Ava followed her nose into the kitchen, thinking Trigger would be there making the breakfast that was filling up the entire house with the scent of cinnamon and sugar. She was surprised to find Colt standing over the stove instead, though. He was frosting some raisin cinnamon rolls, and on the couch, playing a Grinch-themed monopoly game, were Kurt and Gunner.

“Smells good,” she muttered, pulling a newly frosted pastry from the pan.

“The only reason I’m not slapping your hand away is because it’s Christmas. That is your present,” he brother said without skipping a beat on frosting.

“It’s hot,” she said as she switched the breakfast roll from hand to hand to save herself from burns. “Where’s Trigger? Out with the cows?”

“You could say that,” Kurt said from the couch.

“He’s doin’ a game!” Gunner said, smashing two game pieces together repeatedly like they were fighting.

“A game?” she asked.

Colt licked icing off his thumb, then grabbed a red envelope from the counter and slapped it into her empty hand.

“What’s this?”

His only answer was to stare at her and shove an entire cinnamon roll into his mouth. He couldn’t even shut his mouth while he chewed. Boys were gross.

Ava took a bite of her breakfast, set the remaining part on a napkin, and rinsed her hands, her attention never leaving the envelope. On the front was drawn a sad, crooked Christmas tree and a heart with the letter A inside of it.

Ava opened it, and inside was a holiday card with a picture of a snowman in a top hat. She pulled open the card and read.

 

Ava,

You made a deal and gave me this year to help you like the holiday again. I hope I succeeded, because it’s been the best December of my life. You make every month the best month of my life though. I have one last surprise adventure for Day 0, Christmas. I’m nervous, so go easy on me. Go put on your jacket and your warmest snow boots. It’s cold this morning. And when you’re all cute, because I know you’ll be wearing your pink mittens and beanie and looking so pretty, go look in the barn in the stall next to Harley’s. Don’t get too close to Harley though. He is a Grinch and his attitude has been horrible lately. Don’t get bit. I can’t wait to hold you.

Yours always,

Trig

 

Ava read it twice because it made her feel fuzzy and good inside. I can’t wait to hold you. She knew exactly what that relief would feel like. It was the same every time he touched her after working all day away from the cabin.

Shoving the card back in the envelope, she made her way to Kevin, grabbed the little wrapped present she’d made, and went to the front door in a rush. She dressed warm, and slipped her boots onto her feet, right over her fleece leggings. She put the card between her teeth to free up her hands to zip her jacket as she made her way through the front door. When she turned to check that the big metal door swung all the way closed and latched, the sunlight glinted off the house numbers. She called them wishing numbers because they repeated. 1010, and there were bear claw marks on the wood all around it. Trig had made those when he was out of control of his bear, but he didn’t do that much anymore.

I love my life, she thought and touched the number with her mitten-clad pointer finger. I wish for Trig to have the best day.

She turned and jogged down the porch stairs, shoving the holiday card into her coat pocket. The barn was a hundred yards off, on the other side of the clearing. It had been painted red at some point, but most of the color had chipped off to expose the gray, aged wood underneath. She’d always loved this old barn. In front, Queenie, her white, winter-furred nag, was leaned against the fence, sleeping with one back hoof propped up, her breath steaming in front of her face. Ava’s boots made crunching sounds in the crisp snow, and the song of bellowing cattle filled the clearing. The furry beasts were gathered near the barn, probably waiting on Trig to spread out hay for them.

She grunted as she pushed the sliding barn door open. Inside, dust motes swirled in the air, and the scent of animals hit her. It was much warmer in here. In the back were the living quarters for Kurt and Gunner, and at the front were two rows of stalls with different colored horses sticking their faces out expectantly. Every stall was full this morning except for one, the second on the right, the stall near Harley’s. The sound of jingling bells rang prettily from it. Something was moving in there.

Slowly, Ava made her way past Harley’s stall, careful to stay out of biting distance, and with only a moment of hesitation, she gripped the cold iron of the handle and slid the heavy door open.

