Christmas at miller ranch, A Miller Family Novella

Chapters 1-3

Chapter One

James

“Oh, my goodness. James, is that you?”

The middle Touhey child turned, a tray of hot cocoas in hand, one with extra, extra whipped cream, one with double chocolate and Christmas tree sprinkles, then two which were slightly more sensible. 

“Hello?” James answered uncertainly, taking in the sight of the woman smiling up at him like he was an old friend. She was of average height and curvy, with dark chestnut hair in big curls that were barely contained by a cloth headband. 

She was pretty, that was for certain, and her grin was a bit dazzling. James liked to think that was why he didn’t notice the teal-colored scrubs she was wearing until her smile faded ever so slightly.

“Sorry, you probably don’t remember me. It’s been a couple of years since I saw you last. But it’s me, Ka—”

“Katrine!” James blurted, his memories suddenly rushing back to him in a deluge. “Katrine, never Katrina! Hey, it has been a while.”

“Oh! You do remember me? How flattering!” Suddenly the woman opened her arms wide for a hug and James found himself drawn up into an embrace. If it had been any other stranger, he would have jerked away. Except Katrine was no stranger, not even remotely, and it wasn’t even the first time she’d held him.

“You look amazing, by the way. How is your care going? I’ve missed you since you transferred to another OT.” James opened his mouth to object, but Katrine just waved her hand. “I don’t take it personally. I specifically work with day-to-day physical therapy. I’m not equipped or trained to give you what you needed with your new prosthetic.”

James nodded, eyes flitting to two nieces and a nephew that he’d brought along to go check out the new Grossology exhibit at the city’s science museum. Poor Chastity. His “sister-in-law” had planned a whole weekend trip with her brood, only for her, Ben, their eldest, and their youngest to all get hit with a truly wicked level of cold. Naturally, Dani had stepped in, offering to house the healthy kids and have Benji take them to the museum, only for poor Dani and Caspian to get sick too.

Thankfully it wasn’t anything lethal, but it was a lot of dripping noses, sneezes, achy bodies and cranky cranks. James supposed that was the downside of having a large, wonderfully close family. When someone got sick, most everyone else ended up getting it like dominoes. 

Which was why James offered to take his nieces and nephew to help. He figured, out of everyone, he was the least likely to get them ill. Besides, he had missed out on so much of their lives by going in and out of the hospital between his initial injury, his recovery, his subsequent infections, then losing his leg to it, then having to recover. 

“I do miss our hangouts,” James said, pulling himself back to the conversation with his old occupational therapist. “I remember you every time I have soup.” 

Katrine laughed at that, and it was every bit as charming as James had remembered. She’d been an integral part of his life for nearly three years after the fire. Helping him learn how to deal with his lack of mobility and independence. Teaching him how to deal with his diminished sensation and intense spikes of pain. She’d taught him how to write again, use utensils, and even get in and out of the shower. So many things. 

James remembered hating her some days, dreading the pain that came along with doing therapy with her. But mostly, he was incredibly grateful to her. She had been his anchor in the storm his life became after the fire. She gave him power, as well as hope to believe he could ever be “normal” again.

He supposed true normal was forever out of the window, in truth. After all, he’d been kept in a medical coma for a long while, then just when it seemed like he was recovering, he’d gotten a life-threatening infection that nearly made him go into septic shock. And then he’d lost his leg on top of it. 

“Hah! I suppose that’s not the worst legacy.” Someone tugged at Katrine’s purse, and James looked down to see a little boy who was practically the spitting image of her. “One minute, mon petit chou. Mommy’s talking to an old friend.”

“Okies, but can I have that much whipped cream on my hot choccie?”

“Only if they have coconut or oat milk whipped cream. You know how milk makes your tummy hurt, mon chou.”

“I think they do, merci.”

“You’re welcome, now go sit with your Auntie Gabi for me, okay? I’ll just be a couple more minutes.”

The child nodded and trotted off, his little legs taking him across the cafe pretty quickly.

“I didn’t know you had a kid,” James said, trying to wrack his brain if she’d mentioned a son before. Then again, Katrine could be pretty private. He didn’t even know that she was born in France and had moved to America when she was around eleven. He couldn’t remember the exact details, but he was pretty sure her father had been stationed there for quite a long while before being called back home and bringing the rest of his family with him. 

