The Mitchell Family Series BoxSet 1-4.5 (112 page)

“Yeah, if I had to tell Iz that Santa was really me and her mom, your sister would kill me.”

“You could always blame the whole thing on me, like you did when we were kids.” He cocked his eyebrow and shot a staple at me in the air. It wasn’t close enough to come near me, so I didn’t get the least bit upset. I chuckled when I thought about how many times us kids blamed things on little Conner.

I laughed again remembering a few of the times we had blamed Conner for things we had done. Like the time that we climbed on top of this old hay barn and fell through the roof. We called Conner in to show him what we’d done and ran away when we saw the adults heading our way. Conner cried his eyes out and we all hid behind some farm equipment just listening to my uncle scorning him. “Remember when you fell through the barn?”

Conner let out an air filled laugh. “Yeah, you’re still stickin’ to that version of the story.”

I held up my hands. “What can I say, you were an easy target. You wanted to hang out with Colt so much that he could make you do anything.” Okay, it was mean, but we were kids and Miranda was a girl, so we couldn’t pick on her as much.

“I remember when you put me on the back of that horse with no reigns or saddle and smacked its ass.” Conner folded his arms across his chest and tightened his face up, as if he were remembering that horrible time.

Colt had told him if he wanted to be in our gang, he had to ride a horse like a real Indian could. That boy hung on to that horse all the way until it bucked him off on the other side of the pasture. To make matters even worse, the damn horse came back around again and jumped over top of the kid. He balled himself up and screamed until we got to him and were able to steady the startled horse. Looking back, it was a horrible idea and he could have gotten seriously hurt or killed, but at the time, it was freaking hilarious. “Will you ever stop bringing that up?”

“Bro, I could have died and you both stood there laughin’ at me.”

I shook my head. “It was like fifteen years ago. Let it go, dude.”

Conner pointed at me. “I will never forget that shit. You wouldn’t either. I had nightmares and had to sleep with my mother for a damn month. Do you know how embarrassing that was? The worst part was that she kept askin’ me why I was so scared and I was too afraid that if I told her the truth, I couldn’t be in the gang. Hangin’ out with you two idiots meant more to me than my safety.”

Our conversation was cut short when little drops of ice started hitting us and the roof we were still sitting on. “We better hurry up, or else we’ll both be falling off this roof.”

In less than ten minutes, Conner and I had finished stringing the lights out. We put up our hoods and climbed down off of the roof. Izzy was still in the yard trying to set up a set of reindeer. “Sweetie, you need to go inside. We can’t let you get sick before Christmas is here.”

She looked down and stuck out her bottom lip. I had learned when she was trying to get her way. I picked her up and threw her over my shoulders. She started smacking me with her large mittens. “Daddy, let me down.”

Once I got her carried into the house, I sat her down in front of Miranda and her mother. “It’s starting to sleet and this little elf wouldn’t stop helping us, even though she was going to catch a cold.”

She stomped her way into the house just as I went back out to finish.

Conner was on a roll, trying to get everything done before we froze to death. After we had used every strand of tested lights, we stood back and plugged in the main extension cord to see if we had lights, or if all of our hard work was for nothing.

It was still daylight, but the lights filled the exterior of my parent’s house with bright colors. It was going to look great when it got dark and I was almost glad that Iz had gone into the house. She was going to be so surprised.

The older she got, the more she enjoyed decorating and Christmas.  In fact, our church had a little play they put on the first week of January every year and this year Iz was picked to be the Angel of the Lord. We were so excited to see her saying her little part.

Much like our farm, Colt had managed to close operations on the ranch for the next two weeks. They weren’t staying with us the whole time, but would enjoy the break from everyday farm life. Our job was never nine to five. I was lucky having my father, Harvey and Conner, but Colt had to rely on his other employees when he and Van traveled. Sometimes he couldn’t trust them for long amounts of time.

Since we knew our plans for the holiday ahead of time, Colt sent out his last batch of chickens just days before he left and more loads weren’t due in until the first of the year. His cattle were managed by a guy that lived on the far side of the ranch. Since it was winter, neither of us were worried about any produce. Our barley was picked and we didn’t do any more planting until the spring.

I was excited to be able to spend time together. Colt and Van usually stayed at her parents place in town, unless we had a late night of drinking, in which they would just spend the night. Noah and Izzy always spent the night at the same place. If Noah went with Van then so did Iz and vice versa.

We saw their SUV pulling into the lane as we were walking in the house. Izzy came running out of the door with no coat. I pointed toward the door. “Get your tail in that house and-.” Miranda was already at the door holding out her coat. “Thanks, baby!” She crossed her arms and waited for them to come to a stop before we all approached the vehicle.

Noah jumped out and showed Iz some handheld game he was playing. They started walking toward the house without grabbing a single thing. “Noah, get back here and help your mother.” Colt climbed out and walked toward us while Van hopped out and hugged us.

Noah handed Iz the game and sadly walked back to carry something. I laughed and shook hands with Colt. “How was the drive?”

“It was fine until we hit the sleet. We saw several cars slidin’ around in town. We were just stoppin’ by because Noah didn’t want to wait and see Bella. Do you want them to stay here or at Savanna’s parents tonight?”

I looked to Miranda and wondered if she was thinking the same thing as me. The weather was shitty and the roads were getting slippery since the sun was setting. I wanted my daughter as safe as she could be, even if it meant a night without Noah. “I’d rather she stays here tonight.”

“That’s fine. Noah can just see Savanna’s parents tomorrow. We better get goin’ before it gets worse.” We all gave hugs again and sent them back on their way. I wasn’t worried about Colt getting them there safe. He would drive two miles an hour if it meant his family would get there in one piece.

Noah and Iz were already in the house and once it was dark enough, Conner and I could show them both what we did for them outside. I walked with my wife back into our warm house.

