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John woke up to the sound of bells ringing through his home. He rolled onto his back and rubbed his eyes. It was still dark outside. No one in their right mind would be standing on the sidewalk singing Christmas Carols at this time of the morning. He listened again, then lifted his arm to his face, squinting at his watch. Seven o’clock was a strange time to be hearing bells, but Christmas music was definitely coming from somewhere close by.
After the time it had taken him to get home from Washington DC, he should have still been sound asleep. His flight had left five hours late. Landing in Bozeman at two o’clock in the morning had been a nightmare. The plane had dipped and dived so often that he’d given up thinking that they were going to land safely.
At one point an overhead locker had sprung open, dropping its contents on the passengers below. The coats and scarves weren’t a problem, but the heavy bags were. After more than one startled howl of pain, the cabin crew locked everything away and found ice packs for the passengers’ heads.
In the ten minutes it had taken to land, he’d heard more Hail Marys being recited than he ever had at church. The spike of adrenaline reminded him of his time in the military, the days when he never thought he’d wake up again. But here he was, lying in bed and wondering if he’d fallen into the twilight zone.
Apart from finally leaving the plane, the second-best thing he’d done was driving home with Tank. He’d kept a careful eye on the weather reports while he was in Washington DC. As soon as he’d seen the cold front settling over Montana, he’d called Tank and asked him to pick him up. He hated driving in snowstorms almost as much as he hated being in planes that felt like roller coasters.
Tank had met him in the baggage claim area. The drive home had been slow and silent, and totally uneventful. As soon as he’d arrived home, he’d kissed the top of Bella’s sleeping head and collapsed in a heap under his duvet.
He lifted his head again, then sat up in bed. Christmas music was definitely coming from somewhere inside his home.
John pulled on an old pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt and walked barefoot down the wooden staircase. He followed the music, stopping when he got to the kitchen door.
Bella was standing on a chair beside Rachel. She was adding brown sugar and butter to the big electric mixer on the counter, watching the ingredients spin inside the bowl.
Rachel passed her an egg. “Has Mrs. Daniels shown you how to break the shell?”
Bella nodded and turned the mixer off. “Tap the side and pull it apart. What if some of the shell drops into the butter and sugar?”
“We can easily get it out. Are you ready?”
Bella nodded. The first time she hit the side of bowl with the egg, nothing happened. She tried again, hitting the bowl a little harder. The shell splintered and she quickly tipped the egg into the bowl. With a grin that caught at John’s heart, she turned to Rachel. “No shell.”
Rachel held her hand up and high-fived his excited daughter. “Good job. Now we add the molasses and vanilla, then turn the mixer on again.”
Bella looked at the glass bowl Rachel passed her. “All of it?”
Rachel nodded. “I’ll get the flour and the spices ready.” She opened one small packet after another, carefully adding teaspoons of spice to another bowl.
Bella watched Rachel, then looked across the room. “Daddy. You’re home.” She jumped off the chair she’d been standing on and raced across the room. “I’ve missed you.”
John hugged her tight. “I missed you, too.”
“How was your meeting?”
John flicked his gaze to Rachel before looking at his daughter. “It was okay. I’m glad I’m home. What are you baking?”
Bella took his hand and lead him across to the kitchen counter. “We’re making gingerbread cookies for the drama club’s Christmas play. Do you want to help?”
“If you show me what to do, I’ll give it my best shot.”
Bella jumped onto the chair and held a small container toward him. “Put this in the mixing bowl, dad.”
He sniffed the spices. “Is this cinnamon?”
“Cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger,” Rachel said softly. “I hope we didn’t wake you? When we heard that your flight had been delayed, we thought you might have stayed in Washington.”
John looked away from Rachel’s big blue eyes. A man could get lost in those eyes if he let himself. But he wasn’t the type of person to let himself fall that easily for a woman, especially after what he’d learned this week. “It’s not so bad waking up to the sound of Christmas bells. It was better than waking up in a crowded airport. There were hundreds of people waiting for rescheduled flights. I could have ended up at the airport for another two days if my flight had been canceled.”