“Didn’t you?” She paused to think. “Huh, I was literally pregnant with him when we first met.”

…she was? James knew that a lot had been on his mind then and that he’d had to recover from his coma, but he hadn’t thought he’d been that out of it. 

“Oh, huh. I must have forgotten.”

“That’s alright. It’s not like you don’t have plenty on your plate!” She laughed and more memories came flooding back. James had always liked her laugh. It was so personal and inviting. He never felt judged or condescended to whenever she let out a few peals of mirth. “Speaking of which, how is the family ranch coming? I used to love hearing about all your updates. Any more chicken or goat drama? I think I vaguely recall there being a mean girl sort of situation with your… cows? Was it the cows? Now that I say it out loud, it sounds kind of silly.”

“Oh no, it definitely was the cows. Honey and Hannah were kind of crowding out Tabasco, mostly because they were jealous of a grafting situation with a very cute orphan calf.”

“I understood… almost all of those words,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it. It all got solved eventually.”

“Well, isn’t that a relief! And here I was worried for years how their drama unfolded.” She reached out and gently squeezed James’s arm. But instead of making him feel uncomfortable, he found that he liked the contact. It was… nice.

Katrine tucked in a stray wisp of hair before continuing. “Anyway, what are you doing here in the city? Definitely a drive for you.” Especially considering that for four years, James hadn’t been able to drive at all. Regaining that freedom had been particularly poignant and liberating. 

“I’m taking my nieces and nephew to the Grossology exhibit.”

“What!? No way! That’s where my friend Gabi and I are taking our kids. What a small world.”

James nodded, swallowing hard a bit at just how happy she looked at the coincidence. Before he could really think it through, his right brain hotwired the path to his throat and blurted out something without the left brain’s discerning input. 

“We should all go together. Let the kids hang out and all that.”

And maybe us too?

Chapter Two

Katrine

James Touhey looked good.

Katrine would never forget the first time she’d walked into James’s room to do her evaluation. He looked so downright miserable that she’d expected him to be a real crank. Sure, she wished her patients didn’t take their pain out on her, but she also kind of didn’t blame them, so she’d prepped herself for the worst. 

But James was far from the worst. He really, really tried to be as polite as he could despite the incredibly strenuous effort it took for him to get through even the simplest of things. In all honesty, Katrine thought it might have helped him to lose it a little, because when he grew truly frustrated, he would often just shut down instead of expressing it and getting it out of his system. 

It had been a long road that they’d been on together, but goodness, if she hadn’t always been impressed by his indomitable spirit. He never let himself stay defeated for long, and whenever she rolled in for his next session, he would attack everything with the same endless determination.

But most importantly, he listened. That was what really stuck with Katrine. She’d had plenty of Type A patients before. The ones that pushed and pushed and pushed themselves, often into the territory of making things worse. They always thought they knew better than her, even when she warned them over and over again that they needed to chill out. 

Not James though. If she told him he needed to take a break, or to stop entirely, he would. There were only two times in their entire work together that he’d looked at her with that sweet yet melancholy gaze of his and said in his drawl, “Ma’am, respectfully, I would like to go a bit more, if that’s alright. Got something I need to work out.”

She’d always let him work it out then, whatever it was, and both times he was right. He’d clearly needed to go a bit farther. Katrine supposed he’d taught her that sometimes she needed to listen too.

“Auntie Kat, did you know the human body sheds about nine pounds of skin a year on average?!” 

Katrine turned away from watching her boy play in one of the interactive exhibits to turn to Mark, her friend’s child. He was four years older than Remy but had definitely taken on an older brother sort of role. Which Katrine would be endlessly grateful for. If it weren’t for Gabi and her kindness, Katrine didn’t know how she would have been able to survive after her husband just walked out on her. They may not have been related by blood, but as far as Katrine was concerned, Gabrielle Gonzalez was her sister through and through. 

“Huh, you’re right. That is pretty gross, Mark.”

“Right? The human body is so weird. Like a squishy machine.”

A sharp laugh sounded from a few feet away and Katrine turned her head to see James nearly choking on his hot cocoa. Which, she had to admit, looked pretty delicious. She’d been tempted to grab something like that herself, but sugary things were an easy migraine trigger for her, and she wasn’t about to risk her son’s much-anticipated trip to the science museum for a delicious beverage.

