But she thought he was the kindest, most giving person in the world. “I don’t know how long we can have this gift. A foster home might be found for her.”

“Unless we tell Mel to ask them to stop looking,” he said. “I could live like this. Actually, this is how I always thought my life would be.”

She couldn’t help but think, she never imagined her life like this. She thought she would grow old with her books, her mother, her friends. But this new routine seemed to suit her as well. “There’s still Newport,” she reminded him.

“This is not a tragedy,” he said. “We each have a house and there’s plenty of room in both. We each have a little money set aside, thanks to our parents. All we need is a plan and a little patience.”

* * *

Kaylee’s editor called and raved about both of the manuscripts she’d submitted. “The suspense is right on target and I have a long list of things I love about it, and the women’s fiction is a wonderful bonus! I want to buy it, but first we should talk about whether you want to make a change in genres or add a genre to your booklist. For someone who didn’t feel confident about writing women’s fiction, you nailed it.” They talked for an hour then decided to shelve the rest of their conversation about how to proceed until after the first of the year.

Landry helped get a spaghetti casserole ready to put in the oven to eat on Christmas eve, after they’d been to town. In the afternoon, Howard arrived and was greeted by yipping puppies and barking dogs. And his laughing daughter hugged him. “Dad,” she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek, “I want you to meet Mallory and Lady and Lady’s kids, and I believe you know everyone else.”

Howard just stood stock-still and let the tears well up in his eyes. She knew it was because she’d finally called him Dad rather than Howie. He hugged her fiercely for a long moment and then, wiping his eyes, he said, “Well, what’ve we got here.”

Landry crouched to the floor and said, “A puddle, for one thing.” He pulled a thick wad of paper towels from his pocket. “Merry Christmas, sir,” he said. “I think it’s time for the children to go to bed. Can I have a hand, Mallory?”

“You bet,” she said, scooping up two puppies.

“We’ll go into town and join the party, then come home for dinner. Dad, let’s get your bags into Landry’s house and then we can all go in one car. We’ll eat at Landry’s.”

“Sounds good,” he said. “Are we ready to go?”

“Just about,” she said. “Once Landry gets the dogs settled.”

“Will they be all right with no one home?” he asked.

“They’ll be in the kennel. Lady is an excellent mother.”

He just shook his head. “This is such a wonderful surprise, seeing you around dogs and children.”

“It’s all been a whirlwind,” she said. “Would you like something to eat before we go? I have cookies. Home-baked.”

“You made cookies?”

“Yes, I did. But, fortunately for you, these were made by someone else.”

* * *

The street through Virgin River was crowded with cars and trucks, and there were people milling around the tree, on the porch at Jack’s, in front of the church, everywhere.

“Good God, look at that tree!” Howard said. “How’d they ever get it into town and standing up?”

“It was quite a show, I’ll tell you that,” Kaylee said. “Half the town was here watching. People were hanging around, waiting for it to fall down at least once, and Jack didn’t disappoint them. It took a giant flatbed truck, pulleys and winches and a lot of anchoring ropes. Then came the decorating, which required a cherry picker. I couldn’t tear myself away.”

“I’d love to watch something like that,” Howard said with a laugh.

Mallory touched Kaylee’s arm. “There’s Ali,” she said softly.

“I’m going to stay right around the front steps here so please don’t go anywhere else without telling me. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“And try not to eat too many cookies. We have dinner waiting.”

“Okay,” she said. Kaylee leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead, nudging a smile out of the girl.

“It’s almost like you two were made for each other,” Howard said.

“I met her for the first time a couple of months ago,” Kaylee said. “I knew her mother was sick but I never imagined it would come to this. She’s been with me a week and I can’t imagine her ever leaving.”

“Does she have to?”

Kaylee shrugged. “Mel said that Social Services will conduct a search for family members, but Mallory doesn’t know of any. What we need right now is time. Even with the best of intentions, I’m not going to be selfish. I want Mallory to have the right home. One where she can count on staying through her teenage years.”

“I hope it turns out to be with you,” he said. “I don’t know anything about situations like this but it feels right to me. Kaylee, I’m very proud of you.”

