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He grinned and winked. “Wild and crazy.”
I laughed, loving the way the Monroe family talked about themselves. “It sounded like you had a lot of fun, though.”
“And we gave our parents all the gray hair on their heads.” Heath waved me on as he moved to talk to the car that had pulled in behind me.
“No one else is allowed at the farm tonight?” Addy asked as she bounced in her seat.
“Nope. It’s closed for the family event.”
“I can’t believe we were invited.”
“Me either.” The family talked about their traditions with such reverence it was odd that we were included. But I was too curious to back out. I wanted to see Knox interact with his family. Maybe if we were lucky, we’d hear more stories about them growing up. I couldn’t get enough of them.
“I wish I had a brother.”
“Are you sure about that? When you’re kids, you fight a lot and get jealous of each other. The way it is now, you don’t have to share my attention.”
“Mmm,” she said noncommittally.
I parked at the main house next to several Monroe Farm trucks. I knocked on the door, and what looked like Knox’s mother answered.
“Come on in.” She ushered us in. “I’m Lori. We talked on the phone when you came to get your tree.”
“I remember. Thank you so much for inviting us,” I said as we took off our jackets.
She waved a hand at us. “The more the merrier.”
Ireland entered the foyer. “It’s so nice to see you again.”
“We love the decorations on the porch. Thank you for helping with that.”
“It was so fun. I want to make it a thing where we pick a house to decorate every year. But then Emmett asked what if they don’t want their house decorated.” She rolled her eyes. “He always expects the worst from people, but I would think it would be a fun surprise.”
“Me, too. Maybe if you know someone needs the help already, then it would be okay.”
Ireland clasped her hands together. “Yeah, let me know if you know of anyone who could use some holiday cheer.”
“It’s usually Emmett that needs the cheer,” Lori said dryly, and we all laughed.
“Are you talking about us?” Emmett asked as he walked inside with Heath, Knox, Sebastian, and Ember.
“We were talking about surprising a homeowner with a decorated porch and how you think it would be an invasion of their privacy.” Ireland smiled at him as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
Emmett nodded. “Not to mention it’s trespassing.”
“You’re so serious all the time. I think it would be fun.”
“Of course, you do. But let’s make sure we know the person so that they don’t get mad and call the police.”
“You didn’t know me, and you decorated my porch,” I said, loving their interaction.
Knox approached with a wide smile. “We knew this girl, though. She seemed certain that you wanted lights but didn’t have the time or energy to do it yourself.”
“She was right,” I said, with a matching smile.
The brothers wore the same Henleys that said Monroe Christmas Tree Farm, with a little tree as their emblem. They’d pushed up their sleeves as if they were hot from a long day of manual labor and being outside. Everywhere I went on the farm, it smelled like evergreen and outdoors. It was a smell I was growing to love and associate with Knox.
“Where are we starting this year, girls?” Sebastian asked.
