Chapter Seven

      Dealing with thirty jacked-up children a week before Christmas was not exactly the best way to unwind after a busy day at work.

      Celeste drew in a deep breath, let it out slowly and ordered herself to chill. The noise level inside the two-story St. Nicholas Lodge was at epic levels. In one corner, a group of third-grade boys tossed around a paper airplane one of them had folded. In another, two girls were singing “Let it Go” at the top of their lungs. Three of the younger boys were chasing each other around, coming dangerously close to the huge Christmas tree that was the focal point of the lodge.

      All the children were so excited for Christmas they were putting off enough energy to power the entire holiday light displays of three counties.

      How she was supposed to whip this frenzy into organized chaos she had no idea.

      “Whose crazy idea was this again?” her sister said, taking in the scene.

      She sent Hope an arch look. “Go ahead. Raise your hand.”

      Hope offered up a rueful smile. “Sorry. It seemed like a fun idea at the time, a way to keep the local kids engaged and involved and give their parents a little break for shopping and baking, with the payoff of a cute show for the senior citizens at the end. I suppose I didn’t really think it through.”

      “How very unlike you,” Faith said drily from Celeste’s other side.

      Faith’s presence was far more of a shock to Celeste than the wild energy of the children. Their eldest sister was usually so busy working on the cattle-raising side of the business that she didn’t participate in many activities at The Christmas Ranch.

      Perhaps she had decided to stop by because Louisa and Barrett were participating. Whatever the reason, Celeste was glad to see her there. The past eighteen months had been so difficult for Faith, losing her childhood sweetheart unexpectedly. It was good to see her sister reaching outside her comfort zone a little.

      “I guess I didn’t expect them all to be so...jacked up.” Hope couldn’t seem to take her gaze away from the younger children, who were now hopping around the room like bunny rabbits.

      “You obviously don’t have children,” Faith said.

      “Or work in a children’s library,” Celeste added.

      “All kids act as if they’re on crack cocaine the whole week before Christmas,” Faith continued. “How could you not know that?”

      “Okay, okay. Lesson learned. Now we just have to do our best to whip them into shape. We can do this, right?”

      At the note of desperation in Hope’s voice, Celeste forced a confident smile. “Sure we can.”

      Though she had her own doubts, she wouldn’t voice them to Hope. She was too grateful for her sister for bringing light and joy back to the ranch.

      After Travis’s death in a ranching accident, Celeste, Mary and Faith had decided to close The Christmas Ranch, which had been losing money steadily for years. It had seemed the logical course of action. The Star N had been all but bankrupt and the Christmas side of things had been steadily losing money for years.

      The plan had been to focus on the cattle side of the Star N, until Hope came back from years of traveling. She put her considerable energy and enthusiasm to work and single-handedly brought back the holiday attraction.

      Part of that success had come because of the Sparkle books, which still managed to astonish Celeste.

      She would always be deeply grateful to Hope for reminding them all of the joy and wonder of the season. Helping her with this Christmas program was a small way to repay her for all her hard work on behalf of the family.

      “We’ve got this,” she said to her sisters with a firm smile that contained far more assurance than she really felt.

      She stepped forward and started to clap her hands to gather the children around when the door opened and a couple of newcomers came in. She turned with a smile to welcome them and felt an actual physical jolt when she saw Flynn and Olivia.

      Despite his agreement the night before, she had been certain Flynn would end up not bringing Olivia. She had seen the clear reluctance in his eyes and knew he worried the girl wasn’t ready for this sort of public appearance.

      She was thrilled for Olivia’s sake that he had changed his mind, even if it meant she would have to do her best to ignore her own reaction to him—and even though she wouldn’t have been nearly as exhausted today if not for him.

      Her night had been restless. She couldn’t seem to shake the memory of that moment when he had kissed her cheek—the warmth of his mouth, the brush of his evening shadow against her skin, the delicious, outdoorsy scent of him.

      She shivered now in remembered reaction.

      “Are you cold?” Faith asked in a low voice.

      No. Exactly the opposite. “I’m fine.” The lie rolled out far more easily than she would have expected. She had never been very good at stretching the truth.

      “That must be Flynn,” Hope said in an undertone, following her gaze to the newcomers. “Wow. He’s really filled out since he was a teenager. Where’s a nice lawn to be mowed when we need it?”

      Faith laughed aloud, something she did very rarely these days. She had become so much more sober since Travis died.

      “Good luck with that, finding a patch of bare lawn in Idaho in December,” Faith said. “Too bad you can’t talk him into shoveling snow without his shirt.”

      That was an image Celeste didn’t need to add to the others in her head. She felt herself color, then immediately regretted the reaction when her sisters both looked between her and Flynn with renewed interest. Drat. They were both entirely too perceptive. The last thing she needed was for either Hope or Faith to get any matchmaking ideas where Flynn was concerned.

      She quickly left her annoying sisters and moved forward to greet the newcomers.

      Olivia looked nervous, half hiding behind her father. She visibly relaxed when Celeste approached.

      “Hi, Celeste.”

      “It’s my favorite just-turned-seven-year-old. Hi.”

      “It’s