Handsome men, on the other hand… 

No, she needed to stop that. Sure, he wasn’t her patient anymore, but there was no doubt he saw her only in a professional light, and she needed to respect that. Besides, she doubted that divorced single mothers with strange accents and size fourteen pants were his type. Nah, she’d seen pictures of him before his severe injuries. He’d been a classic beefcake, all-American with strength packed into some inviting bone structure framed by some great hair. He no doubt wanted a blond-haired, blue-eyed girl who smelled like apple pie and didn’t have nearly a U-Haul’s worth of baggage to trundle along behind her.

Oh well. That didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy his lovely company and be incredibly proud of how far he’d come. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” he said, ambling over. “But that’s a pretty good description, Mark. Humans are just squishy, messy machines.”

Mark nodded enthusiastically, his pleasure at being validated apparent. He was a sweet kid, he was, but most of his peers at school didn’t seem to see it. He had friends, sure, but Katrine wasn’t an idiot. She knew that there were others who saw the action figures he’d bring to recess each day, and how enthusiastically he participated in classes, then decided to ostracize him as a “nerd.” She and Gabi both wished that they could shield him from the bullying, but in reality, there was only so much they could do about the social relationships of elementary students. 

“Thanks, Mr.…”

“You can call me James, or Uncle James if you need an honorific. Not to be a cliche, but Mr. Touhey is my father, and he’s still plenty kicking.”

“What’s a cliche?”

Instead of getting irritated, which Katrine knew plenty of people were inclined to do whenever a kid asked one too many questions, James just grinned. 

“Good question. It means that it’s something that’s said or done so often that it’s become predictable. You know, like when people ask how are you and the other person says ‘fine’ instead of how they’re actually doing? It’s a bit like that.”

“Oh, so like a commonplace phrase?”

“Yeah! Exactly. Like a commonplace phrase. Good vocabulary, kid.”

“Thanks, Mr. James!”

At that Mark bounced away, rejoining James’s nieces who were reading about boogers and other forms of mucus. Certainly not Katrine’s thing, but hey, whatever made them happy. Apparently, kids loved random and gross facts about the body, considering the success of the exhibit as it traveled across the country. 

“Cute kid,” James remarked, finishing off his cocoa and sliding his hands in his pockets. Did he know he looked like a magazine model when he did that? Probably not. Although he held himself well enough, Katrine got the feeling that he still saw himself as the burn-riddled shell of a man who’d fought tooth and nail to get back to himself. Which was a shame. 

Not that she thought she could dictate his healing process. James had gone through the wringer and back. She didn’t blame him for most likely having insecurities; she just wished he didn’t have to. Unfortunately, there were always going to be people who would only see the scars from his skin grafts or his slight limp when he walked. 

But those people didn’t know a good thing when they saw it, so there. 

“Yeah, that’s Gabi’s boy. He’s basically an older brother to Remy.”

“I noticed they seemed to get on pretty well. Unusual with that kind of age difference, so it’s nice to see.”

“I don’t think it’s all that unusual.”

James winced ever so slightly. “Isn’t it? I remember my brother and me getting real annoyed with my little sister Dani always trying to tag along with us for everything from the age of nine to thirteen.”

“Well, that’s different,” Katrine answered with a small chuckle. “You lived with her every single day. Remy and Mark only see each other about once a week.”

“Ah, I never thought about it that way, but you’re probably right.”

“Maybe so. But back to your sister. What changed?”

“Huh?”

“You said it annoyed you until you were thirteen. What happened to change that?” Katrine asked.

“Well, Dani was getting picked on, and I guess you can say we got kind of protective. She withdrew into herself a lot, and we weren’t going to stand for it. Got into a lot of fights until we graduated, but you know, we were older than her so she still had to face her junior and senior year of high school alone.”

James sighed and there was plenty of melancholy in his tone. Not that Katrine was surprised. She’d seen pretty much every member of their family interact, and their love for each other was incredibly apparent. 

“We really did try to be there for each other, but people can be so cruel. And there may have been quite a few kind people in her class, but goodness, the ten or so really mean ones certainly made their mark.”

Katrine nodded, her heart aching. “The issue is it’s not just the ten mean ones, but it’s also everyone else who sat idly by and decided it wasn’t their business to interfere or even encouraged it. Tends to make a person think they deserve it.”

“That’s a really great way to put it.”

