The Cowgirl's Chosen Love - Vivian Arend Page 0,90
a different kind of vibe to her daily routine. Getting to know all of the regular crew on the ranch meant some of her work involved sitting down with different groups and drinking too much coffee while shooting the breeze.
Not a bad gig.
In early December, Karen stopped by with a heads-up.
She brushed off the snow that had accumulated on her shoulders during the short trip between her house and their cabin then hung up her coat and joined Julia by the fire. “Thanks for inviting me over.”
“Want a drink, Karen?” Zach asked from where he was on dish duty that night. “With or without a kick, your choice.”
“Hot chocolate?” Karen suggested. “Without a kick, though. We’re heading into the holiday season, and heaven knows there will be enough opportunities to drink.”
“Two hot chocolates, coming right up.”
Karen winked at Julia. “I notice he didn’t bother asking you if you wanted some.”
“You invoked the word chocolate. There’s never a time I say no to that,” Julia confessed.
Karen leaned forward in her chair and held her hands toward the glowing fireplace. “Holiday planning. Since this is the first year none of us girls are in Rocky, we’ve been talking about what we want to set up for traditions. The Coleman clans usually gather in their family units on Christmas Day and then have a massive free-for-all on Boxing Day.”
It was an unexpected topic, but one that she should’ve seen coming. “I’ve got nothing, so lay it on me.”
Her sister nodded, glancing toward the kitchen briefly but then focusing back on Julia’s face immediately. “Tamara has rightly said she wants to keep up what they do in the Stone family. Finn and I have talked, and we want to have Christmas Eve for ourselves, but Christmas Day could be for more extended family. Lisa says at some point she and Josiah might be travelling during the holidays, so what it comes down to, is if we want to visit the family from Rocky, we’ve got to do it early.”
A trickle of guilt slithered in. “Does that mean Dad will be alone on Christmas Day?”
Karen shook her head. “Tamara said he’s always welcome at Silver Stone. Dad’s also told Finn that my uncles have invited him to join them, and so have a bunch of the guys he hangs out with on a regular basis. The ones who don’t have kids in the area anymore either.”
Unfortunately, it was pretty much the answer she’d expected. The uneasiness in her gut continued, and Julia hesitated. “This Christmas is going to be really weird,” she said. “I mean with the whole situation between me and Zach. I don’t know that I want to go to a big Coleman thing.”
The noises from the kitchen vanished. Suddenly, Zach was there, handing over two cups of hot cocoa piled a mile high with whipped cream.
He cleared his throat. “Sorry for eavesdropping, but I have to admit I have a holiday situation we need to discuss as well.”
Again, Julia should’ve seen this one coming. “Shoot. Do your parents expect you to join them in Manitoba?”
Zach looked astonishingly like a little kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Sort of? If you change that to my parents are expecting us to join them, and then change Manitoba to Hawaii. Yeah.”
Karen snickered. “Awww. Julia, what a sacrifice. A trip to palm trees and sand instead of snowy fields forever?”
“Are you kidding me?” Julia finally found words, staring at Zach in disbelief.
“Sorry. I kept meaning to bring it up, but it kind of slipped my mind.”
More laughter from Karen. “Well, you two can discuss that teeny oversight once I’m gone, but here’s the plan. The Whiskey Creek girls and partners plan to head to Rocky next weekend. If you want to join us, you’re welcome. Drive out Friday, return on Sunday.”
“We’ll talk about it,” Julia promised before the conversation slipped to gift ideas for Tamara and Caleb’s children.
Sitting in the quiet by the fire once Karen was gone, a million thoughts raced in Julia’s mind.
Zach joined her, adjusting his chair until he could give her hand a squeeze. “You okay?”
She nodded, smiling as best she could. “Tell me more about the get-together in Hawaii.”
“Finn is going to laugh his ass off because he warned me to tell you this sooner. My parents have a house in Hawaii. Everybody gets to use it whenever they want to, but for about ten days around the holidays, my parents open up the place and everybody tries