, said, sounding exasperated.

Becky grinned. She still hadn’t gotten used to Nicolas asking Will’s permission for anything. For so long, it had been just the two of them.

“You don’t need me to help choose the tree?” she asked, pretending hurt at being excluded.

Will hugged her. “Choosing Christmas trees is best left to men. Trust me on this.” He pressed her down to sit on the sofa. Nicolas handed Lily to her.

“We’ll bring you back some ice cream, okay?” he offered and went to put on warmer clothes.

Dugald lifted his head at the prospect of a walk. After they decided it might be too cold out for him, too, he returned to his doggie dreams.

Will bent to nuzzle Lily’s cheek and kiss Becky. He was about to pull away but she clutched his shirtfront and kept him there.

She kissed him with all the love in her heart, then whispered in his ear, “Hurry home. And don’t you
dare
buy a bigger tree than last year!”