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“I want to kiss you in front of everyone,” Grant said.

“I’d like that too,” feeling suddenly shy.

He leaned close, kissing me right there in the middle of my brother’s wedding reception.

“I feel like an idiot,” Grant said. “It’s just that I’ve never had anyone love me without rules and conditions. I didn’t trust Jack enough. Or myself.”

“It’s something you’ll always carry with you,” I said. “Just like Jack and I carry our father’s betrayal. It’s part of us. But it’s not the only thing.”

“I understand that a little better than I did on the first of December,” he said. “But there are going to be times when I slip—and question whether I am enough for you.”

“You are enough. But I understand. And I’ll love you through it.”

“And I’ll never leave you like your father did. I’m the kind that stays.”

“So am I,” I said. “So am I.”

An hour later, the wedding feast was in full swing. There were toasts. I cried when Rhett spoke. Cried some more at my mother’s speech. Through it all, Grant kept reaching for my hand.

When it was Mama’s turn to dance with Jack, the opening of “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” brought a laugh from the whole room.

“Too late,” Rhett called.

“You tried, Mom,” I shouted.

I leaned against Grant, watching them.

“Your mom looks happy,” he said.

“She does, yes. If you only knew what she’s gone through. None of us ever imagined a day like this one.”

Grant put his arm around my shoulders, and I tucked myself closer.

Once the formal dances were over, everyone seemed ready to get out of their chairs and dance.

“You want to dance?” Grant asked.

“Let’s slip away for a bit and come back,” I said. “I think I forgot something in my cabin.”

“You don’t have to ask me twice.”

If anyone noticed us headed for the door, they certainly didn’t try to stop us. Which was good, because we weren’t about to put each other aside for anyone else’s sake ever again.

After a little private time, we went back to the reception and danced and drank and danced some more. A little before midnight, we went back to our cabins to change into warm clothes to meet everyone at the fire pit. As much fun as it was to dress up earlier, I was now much warmer in jeans, a sweater, and my warmest jacket. Grant and I sat side by side with my feet stretched toward the fire.

Finley had brought out hot buttered rums in tin mugs on a sled. I wrapped my hands around mine as Grant moved his chair a little closer.

“Merry Christmas,” Knox said, lifting his mug. “It’s midnight.”

Behind us, the lodge windows glowed. The big Christmas tree in the middle of the ranch was still lit, and above it all was a clear sky crowded with stars. I tipped my head back to look at them until the cold found the gap between my collar and my neck.

Grant took off his scarf and wrapped it around my neck. “Better?”

“Much. Thank you.”

“Ho, ho, ho.” I looked over to see Jasper dressed in a Santa suit with a sack over his shoulder, announcing that he’d brought presents. Everyone cheered.

The first gift was for Rhett—an old photograph of him and Jack, with Holly off to one side. Hearing them try to remember where it had been taken made me smile. They’d been so young. All of us had.