What she found inside stunned her into stillness. A tiny brown and cream, lanky-legged animal stood inside, staring back at her with big, blinking brown eyes. It didn’t have antlers yet, but she knew what it was immediately.

A baby reindeer.

Trig had gotten her a reindeer. Slowly, Ava shut the door behind her and dropped to her knees by the little critter. Soooo cute. He startled when she touched him, and she had to scoot to it again on her knees closer. He finally allowed her to pet him, which made her cry like a total wiener. Trig had really gotten her a reindeer. There’s no way he would’ve separated it from its mom, so maybe it was a little orphan, kinda like her. She was going to take such good care of it. Trig had listened when she’d told him what she wanted. When she had first come back to Darby and was falling in love with him, she’d mentioned this, and he’d made it happen. For her.

Overwhelmed, she scooped the baby into her arms and sobbed, shoulders shaking. Trig had fixed her broken pieces before today, and now he was filling her heart with joy just because he could. Its little hooves bumped against her legs, but he didn’t try to get away. The baby was patient, or maybe he’d been hand-reared until this point and liked cuddles. He wore a collar of jingle bells, and there was a small green card attached to it. Sniffing, she plucked it off and opened it clumsily. It was hard to read through the tears that blurred her eyes, and her voice shook as she read it aloud in shock. “Marry me.”

The door slid open loudly behind her, and there he was—her mate. Her Trig.

He wore his favorite cowboy hat, but took it off and set it against his chest as he dropped slowly to one knee beside her.

Ava lost it. Shoulders shaking, she thought no girl had a right to this much happiness in one moment. She cradled the reindeer to her chest as her face crumpled.

Trig pulled out a simple gold band. The color matched his eyes.

His voice was thick and full of emotion when he said, “Ava Dorset, I’ve loved you since we were kids, and I never thought you could be mine. I don’t deserve you, but I’m gonna work to make you happy. I told you about a tradition I had with my father, where we made each other a single gift each year. You deserve so much more than this, and someday I will get a pretty diamond, but this year, this is what I can do. I bought the gold raw, and I made the ring. You are the heart of this place. You’re my heart. This is the easiest question in the world for me because I can’t imagine my life without you. I want every minute with you. I want to grow old with you. I want to see you holding our cubs. I want to take care of you and build my life around you. You. Make. Me. A better man.” He swallowed hard, and his eyes were rimmed with moisture. “Ava Dorset, will you marry me?”

Kneeling there in the hay, she was crying too hard to answer. He’d busted her heart wide open, and thank God for him, because she’d lived a half-life before he’d kissed her that first time. Not anymore. He was offering her something she’d only dreamed about—infinite happiness. Crying too hard to get a single word out, she nodded.

“Yeah?” he asked, his dark eyebrows arched up high. “Yeah?” he asked louder, a smile spreading across his lips.

“Yes,” she croaked out. “I’m yours.”

Trig slid the ring on her shaking finger and then palmed the little reindeer’s stomach to lift him and set him aside in the hay. “Sorry, Norman,” he murmured. “I need to hug my lady,” he murmured, squeezing her tight against his chest.

She couldn’t breathe, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care. Over Trig’s shoulder, she saw Kurt standing in the open stall door, holding Gunner. Colt was beside them, leaned against the frame, a soft smile on his face, raw emotion in his eyes. He nodded like, You done good, girl.

The hardest thing she’d ever done was to open up to a man. To Trigger. But she’d let him make her brave, and look what had happened?

He’d given her everything.

A home where she felt safe and warm.

Her brother back.

Kurt and Gunner.

A Clan.

This rough-and-tumble group of boys would always have her back. Of that, she had no doubt, and they’d earned the same fealty from her.

He’d given her a little reindeer named Norman and a life she could be proud of. A life that fulfilled her.

But most of all…very most of all…Trigger had given her his heart.

And that was the best Christmas gift of all.