“Of course. Take care of yourself today, all right?”
“Will do.”
She watched Ward trudge back to his car, pulling out his phone again on the way, and her heart went out to him, even as she watched to make sure he put it away again before he began to drive. As thoughtless as he could be, he was still human and rudderless without Mindy to give meaning to his days. He was doing his best to hold it together for Elise, but Wye wasn’t sure how much more of this her brother could take. She resolved to pay him more attention over the holidays.
“Is he joining us tonight?” Emerson said at her shoulder.
She nodded.
“Good. I don’t think he should be alone.” He tugged Wye backward to lean against him and put his arms around her and Elise. “I’m glad I found you.”
“I’m glad I found you.” She sighed as he kissed the top of her head. “Ward needs someone to love, too.”
“Don’t go matchmaking—it’s far too soon.”
“I know.” Still, she wished there was something she could do to help. When she asked Cass later if it would be okay if Ward and Elise spent the night and joined them for Christmas morning, Cass looked thoughtful.
“Of course. We just need a room to put them in,” she said. “I suppose we could put both of them in the nursery.”
“I can bunk with Emerson—just for the night,” Wye said.
“As if you haven’t been bunking with him every night already,” Cass laughed. “I’m not blind, Wye.”
“Do you mind?”
“Why would I? Please do invite your brother; we’re always happy to have one more.”
“You’re an angel.”
“I don’t know about that, but I do my best.”
The rest of the day was full of last-minute details, including calling Ward to invite him to stay, a rushed trip to the grocery store with Elise and lots of cooking. Wye was putting the finishing touches on the table settings late that afternoon when Ward knocked at the back door.
Cass beat her to open it. “Come in! Oh, you didn’t have to do that,” she added when he handed her a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates.
“It’s the least I can do, crashing your Christmas Eve festivities.”
“We’re happy to have you. Wye, show Ward where he can wash up. Dinner’s almost ready.”
Ward took Elise for a quick snuggle, then followed Wye to the bathroom. “You sure it’s all right that Elise and I are here?”
“Positive,” Wye said, remembering her conversation with Cass and her sisters in the woods earlier that month about deciding to belong. “Did you bring your things to stay overnight?”
“I packed a bag, but I don’t know—it seems weird…”
“I know it does, but it isn’t good for you to stay home alone. You’ll be better off here.”
“If you think so.”
“I know so. Come on; wash up and let’s go eat. Cass and I have been cooking all day.”
Chapter 9
‡
Emerson knew if he didn’t stop eating, he’d end up falling asleep at the candlelight service later, but it was hard to exercise restraint when Cass and Wye set out this kind of spread.
“That was good,” Ward said, jostling Elise a little, who was sitting on his lap, taking tiny bites of turkey he offered her and chewing them with her limited set of teeth.
“That was stupendous,” the General proclaimed. “You outdid yourself, Cass.”
“I couldn’t have done it without Wye.”
“We menfolk will clean up,” Brian declared. “Go make yourselves pretty for church.”
He was met with good-natured protests, but the women retired happily upstairs, Jo stealing Elise from Ward’s arms.
Ward hung back as the other men sprang into action, and Emerson figured he wasn’t sure how to help without getting in the way.
“Broom’s in the pantry over there,” he said. “If you want, you could sweep.”
“Sounds good.” Ward went gratefully to start the task.
Brian took charge of washing the dishes. Several of the others helped dry and put away. Emerson kept a constant flow of dirty dishes from the table to the sink. Connor put on some music. Twenty minutes later, when they’d put a sizable dent in the work, Emerson noticed Ward had headed outside. Looking out the window, he saw the man bent over his phone, tapping quickly.
Could his wife have gotten in touch? At first, Emerson thought that might be the case, especially as the minutes ticked on, but when Ward finally shoved the phone in his pocket and came back indoors, he just shrugged. “Friends saying happy holidays,” he said.
“Thought it might be…” Emerson realized it wasn’t a good idea to bring up Mindy. “Never mind.” When Ward frowned, he rushed to change the subject. “Want to help me take this tablecloth outside and shake it?”
“Sure.”
Ward was back on his phone several more times before they left for church and had it in his hand again during the drive home. Emerson was glad to see him put it away when they reached Two Willows. It was late, and the sky was a sea of stars. Everyone else stopped to look up when they got out of their vehicles.
“I love this part of Christmas best of all,” Alice said softly. “The hush before the storm.”
“I like opening presents,” Jo said. “Always have, always will.”
“I like the food,” Connor said.
“I like it all,” Emerson said, but his gaze was on Ward, who was looking up at the sky as if it had the answer to something that was puzzling him.
“I like you,” Wye said and kissed him on the cheek. “And I’m ready to go to bed. I’m exhausted.”
“You and me both,” Cass said contentedly. “Go ahead upstairs. Get your brother settled for the night.”
“Will do. Come on, Ward. Let me show you your room.”
“Sure thing.”
Emerson was lying in bed by the time Wye had gotten Ward and Elise settled in for the night, and when she slipped into his room, he lifted the covers as an invitation.
“I thought we’d never get to the good part,” Wye said, hurrying to join him.
“How’s your brother doing?”
“As good as can be expected. Preoccupied, actually,” she admitted as she stripped down, slid on a silky little slip of a thing and joined him. “I think he’ll do better tomorrow after the morning’s festivities. Then it’ll be over and life will get back to normal. I think that’s easier for him than holidays. I wish he’d put his phone down, though, and pay more attention to Elise. You don’t think…” She hesitated. “You don’t think he’s on a dating site, do you?”
“Maybe.” The thought had occurred to him, too. “He’s human, Wye. It’s hard to be alone during the holidays. You couldn’t blame him for reaching out to someone else.”
“It’s way too soon.”
“Probably. Although that never stopped anyone before.”
She chuckled. “You’re right. As a species, we aren’t very sensible.”