The two of them shared a moment of quiet contemplation, their thoughts no doubt going in different directions but rooted in the same kind of sorrow. Although Katrine hadn’t ever really been bullied as a kid, she saw plenty with Mark and worried about Remy eventually. 

Eventually, it was James who broke the quiet between them, pulling Katrine back to the real world. 

“Okay, this conversation is starting to get depressing. Why don’t we change the subject?”

“Sure, but what do you think the best way to do that is?” Katrine shot back, pointing as she did. “With the ‘What Happens When We Sleep’ exhibit to our right or the ‘How Food Is Digested’ exhibit?”

“You know, I think I’ve learned plenty about what happens to my meals after they enter my body. Let’s check out the sleep stuff. Goodness knows I don’t get enough.”

“Ooof, truer words have never been spoken.”

Together they walked through that section of the floor, making sure to keep an eye on the kids. Katrine couldn’t recall a time she’d had so much good conversation and laughs with someone who wasn’t Gabi, Mark, or her own son, but James and his nieces plus nephew were a total delight. And that was with being hopped up on adrenaline and the sugar from their hot cocoas. Maybe once the day was over, Katrine would treat herself. After all, it was the Christmas season and what better way to top off a cold wintery day than with a warm, chocolatey drink?

It was definitely money well spent, especially when all the kids seemed to thoroughly exhaust themselves, slowing down bit by bit until it was clearly time to go. 

“This was such a nice time,” Katrine said as they headed to the parking garage, where they would all part ways to go in their separate directions. Part of her wished the day wouldn’t end. Perhaps that was silly, considering she hadn’t seen James in nearly two years and that he was only ever her patient, but he really was a lot of fun to hang out with. And apparently quite gifted with children too, which was a plenty admirable skill in her opinion.

Then she added, “Thank you for suggesting we all go together.”

“Yeah, the kids got on really well. I wouldn’t be surprised if they ask to have another playdate with Mark. And Remy could tag along too, of course.”

Katrine’s face lit up in a smile. “That would be amazing! I’ll make sure to talk to Gabi about it. Maybe we should all exchange numbers?”

“That sounds like a good idea to me.”

Katrine’s heart fluttered in her chest at that, and she told herself to calm down. He was just looking out for Mark and being a great uncle, that was all. And so they stopped right then and there, pulling out their phones and trading numbers. 

“Okay, you’re programmed in! I’ll text you sometime,” she said.

“Yeah, for sure,” James answered before seeming to hesitate. Katrine paused as well, although she didn’t exactly know what she was hoping for. “Actually…”

“Yes?”

“Ma Miller, my sister, and my mother are doing this huge bake sale at the community center that was built last year. There’s gonna be activities for kids and plenty of cooking on site, even with all the prep we’re doing. Would… would maybe you want to come, uh, participate?”

Something warm and fuzzy spread through Katrine’s chest. Something so fragile and foreign that she tried not to acknowledge it. She’d learned long ago the dangers of letting her hopes rise far too soon. 

“I’d love that.”

Chapter Three

James

James wasn’t sure why he invited his old OT to an event with a good number of his family, but he just hadn’t wanted to go their separate ways and never talk again, which was pretty easy to do as an adult. Life went so fast, and James was sure that Katrine was even busier than he was. 

So yeah, he’d invited her and texted her more details later, which was how he ended up pacing the community center floor, waiting for Katrine to arrive.

“You okay there?” Ginny asked, ambling up with a milk crate full of bags of sugar. “You look like you got a bee right in your bonnet.”

“I’m fine,” James said, slowing and taking the crate from Ginny. Unlike some people who still tried to baby him, Virginia treated him the same as ever. She was wonderfully practical that way. “Just waiting for my guest.”

“Ooooh, did you invite someone to help take Dani’s place? Goodness knows your sister ends up doing a lot with these things.”

Sure, that was a good enough excuse. Poor Dani was having a hard time recovering from the cold-flu thing going on, which was a bit concerning. After the first five days, James had been pretty insistent that she go to the hospital until she explained that she had low iron and that was why her body was struggling to recover. Naturally, James had gone into town and bought all of her favorite sweets along with some quality red meat cuts. Yes, his sister was a grown woman who could handle herself, but he hated seeing her feeling poorly and he’d missed out on so much time being a big brother to her in his recovery. He deserved a little bit of over-the-topness. 

