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I plan to make it an experience her brother will never forget too.
Chapter Sixteen
Jesse
Christmas Day…
A modest number of wrapped gifts sit under our decorated tree. We didn’t have a lot of money to spend on shopping. Rory and I got our signing bonus for the band, ten thousand dollars each, but we gave most of that to our parents to help with expenses.
They didn’t like taking it, but they did it anyway.
Because that’s what families do. They take care of each other.
Still, we each managed to get one gift for each family member.
We all open our gifts, with Maddie playing Santa, handing them out.
She’s done that since she was old enough to, and since she’s the baby, none of us have ever challenged her on it.
Mom takes a giant trash bag and starts picking up discarded boxes and wrappings.
Brock and Donny are both here, doing Christmas with us this morning. The Steels celebrated on Christmas Eve.
Maddie picks up a small box wrapped in bright-red wrapping with gold dragons and holly etched on it. “Here’s one more gift, but it doesn’t have a tag.”
“That’s strange,” Rory says. “Why don’t you open it, Mads? Maybe we’ll be able to tell who it’s for.”
“Works for me.” Maddie rips the paper from it, and inside is a white rectangular box, like the kind that would hold large jewelry. “Here goes.” She takes off the lid.
Then she gasps.
“What is it?” Callie asks.
“It’s beautiful.” Then she hands it to me. “It’s for you, Jess.”
I raise my eyebrows. “It is? Okay, which one of you forgot to put a tag on your gift?”
“You got all our gifts.” Callie grins. “This must be from a secret admirer.”
I look inside the box. Nestled on cotton is a brass belt buckle with a dragon—one that looks a lot like our Dragonlock logo—etched on it.
“I think this might be for Dragon,” I say, but then I notice the engraving below the dragon.
In block letters. J E S S E.
“Why would anyone leave a present for Dragon here?” Rory asks.
I shake my head. “Never mind. I was wrong. It’s for me.”
“Are you going to show us what it is?” Brock asks.
I pass it around, the buckle still lying on the cotton. My family oohs and aahs over it.
“It’s perfect for you, Jess,” Dad says.
“Yeah. I love it. But who’s it from?”
The box goes to Donny, and he lifts the belt buckle. “May I?”
