Mountain Man's Gift: A Small Town Holiday Romance (Callaghan Mountain Brothers) by K.C. Crowne

Author:K.C. Crowne [Crowne , K.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-11-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Olivia

Thanksgiving was, for the most part, a stressful time of year. Figuring out turkey cooking times and setting up decorations and figuring out why the mashed potatoes always came out lumpy didn’t sound like my idea of a fun evening.

Irene loved it, though. She was a regular old Monica when it came to these sorts of things.

“Are you sure I can’t help with anything?” I asked, pressed against the kitchen counter as she scurried around. The whole place smelled of pumpkin pie and seasoned stuffing, along with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg and roasting vegetables.

“No, no,” she said, not unkindly. “I have a system. Go take a seat, Liv. You’re a guest. I can’t have my guests doing any work.”

We were gathered at her house, all four of her brothers —save for Levi, who was still at college— Adam, and me. I was really hoping Dad would be well enough to join us, too, but the doctors sadly couldn’t give me the go-ahead to bring him home. Irene generously promised to set aside some turkey and stuffing for me to take to him at the hospital.

Irene’s place was on the other side of Sunville, so it took us about an hour to drive there in Boone’s truck. She had a nice plot of land where she had a small garden to grow vegetables year-round, as well as a large forest area around back in case she needed firewood. Her property wasn’t nearly as large as Boone’s, though, but her wood cabin suited her nicely.

The dining table had been decorated with a red linen cloth. Small paper turkeys were placed sporadically between the place settings. The plates boasted patterns of fall leaves while the paper napkins she set out had borders of pumpkins.

The Callaghan brothers each had their own seat around the table. They spoke merrily, cracking open beers and sneaking in bites of their bread rolls when Irene wasn’t looking. They knew she’d kill them if they were caught getting a head start on dinner.

“The Milanos sent word, by the way,” Dylan announced after quickly swallowing his roll. “They’ve been released from the hospital. They said they’re very grateful for us coming to find them.”

Clay chuckled. “Well, ain’t that nice.”

“It’s not like we were going to leave them out there,” Brody commented.

“Their daughter,” Boone said. “She had a concussion. How is she?”

“Better,” Dylan answered. “They kept her overnight for observation and she’s doing fine. A little dehydrated, but they sorted her out.”

Boone nodded. “Good.”

“Good,” Adam echoed from his highchair beside me, mimicking his father by crossing his arms.

I giggled, feeding him a spoonful of mashed carrots. Adam was the only one allowed to eat early; otherwise he’d get fussy waiting for the turkey to come out of the oven.

“How’s your old man doing?” Clay asked me, popping a bit of pumpkin pie crust into his mouth.

“He’s alright,” I said softly. “I’m really praying I get to take him home by Christmas.”

“We’re praying for him,” Dylan said.

I smiled, grateful. “Thank you.

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