Rachel passed Bella a bowl of flour. She watched her add it to the gingerbread ingredients, then glanced quickly at him. “You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here this early?”
The thought had crossed his mind. “You don’t need to look after Bella on the weekends.”
“I promised Bella that I’d take her to The Bridesmaids Club and yesterday was as good a day as any. Tess and I planned on opening the boxes of dresses that had arrived this week and sorting through the letters. While we were there, the weather got so bad that Tank drove Bella and I home. Mrs. Daniels thought it was safer for me to stay here last night.”
“Patty was right.” John watched Rachel’s hands relax against the edge of the counter. “Do you need a ride back to Tess’ home to get your truck?”
Rachel’s mouth dropped open as if she was going to say something, then changed her mind.
John thought about what he’d said and felt like an idiot. “I didn’t mean that I wanted you to leave now. I meant later, when you’re ready to go home. You can stay for as long as you like.”
Rachel nodded slowly. She took the empty flour bowl out of Bella’s hands then looked at him. “Tank said he’d drop me off at Tess’ at nine o’clock.”
“You’ll need a shovel to get rid of the snow on your truck. It was nearly blizzard conditions when we drove in from the airport.”
Bella looked at her dad. “I saw lots of pretty dresses at The Bridesmaids Club. I helped hang them on a special rack. Tess made cake and Rachel took our Christmas CD with us.”
“Sounds like you had a great time.”
“Mrs. Daniels and I made cookies before I went with Rachel. I took some for Tess. Can I go again, dad? Tank wanted to come home early because it was snowing. Tess said it was okay if I go back to look at the dresses.”
John looked at Rachel. “If it’s okay with Rachel, it’s okay with me.”
“Of course it’s all right. It will be good to have another pair of hands to help unpack the boxes.” She looked at the mixing bowl in front of them. “We’ve nearly finished the dough. Just two more ingredients to add.”
“Then we can roll it out and make the gingerbread cookies?”
“We need to put the dough in the fridge for a little while. We could have breakfast and get ready for the day while it chills?”
“And then can we roll it out?”
“You bet. Mrs. Daniels has got lots of cookie cutters. Your dad could make some too, if he wants to?
The last time John had made cookies had been when he was a boy. Grandma Fletcher used to spend most of December baking for Christmas. Some of the cookies and cake were given to friends and family. But most of the baking went to the local shelter, helping other people enjoy the Christmas spirit.
He picked up one of the cookie cutters. “Does the cookie cutter person get to sample some of the cookies after they’re baked?”
Bella giggled. “You can have two, but you have to wait until after we’ve put frosting on them.” She leaned across to John and whispered, “They need to be decorated. Otherwise, they’re not really Christmas cookies.”
John smiled at his daughter. “Thank you for telling me,” he whispered back.
Bella added the last two ingredients to the bowl and turned the mixer back on. Christmas music filled the kitchen while Bella and Rachel got the dough ready for the fridge.
“You’ve done this before,” John said to Rachel.
“Just a few times. Christmas wouldn’t be the same without special cookies.”
Bella patted the top of the dough in its plastic wrap and smiled. “All done.”
Rachel carried it across to the fridge, then washed her hands under the faucet. “Now comes the really exciting part. The clean-up.”
Bella groaned. “Do we have too?”
John looked around the kitchen and smiled. Flour was sprinkled across most of the counter and a collection of dirty spoons and bowls surrounded Bella. “It’s not as bad as it could be. Rachel’s already put most of the ingredients away.”
Rachel passed Bella a warm dishcloth. “I’ll get the bowls ready to be washed while you wipe down the counter. Your dad can sweep the floor.”
Bella sighed. “Okay.”
As they moved around the kitchen, the Christmas music changed and a children’s choir started singing.
