“We’re leaving for my sister’s house in Tacoma in about an hour,” Gerard answered. “She hosts Christmas Eve lunch every year.”
“We should get on with this, then.” Tristin moved behind me and produced the small box he’d wrapped himself. He laid it in my lap. “You should do the honors.”
My hands shaking, I stood and carried the box to Susan. “This is for both of you. Merry Christmas.”
She looked startled. “That’s so sweet. Thank you.”
She took her time unwrapping the paper and opening the box. Peering down at the small printout of a map inside, it was obvious she didn’t understand what she was seeing.
Hayle took up the mantle of explaining. “It’s the route you’ll be taking on your fifteen-day European river cruise. It starts in Amsterdam and has stops in Germany, Austria, and Hungary. You’ll get to visit castles and wineries and gardens and basically anything you can imagine.”
Susan stared at him, her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t understand. Why…”
“You’ve talked about wanting to take one of these tours for as long as I can remember. But this was really all Thea’s idea.”
She turned her gaze to me, and my cheeks heated. “You’ve done so much for me, for all of us, and we wanted to find a way to repay you. To be fair, Vincent gave me the plane tickets, and I’m re-gifting them to you.”
As soon as he’d given me what amounted to a hush gift, I’d known I couldn’t use the tickets. So, I’d talked to the guys, and they’d helped me come up with this plan. No one deserved a luxury vacation more than Susan and Gerard.
“A car will pick you up on Friday morning to take you to the airport. And we’ve hired a temporary cook and driver to take over your duties while you’re gone,” Tristin added. “So, you have nothing to worry about other than packing.”
Gerard shook his head, his expression just as shocked as his wife’s. “I don’t know what to say. This is too much.”
“It’s not enough,” Leo said. “We’ve never done an adequate job of showing our appreciation for everything you do for us.” He reached over and took one of my hands in his. “Thankfully, we have Thea to teach us bratty boys how to change our ways.”
Susan wiped at her eyes. “Thank you so much. This is the most amazing gift we could ever receive.”
I smiled through my own tears. “You deserve it.”
She stood, clearly needing to do something other than sit there and cry. “Well, let me put together some treats for you all to take with you.”
“You don’t need to—” Tristin said, but Susan cut him off.
“Please. It’s the least I can do.”
While she left to gather more sweets that would probably only last through the day, Hayle gave Gerard all of the travel information. He’d organized it in a binder, and it even had tabs and an index. I needed him to teach me his organizational ways.
I made my way into the kitchen and found Susan piling cookies into a large plastic container. “You really don’t need to go to extra trouble. I’m sure you were planning to take those to your lunch today.”
She shook her head. “I always make too many. Besides, I was planning on dropping them off at the townhouse tomorrow, anyway.”
“If you’re sure.”
She brushed more tears away with her arm and smiled at me. “I’m sure. I still can’t believe what you did.”
Not knowing how else to explain it other than the truth, I said, “Did you know that I’ve never had grandparents? My mom’s parents died before I was born, and I have no idea who my father is.” I stuck my hands into the back pockets of my jeans, feeling inexplicably nervous. “I always felt like I’ve missed out. But, recently, I realized I haven’t missed out, because I have you.”
“Oh, honey.” Susan stopped what she was doing and pulled me into a tight hug. “I’ve always thought of you as family as well. I’m so happy you came back to us. That was already the best gift you could have given us.”
I laughed around more tears. “I don’t know. The cruise sounds pretty amazing.”
Releasing me, she chuckled. “You’re right. It’s a dream come true.”
“I can’t wait to hear all about it.”
She returned to her task. “Maybe you could come over here for cookie lessons when we get back, and I can tell you about it then?”