All I Want for Christmas: A Kinnison Legacy Holiday novella Read Online Free PDF

Jed Kinnison’s later years, he and Nan had dated a few times. But to this day, it remained pure speculation.
    “You’ll take care of the holiday wreaths on the utility poles again, Nan?” Aimee asked, checking her three-ring, color-coded binder.
    “Will do. And I’ll have Tyler check the lights along the top of the store fronts. Those…darn things look so pretty at night. Great idea Jed Kinnison had.” She nodded. The lights outlined the tops of each building surrounding the square and stayed up year-round, so that only minor repairs and replacements needed to be done on them.
    “What about the tree in the town square?” Rosie asked. “Will we have one this year? I miss that tradition of the lights on the stores and the tree all being lit at once.”
    “Oh,” Aimee finished, chewing a bit of cookie. “Wyatt said he and the guys would take care of it.”
    Betty’s eyebrows rose. There hadn’t been a tree in the square for years…not since Jed Kinnison left this earth. “I don’t know how you managed that, honey. But kudos to you.” She raised her water glass to Aimee.
    “It wasn’t me.” Aimee held her hands up. “It was Grace. She seems to have a thing for Christmas trees this year. Every time she sees one on the television or in a store her little eyes light up. When I mentioned something about the tree to Wyatt over dinner, Gracie clapped her hands and tried to say ‘Christmas tree.’ Adorable, but slaughtered the words. Nonetheless, that was all it took. Wyatt said his baby girl was going to have the biggest, best Christmas tree in the state.” She looked at the others. “And... I’m not sure anyone is going to believe it, but he wants to have a holiday open house out at the ranch this year. Just like Jed used to do.”
    Betty shook her head with a low chuckle. “That little girl has her daddy wrapped around her little finger already.”
    Aimee smiled. “Yeah, I saw that coming the day the doctor laid her in his arms.”
    Liberty felt a tug on her sweater and realized the meeting had dragged on longer than she’d expected. “Okay, email me a list of the stores participating in the Christmas window decorating contest. I’ve got a little guy here who needs his afternoon nap.”
    Cody waved at the ladies as they left. He was nodding off as they pulled up to the house. Carrying him inside, she let her purse fall just inside the door and carried him upstairs to his room and lay down on his little bed, drawing him close as they both drifted to sleep.
    ***
    The following Tuesday, Rein eyeballed the space as he and Clay positioned one of the cabinets that would become the bakery’s prep area. With Liberty’s design help, he’d taken out the wall separating the two kitchen areas, providing a better utilization of storage and refrigeration for both businesses. That, however, wasn’t what was on his mind. It’d made him uneasy to leave Liberty alone at home to deal with Ellie coming to pick up Cody—she was taking him to visit his mom for a few hours. The woman had a right to see her son, of course, and he knew very little about her, but didn’t Cody have the right to a normal childhood and a safe and happy home? Had his mom provided that when she made the choices that landed her in the pickle she now found herself in?
    “It’s starting to come together. You, on the other hand, look like you’re hanging by a thread.” Clay Saunders, Rein’s college friend and recent addition to End of the Line, worked with Rein’s growing construction business. He’d married End of the Line’s music teacher, Sally Andersen, this past year and the two were presently awaiting twins sometime after Christmas—or so they hoped.
    “Guess I didn’t get as much sleep as I usually do,” Rein confessed, not adding that “alone time now” came later than usual, which also meant the alarm went off much earlier.
    “I’ve been reading up on raising kids.” Clay tapped the base of the cabinet with his boot,