He disappeared into the barn just as Riley exited his truck. And he wasn’t alone. A young woman stepped out of the passenger door with a suitcase in hand. She had jet-black hair in a pixie cut, and she wore a brown leather jacket.
“Are we sure she’s his step-sister?” Harper asked. “She looks just like him.”
Slinky, the little Dachshund, went running across the field as soon as he noticed Riley was back. Riley swept him up into his arms and laughed as he licked his face.
“I’m Christie,” I told the girl. “It’s so nice to finally meet you!”
She smiled around at all the dogs. “This place is just like you described. No wonder my brother likes it.”
Logan’s voice cut through the cold New Year’s Eve night. “Louise?”
All of us turned to face him. He was frozen in the doorway to the barn with a box of dog bones under one arm. The box fell to the ground, spilling white bones across the frozen ground. The dogs rushed over to him and snatched bones away—even little Slinky grabbed a bone that was longer than he was, and he could barely waddle away with it in his mouth. Logan didn’t notice any of it. His eyes were locked onto Louise.
His step-sister.
“Hi big brother.”
She ran toward him and jumped into his arms. He looked totally shocked as he embraced her, holding her close. He closed his eyes, savoring the reunion.
Harper and Riley put their arms around me while we watched.
Logan’s eyes opened, searching around until he found me. “You did this.”
“I might have had something to do with it,” I said.
“She’s the one who convinced me to fly out from Northeastern,” Louise said. “Paid for the flight and everything.”
“I had a bunch of airline miles,” Riley announced. “They covered almost the entire ticket price.”
Logan hugged his sister again. He clenched his eyes shut, and I soon realized that he was crying.
“You always were a big baby,” Louise said softly.
“He’s the big baby?” Riley whispered. “This is a side of Logan I’ve never seen before.”
I wiped tears from my own eyes. “He said he hadn’t seen her in five years. That’s too long.”
Logan finally finished hugging his sister. He whispered something to her, kissed her forehead, then they walked over to us.
“Good surprise?” I asked.
Logan hugged me even more fiercely than he had hugged Louise. “This is the best gift I’ve ever gotten. Thank you.”
There were more sniffles and crying as we all introduced each other. Louise hugged each of us, me included. Logan’s face was still messy with tears.
“I’m just glad Sandy wasn’t here to see me cry,” he said.
“Sandy?” Louise asked.
“Spunky little Girl Scout. Reminds me of you. You’d like her.”
We spent the next forty minutes chatting happily. Logan was all smiles, a state which I never thought I’d see him in. It made me smile too.
“Y’all are gonna miss the countdown!” Bubba suddenly shouted. “Ten, nine, eight…”
We all counted down together while watching the video feed, which showed downtown Phoenix. The dogs that were still awake looked at us like we were crazy.
“THREE! TWO! ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!”
I kissed Logan first. Then Harper pulled me into his arms and kissed me. Finally Riley took over, smiling warmly at me while holding me in his arms. His kiss was slow and passionate, like he was saving the best for last.
I grinned when we were done. Bubba was kneeling down to the German Shepherd, who was licking his face. Louise was the only one who looked uncomfortable because she didn’t have anyone to kiss.
But then I realized that wasn’t the reason. “Uh, what’s that all about?” she asked, waving a finger between the four of us.
Logan, Riley, Harper, and I all looked at each other. “It’s, uh, kind of complicated,” Logan said.
I took his hand and squeezed it. “Actually, it’s not complicated at all. It’s love. And love is the simplest thing in the world.”
Louise made a funny face at Logan, then shrugged. “Weird. But you do you, big brother.”
Logan ruffled her hair. “Mind your own business.”
Bubba popped a champagne bottle and refilled everyone’s glasses. We stayed up late into the next morning, getting drunk and laughing and having a good time.
It was going to be a good year.
Bonus Scene
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