A warmth spread through her and she was a little bit surprised by how good it felt to hear that. This father who had not been there for her suddenly filled her full of pride and affection.

“I’m going to go inside and see what’s available to drink. Would you like something?” he asked.

“If they have anything hot, that would be great,” she said.

She scooted out of the way of people who would be going to the porch or inside and also those coming out and wandering over toward the tree. She saw so many familiar faces and waved to a few friends. It was almost as if she’d lived here for years, she felt so comfortable among them. She wondered which of them had brought the tree, who decorated her porch rail with garland. For someone who didn’t want Christmas to come, she found all of this enchanting. Promising. And yet because she helped with the holiday food baskets, she knew that for many, times were hard. She caught a glimpse of the elderly mother and daughter she’d met at Thanksgiving, talking to neighbors and pointing up at the height of the tree.

“Well, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re actually enjoying the holiday,” came Mel’s voice.

“Oh!” she said, turning to Mel and giving her a hug. “Thanks largely to you, I’m having a very nice time. Mallory is doing pretty well. We talk about her mom a lot but we’re doing other things that are as distracting for me as for her. We’re reading together—I can’t believe how smart that kid is. We play board games and watch some movies and she loves Lady and the puppies. Now, I’d really like to find out who brought me some of the Christmas treats I found on my porch.”

“I think if whoever it was didn’t want to be anonymous, you’d have gotten a card,” Mel said. “I think Jack let it slip that you were dreading Christmas on account of your mother’s passing. If there’s ever a time you want to get the word out about something, just tell Jack.”

“You’re saying he’s a big mouth?” Kaylee asked with a laugh.

“He’s a bartender,” Mel said. “He can’t help it.”

“He said you never tell,” Kaylee pointed out.

“I’m a midwife,” she said, grinning. “Requirement of the job.” Then she stood on her toes as if to look over heads. “One thing about raising kids in Virgin River. They’re relatively safe.”

“Relatively?” she asked hesitantly.

“Well, we do have wildlife and miles of woods and rivers you should try not to fall into, but we haven’t had a kidnapping in a long time.” Kaylee grabbed Mel’s arm so suddenly, Mel laughed. “It was a long time ago, like ten years or so. Paige Middleton was kidnapped by her abusive ex-husband, but he didn’t have her long. Preacher went looking for her and found her. Her ex-husband regained consciousness before long.”

“We really need to spend more time talking,” Kaylee said.

“It was in the newspaper or I wouldn’t have mentioned it,” Mel said.

“How long do you plan to be a midwife?” she asked. “Because you must have loads of tales to tell.”

“Forever,” Mel said. “But just spend a little time with Jack. Are you looking for book material?”

“Always.” At that moment Howard came down the porch stairs and handed Kaylee a steaming cup of hot chocolate. “Mel, this is my father, Howard. Dad, this is Mel Sheridan, local midwife and Jack’s wife. Did you meet Jack when you were in the bar?”

“I might’ve,” he said. “It’s a pleasure.”

“I had no idea you were having family for the holiday, Kaylee,” Mel said. “That’s fantastic. Howard, let me show you around a little, introduce you to a few people. Kaylee...?”

“I’ll stay here and have my hot chocolate, thanks. It’s where I told Mallory I’d stay.”

She watched as Howard walked off beside Mel and stopped at the first couple they happened upon—Vanessa and Paul Haggerty. Then the minister and his wife. Then Tom Cavanaugh with three girls, a couple of teenagers and a younger one.

Then she saw Mallory and her best friend, Ali. They were running around the tree with a couple of other girls and Mallory was laughing. They were holding glittery streamers on sticks that sparkled in the lights of the tree.

Kaylee remembered when she and her mom used to sing that Helen Reddy song, “You and Me Against the World,” a mother-daughter song. She wished her mother could see the tree. Or know Mallory. But she also knew that if Mallory’s situation had presented itself before Meredith passed away, Kaylee wouldn’t have done it, wouldn’t have taken her on. She wouldn’t have gone to Virgin River to seclude herself and ended up with dozens of friends, a new boyfriend, a bunch of pets and a child.

Because you weren’t that person then.