could take me fishing on the Amazon one day?”
“Russell,” Rose admonished.
“Maybe,” Everly told him. “You never know. My guess is that if you want to travel to Brazil, you’ll be able to find your own way when the time comes.”
He smiled as if she’d handed him a plane ticket. “Do you really think so?”
“You can do anything you put your mind and your heart to,” she assured him.
“I don’t want to go to the Amazon to fish for piranha,” six-year-old Rosie said. “I’d rather go to Disney World in Florida.”
Rose nudged Everly’s foot and winked, silently letting her know that the little girl was going to get her wish.
“Christmas?” Everly asked under her breath.
“Right after,” her sister mouthed back.
Following dinner, Rosie wanted Everly to read her a story. She felt guilty leaving the cleanup to her mother and sister, but they were quick to usher her out the door. Rosie already had a book picked out. She handed it to Everly, who sat on the sofa, expecting Rosie to sit next to her. To her delight, the little girl climbed into her lap. This story was much loved, and it seemed Rosie had heard it many times. Before Everly finished, her sweet niece was fast asleep.
“Think it’s time we head home,” Stan said, motioning toward Rosie. He lifted his daughter into his arms while Rose helped get her daughter into her coat. The little one barely stirred.
“I don’t want to go,” Russell whined. “I want to stay here and hear more about the rainforest.”
“And you will,” Everly promised. “I’ll be here all the way until the New Year. We’ll go on a sleigh ride and build a snow fort and challenge your uncles to a snowball fight.”
Russell nodded enthusiastically. “You promise?”
“I do,” she said, as he hugged tight around her waist.
Everly kissed the top of his head. “Now head on home and get lots of sleep and I’ll print out some of the other photos I have from the Amazon.” She knew he’d be excited when he saw the giant lily pads and some of the other photos Asher had sent through Dropbox.
Rose and her family left and not ten minutes later, Lily appeared carrying a platter of traditional Christmas candies, the very ones they’d cooked with their grandmother and mother through the years. Everly was heartened by the way her family was going above and beyond to make sure she knew she was welcome.
“Is that Grandma Ruth’s fudge?” she asked.
“Is there any other?” Lily teased.
“And her divinity.” Everly’s weakness. “I have dreams about this divinity.”
“If you’d come home more, you could have your fill.”
“Be quiet and give me a hug,” Everly said, as she placed the platter in the middle of the kitchen table. The two embraced, rocking back and forth with sisterly affection. As teens they’d barely been able to tolerate each other. Now they saw each other infrequently and their teenage squabbles didn’t seem to matter.
“Where are Jason and the boys?” their mother asked, about Lily’s husband and sons.
“Cub Scouts,” she said, and then looked to Everly. “Jason’s the scout leader or he’d be here. You’ll get a chance to see them all long before Christmas.”
“Russell talked me into building a snow fort so he could challenge Uncle Jeff and John to a snowball fight. I want your boys on our team.” She couldn’t throw worth a darn, but her nephew didn’t know that.
The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the kitchen as the three women sat around the table and chatted. Everly caught up with her sister and the family news. Jason worked for the fire department as a paramedic, and Lily worked part-time at the bakery.
When her two sisters had married young, Everly, intent on getting a college education, had assumed they were making a big mistake. Rose quit after her freshman year of college and then entered cosmetology school. Lily got her Liberal Arts degree before marrying. At the time it’d boggled Everly’s mind that they hadn’t been interested in continuing their education and all the opportunities that it would afford them.
By marrying young, neither of her sisters had experienced life. They’d both been eager to settle down and start their families. Rose and Lily were smart, achieving good grades in school, and could have gotten into any school they wanted to. Rose had met Stan while she was a college freshman and married only after finishing her cosmetology course. Lily married her high school sweetheart, the very boy she’d gone