Our Christmas was going to be great.

Chapter 7

Miranda

The afternoon that Colt and Savanna came to town, the weather was horrendous and depreciated by the hour. The light sleet became heavy and by the time it was dark there was already a light layer of solid ice on everything. Ty had wanted to take the kids outside to see the lights, but the wind had picked up and just hearing it against the windows made them not want to go outside. It didn’t help that Ty told them Jack Frost was a real person who came after little boys and girls during the Christmas season.

The two of them ran back in Bella’s room and refused to come out to even talk to me. My mother and John had gone over to Ty’s parents. As it stood, my aunt and Lucy were going to have a delayed flight due to the weather closing down our airport. I was just glad that Colt had made it here before it got too bad.

We still had three days before Christmas, so they had plenty of time to get the roads and runways clear for a safe travel. There shouldn’t have been anything to worry about.

Ty and I had already wrapped everyone’s presents and had them all hidden in different places around the house.  Van had told me that Colt ordered the twins rival jerseys, so she and I thought it would be funny to surprise the guys with their size jerseys too. I was sure she wanted to do it for the Kodak moment, but it seemed priceless and we knew the guys would get a kick out of it.

We let the family vote on what we were going to make for Christmas Dinner. Since they decided on stuffed shells, Ty took it upon himself to enlist his mother’s special recipe. She usually made them a few days before and let them sit in the refrigerator before baking them. With the big kids wanting nothing to do with Ty and the twins sleeping, we sat in the kitchen and started getting everything together. A major part of making them was keeping the large shells from breaking apart as they cooked. A lot of olive oil and stirring was involved.

Ty had me watching the noodles as he added all of the other ingredients to a giant mixing bowl. Once he got the cheese mixture finished, he separated half and added a combination of ground beef, seasoned ground pork and even ground veal in one of the bowls. Some of us preferred no meat in our shells, while others loved them with the works.

Ty made perverted faces as he mixed in the meat with his hands. “This feels so good.”

I shook my head and kept stirring the pasta. “It amazes me how you amuse yourself.”

“Don’t pretend that having a handful of meat isn’t hot.” He winked and kept working the mixture.

Conner came in the kitchen before I could think of something witty to say back to him. He stuck his finger in the bowl and tasted it. Ty slapped his arm. “Dude, keep your hands off of my meat.”

Conner sat down next to him and looked back at me. I shrugged my shoulders, not knowing what to say about it. “Well, just so you know, your meat needs more seasoning. When your mother prepares these, the meat tastes the best.”

I set down the spoon and crossed my arms, while leaning on the countertop. “Hearing you two discuss meat and Ty’s mother just ain’t right. Did you check on the boys when you walked by their room?” It wasn’t like he had to do it, but if they were awake I would have assumed he would have told me.

“It was quiet. I reckon their still asleep.” He grabbed a napkin and started folding it. “So, I guess Colt dropped off the kid and went to Van’s parents?”

Ty finally stood up and started washing his hands. “Yeah, it got nasty out there fast. Everything is a sheet of ice, dude. We’re going to have to go out there when it stops and treat the damn lane so they don’t get stuck. Four wheel drive is great, but it doesn’t help with the ice. What’s going to suck worse is if it snows on top of the ice tonight. The roads will be deadly.”

Conner agreed, “Yeah and you know some idiots will try to drive in it.”

“You could probably make a pretty penny pulling people out of the ditches tomorrow morning though, well, if they haven’t already froze to death.” My comment was not very Christmas spirited.

Ty drained the noodles and started sitting them out to dry and cool. He grabbed three spoons and the baking sheets and handed us each our own. “Let’s get this done so we can get some sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to suck ass.” We all sat there stuffing the shells until they were all done.

He was right too, all except for the part about it being tomorrow. We climbed in bed and had just fallen asleep when this faint honking woke us up. We sat up in bed at the same time and looked at each other, first wondering if it was something going off in our own house. Ty climbed out of bed before me and after we both put on some pants, we found Conner on the other side of our door. When Ty got out of our bedroom I saw him whispering to Ty so I couldn’t hear.

“What is it? Is something wrong?”

Ty held up his hand for me to stop talking. “We think it’s just a disabled car. I knew someone would drive off the road, I just thought it would be tomorrow morning. Who would want to be out in this shit tonight?” He leaned down and kissed my head. “Why don’t you just go lay back down. Everything will be fine. We just really need to get out there before everyone in the house wakes up from the sound of that horn.”

I could have huffed and puffed over it, but they would still have gone out into the icy conditions to stop the horn from sounding. I looked across the yard and noticed that the light was now on in Ty’s parent’s house. It was only a matter of time before my house was filled with screaming children.

Instead of waiting for them back in my bedroom, I stared out the window, watching as two four wheelers went driving down the lane. I could see their headlights approaching the car and then they stopped. For the longest time I just stood there, as if I would be able to see something in the dark that was nearly a quarter mile away.

I no sooner sat down on the couch when I heard the four wheelers driving back up in the direction of the house. If they needed the tractor to pull someone out of the ditch they were headed in the wrong direction. Their headlights blinded me and I walked to the door to let them in as they approached. Ty came walking in first and when he glanced at me, he just shook his head. Before I could ask him why he had given me that kind of reaction, my brother came through the door. His coat was wrapped around someone that he was carrying. It was clear that it was a woman. She had her face buried into his chest as she cried and he wasn’t holding her like he was rescuing a stranger from a bad storm.

It took me a second to recognize the red hair, but when I did, I couldn’t hold back my interest in the situation. I approached my brother, but he kept walking in the direction of his room. I grabbed the back of his t-shirt and noticed the goose bumps from him giving his coat to Amy. “Conner, what is going on?”