Page 40 of Ashes to Ink

“Really? Which one is it? I’ll try to get it from the whiteelephant.”

He shook his head before giving her a box. “No, this one’s justfor you. I got something silly for the rest of them.”

“No fair, you can’t just hand over gifts like that,”Adrienne said, her eyes dancing with laughter.

“Hey, you play your own game; this is just for Abby, thankyou very much.”

Abby knew her cheeks were red, but she just smiled at Ryanand took the box.

“Can I open it now?”

“Of course.”

“Help?” Julia asked, and Abby nodded.

“Okay, baby girl, you help your mommy open this gift.”

Abby opened her gift slowly, Julia helping with her tinylittle hands while sitting on Ryan’s lap. They looked such like a family, andshe was really okay with that. Because they had been friends first, and thatwould never change.

And she was happy.

So happy.

As she looked at the new teapot Ryan had gotten her, one sheknew had been made by Jake Gallagher, she just grinned up at the man she knewshe was already in love with.

“I love it.”

Ryan leaned forward and kissed her cheek before whisperingin her year. “And I love you,” he whispered.

She knew it was too soon, but she didn’t care. “I love you,too.”

Julia patted each of their cheeks and then kissed them both.

Ryan laughed and kissed her little girl, and then kissed heron the lips, softly.

Everybody clapped, teasing them before they went intoopening up their white elephant gifts and joining in on all the other jazz thatcame with a Montgomery party. Abby knew that she and Ryan and Julia were ontheir own path, but she was falling in love with everything around her. Notjust Ryan. But she loved him. And he loved her. Yes, everything had changed,but that was fine with her.

She looked over at the tree, a smaller one next to thelarger one. That one only had ornaments made for Thea’s friends, or ornamentsthat were made for everyone important in their lives.

There was one for each Montgomery, and one for each of theworkers that had become part of the Montgomery family. There was one forLandon, Kaylee, Abby, Julia, and Ryan. And there were two more that broughttears to Abby’s eyes when she first saw them.

One was for Michael, because there had to be hope in thedarkness.

And one was for Max, because there had to be love in thathope.

And as she leaned into Ryan and blew a kiss at the ornamentmade for the other man that she loved, Abby knew that life might have thrownher for a loop more than once, but she always found her feet. She always foundthat hope, that love, and that peace.

The holidays were here, and her family was holding herclose.

And she had been born once again from the ashes.

This was her life now.

New beginnings and all.

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