“Yeah, and she has a kid. I wanted to introduce her to some of y’alls littler ones.”

“Oh, like a toddler?”

“Nah, five years.”

“That’ll be perfect! Daniella is getting to be too old to want to hang out with the little ones as much, so it’ll be nice for them to have a new playmate.”

“That’s what I was thinking.” As of three seconds ago, so technically, it wasn’t a lie. 

“Well, I look forward to meeting her. And don’t forget to tell her about our self-defense courses.”

James chuckled at that. While Missy had to step back a little bit from their training courses because of all of her animal rescue responsibilities, Ginny had dived into it whole hog, the classes becoming her full-time job instead of working as a ranch hand. It worked out well, considering that they’d gained her good ol’ hubby in her place. Naturally, she was always happy to find new recruits. 

His phone buzzing, James saw that Katrine had messaged him that she’d pulled into the parking lot. Excusing himself from Ginny, he gave her back the crate and hurried outside to greet Katrine.

“Did you find the place okay?” he asked, trying not to stare at the outfit that she was wearing. Not that it was anything salacious, not at all. But he was so used to seeing her in teal scrubs that it made his brain go on the fritz that she was in a pair of simple black leggings and a pretty, floral tunic-dress. Even when they’d gone to Grossology, she’d been in her hospital outfit, as she’d done a split-shift specifically to carve out enough time to take her son to the exhibit. 

“Oh yeah, the GPS takes care of everything. I don’t know how people lived before them!” 

The car door behind her opened and Remy trundled out, dressed in denim overalls and a plaid shirt. His outfit was undeniably rancher-inspired, and James wondered if it was a bit egotistical that he was flattered by it. 

“Nice getup you got there,” James said, bending down to offer his hand for a low-five. Remy happily slapped it before reaching out for his mother’s hand. 

“I guess you could say that he was inspired by someone’s fashion sense recently,” Katrine said, blushing ever so slightly. And goodness, wasn’t that pink color across her face beautiful. 

“Pffft, I don’t know if anyone’s ever called my clothes something akin to fashion sense, but thanks, little buddy. I think you look sharp.”

“Thanks, Uncle James.”

“You’re welcome, little man.” Straightening, James flashed Katrine a smile. “You ready to come in? I think Ma Miller said that they were going to need to do another massive batch of gingerbread cookies. Something about a delivery to the homeless shelter that’s doing a holiday party.”

“Oh, gingerbread cookies? I’ve never cooked those before.”

“Me either. I’m not really much of a baker. But Mom and Ma Miller are pretty good teachers, so I’m sure we’ll do fine. Besides, they’ll probably just have us doing busywork.”

“Either way, I’m game. You ready to go in and meet the other kids, Remy?”

“Yeah!”

“Okay, let’s go in then.”

The three of them headed towards the front, and James made quick work of leading them to the kids’ area. There Keiko, Bradley, and Sophia were all supervising the pretty wide age range of kids. It wasn’t just the Miller’s sizable brood but also several other children that James didn’t quite recognize. He guessed they were children of some of the workers for the community center, as the event still had another half hour before it started and attendees were allowed to come in. 

“Bye, Mommy!”

“Bye, Remy! Remember, I’ll just be over on the other side of the room if you need me.”

“Okay!”

Without a look back, he headed over to Keiko, who seemed to be dutifully explaining the history of Noah’s Ark while a two-year-old also dutifully slobbered all over the plushie he was holding. Thank God for washing machines with gentle cycles. 

“Hello, Ma Miller. Mom said you needed some help over here?”

“Oh, James, I didn’t even know that you were here. I just had Merideth over from the shelter ask if we could get them some gingerbread cookies.”

“Mom said as much. Figured me an’ Katrine here could help.”

“Katrine? Oh! Hello there! Apologies for not introducing myself. I’m Ma Miller. Are you a friend of James?”

“I’m actually his old occupational therapist.”

“Really? Well, you did an excellent job! We couldn’t be more grateful.”

Katrine’s cheeks colored again, but it looked just as cute on her the second time around. “Just doing my job. Anyway, you mentioned you need help with some cookies?”

“Ah, yes! I finished the dough earlier, but I need someone to roll it out, use the cookie cutters on it, then bake them and ice them up. I could send them plain, but…” The older woman let out a sorrowful sigh. “Well, that’s just not in the Christmas spirit, is it?”

“It certainly isn’t,” Katrine said with a determined nod. “Just show me where ya need me.”

“Right this way, dear.”

James and Katrine rounded the counter to enter the kitchen door, where Ma Miller led them to a table covered in flour towards the back of the space. 

“This is our rollout station. Everything gets flattened and cookie cuttered here if they need it, except for our gluten-free stuff that’s made on the total other side of the kitchen. But you don’t have to worry about that.” She looked at James. “I have your mom on it since she’s been food safety certified.”

James nodded. “Right. I remember when she went and did the refresher course in the city.”

He’d been surprised when his mother had decided to take up official culinary classes, but when she explained she spent so much time in the city to be close to the hospital while James was in his coma, well, it made a whole lot more sense. 

“It’s been a godsend, let me tell you. By the by, once you have them cut out, you can take them over to the baking area where there’s a recipe binder with the baking requirements in it. Oven is already preheated to the correct temperature.”

James nodded along, realizing that perhaps he’d bitten off a bit more than he could chew. He hadn’t really thought about everything that went into making gingerbread cookies, but it made sense that they’d be a little more complex than the shortbread ones that he’d made in Home Ec.

Oh well. It wasn’t like he was alone. He did have Katrine, after all. 

“Once you pull them out, put them in the cooling area for about twenty minutes, then ice away! The piping bags are all in the icing station right next to the cooling area.”

“Wow, you’re so organized,” Katrine said, her admiration evident in her voice. “This is quite the operation!”

“Years of perfecting the process,” Ma Miller said with a laugh. “It’s actually my sister-in-law down in Texas that got me onto this. She’s been doing bread and other baked good charity drives at the community center her family built, and I was just so inspired!”

“Wow, your family does a lot of charity work, don’t they?”

But Ma Miller just shrugged, as humble as ever. “We’ve been blessed with plenty so it’d be wrong not to spread the wealth wherever we can.”

“I can get behind that,” Katrine said, clearly charmed by Ma Miller. Not that James could blame her. As Miller Ranch was the rival ranch next door, he’d been pretty anti-Miller most of his life, but after waking up from his coma and actually getting to know Ma Miller, well, that changed pretty quickly.

She really was a one-of-a-kind woman who just wanted people around her to be happy and healthy. James couldn’t really argue with that. She wasn’t perfect, not by any means, and she was stubborn as a mule to boot. But other than refusing to give herself as many breaks as she should, her iron will usually was an advantage to the family rather than a detriment. 

“Glad we agree. Do you think you two are comfortable being left on your lonesome?”

“Oh, we won’t be lonesome at all. We have each other,” Katrine said with a sideways glance toward James.

She probably meant it in jest, but her words shot through James anyway. As long as we have each other?

Wasn’t that a thought?

James hadn’t dated anyone since the fire. When would he have made time to? Sure, in a year or two they would be approaching an entire decade passing since that fateful night, but in some ways it had passed in a blink. So much had happened, between becoming partners with the Miller family and his long recovery, it seemed like he was always doing something that took up all his attention. 

And even if it weren’t for that, who would possibly want to date him? He was well off now, thanks to the business increase from the Millers, but he wasn’t a handsome, strapping millionaire like them.

No, if anything, he was the most like the husband of the one tall lady cousin down in New Mexico. What was her name? Clair? Clarity? Clara—that was it. James had met her a handful of times, and while she was a shining ray of sunshine, her scarred partner was much more taciturn. Perhaps somewhat predictably, he and James had hung out a bit, commiserating and joking with somewhat dark humor about their experiences as burn victims who had managed to survive what they probably shouldn’t have. 

Then again, Nathan had managed to land a total bombshell and sweetheart like Clara, and his scarring was far more intense than James, especially considering the lightning marks that traveled over his non-grafted skin. 

But he also hadn’t lost a limb like James. Having a fake leg was an entirely different matter when it came to intimacy and day-to-day survival. 

James had thought about getting married one day, about carrying his blushing bride over the threshold before gently placing her in their marriage bed. It was a nice thought, and something he’d looked forward to for quite a while.

But now, when he tried to picture it, all he could think of was standing in front of the mystery woman with a single leg, the scarred stump of his thigh shining like a particularly hideous beacon between them.

Yeah, not exactly something that encouraged him to find a life partner. 

“Fantastic! Just give me a shout if you need any help.”

Ma Miller’s words yanked James out of his misery, and he tried to turn his thoughts to the matter at hand. Which was cookies.

Ugh, what was he being so glum for? It was the Christmas season, and he was spending time with his family and a beautiful, intelligent woman while also helping people in need. 

“You ready to tackle this?” Katrine said, turning to him and flashing that beguiling smile of hers. 

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

James had never been much of a baker—he’d mentioned that before—but he found it much more enjoyable with Katrine by his side. Both of them took portions of dough and rolled it out into a big ol’ mat of spiced, raw, soon-to-be cookies. And that was where the fun really began, considering that Katrine really got into picking out the different cookie cutters and squealing over different ones.

James had no idea that there were so many different options. He figured there would be the classic gingerbread man shape, a Christmas tree, and maybe even a reindeer before calling it done. 

But James was so very wrong.

There were sleighs, Santa silhouettes, and cats and dogs wearing Santa hats. Then snowflakes. Stars. Angels. Snowmen. Gingerbread ladies. Oven mitts, wreaths, candy canes, bells, ornaments. If there was anything vaguely Christmas-themed, it was in the box, and Katrine cooed over each of them, assigning a section of their giant piece of flat dough to every single option. 

“You do realize these are going to be eaten, right?” James teased as she studiously used a spatula to free a cat’s tail from the parchment paper below the dough so she could transfer it to the baking pan. “They could all be candy canes and no one would care.”

Katrine scoffed, gently placing said cat on the next step of its journey. “That’s not very in the Christmas spirit of you,” she reprimanded, one of her eyebrows raised in a mock-imperious look. “Did I miss the memo that your middle name was Scrooge?”

“Yup, that’s me. James Scrooge McDuck Touhey.”

Katrine practically choked on her laugh with that one, throwing a tiny piece of spare dough at him. “Hey, I never mentioned anything about any ducks. That’s all you.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault Ducktails is a classic. It was either that or a joke about Michael Cane and muppets, which seemed harder to work out.”

“You know A Muppet’s Christmas Carol too?” Katrine gasped, her attention finally pulled away from the cat. 

“Pffft, that’s like asking if I know the Mona Lisa.”

“Um, no, not really,” she shot back, no less enthused. “But that’s my and Remy’s favorite Christmas movie!”

“You’re kidding me?”

She let out a dramatic gasp, her hand going to her chest. James liked how playful she was even when her son wasn’t around. He’d forgotten a bit that her levity had helped him get through particularly difficult sessions. She really had an amazing bedside manner. “I would never joke about such a serious matter.”

“You’re right, you’re right. Deepest apologies for ever doubting your fealty to the Christmas classic.”

“Thank you very much. Now, please proceed to tell me which song is your favorite.”

The conversation flowed so easily after that, the mundane task of pressing thin metal shapes into raw cookie dough becoming an entertaining process full of belly laughs. James couldn’t remember the last time he’d had so much fun in the kitchen, and he didn’t even mind it that much when he had to go near the heat of the oven…. Which would sometimes bring back bad memories of the fire for him.

He couldn’t open the door and put pans into it, though. No, the sizzle of heat against his skin was far too likely to give him a panic attack. But Katrine did so without even missing a beat, which he was incredibly grateful for. 

Then, with the first batch taken care of, it was time to start another that would be ready to go into the oven right when its predecessor was ready to come out. 

And so their little assembly line went right up until their fourth batch of cookies was in. That was when Katrine threw him a curveball.

“Are you ready for icing time?”

Right, that was a thing they were supposed to do.

“I’ll have to warn you, I’m not the most artistically inclined,” he replied.

“Don’t worry,” she said, smiling that smile as she took his hand. “I’ll show you the ropes.”

James knew he faltered for a second, but how could he not with his entire mind focused on how she was touching him, holding him, like it was nothing? Like it was the most normal thing in the world. 

Naturally, Katrine noticed. She’d have to be blind, deaf, and astoundingly unobservant not to. But she must have interpreted his enraptured state as something else entirely because her smile grew softer, warmer, which he didn’t even know was possible.

“Don’t worry, you can trust me,” she added, giving him a wink.

Okay reader! Stay tuned for your next three chapters! You’ll have it in your inbox in just a few short days.

Take care,

Natalie Dean