"Kellan," I hissed, poking my head through his cracked door.
"What?" My cousin didn't even bother to look up from his phone. The lights in his room were turned out and he was sprawled among a pile of tangled blankets. A faint glow from the power pole outside and the too-bright phone screen illuminating his face were the only things keeping the room from being pitch black.
"I need to talk to you."
"If it's about that science assignment I'll help you tomorrow," he yawned, adjusting the pillow his arm was propped on.
"It's not about science."
"Okay?" He sat up a little and looked at me for the first time since I'd entered. His blond hair glowed oddly in the light from the window and some of it reflected off his blue eyes.
I padded in on the cool hardwood floors and plopped on the corner of his bed.
"What's up?" A crease appeared between his eyebrows. I rarely came to him with any kind of problem; normally he had to pry it out of me.
"Coda was crying today."
Pain flashed across his sharp features. Kellan knew better than anyone else that Coda had been through hell. Since I was bad at comforting people, she often went to him with emotional things. "What happened?"
I blew out a breath. "She's missing her family. And honestly, I think that's messed up because both of her parents treated her like shit, but whatever... And actually, Torrin treated her terribly for most of her life, too, so he's not much better."
Kellan ignored my characteristically blunt comment. "Yeah, I bet Christmas sucks. Do you want me to talk to her?"
"No," I shook my head, "I already did." Thinking back, I was proud of the way I'd handled her tears. Doing the only thing I could think of, I hugged her while she cried. Then Mama Callie had brought in two mugs of hot cocoa and taken over from there.
"Blake, no offense, but your idea of comforting people is patting them on the head and telling them not to cry."
I cracked a smile, knowing full well that he was right. "Yeah, I know, but that doesn't matter. Can we talk about something more important?"
"Like what?" I knew I had Kellan's full attention when he shut off his phone and sat up in bed.
"Well, I was trying to come up with good Christmas gift ideas for Coda."
"Oh, God..." He ran one large hand down his face. "You know I suck at gifts."
I shifted so both legs were tucked underneath me. "I don't."
Even in the dark, I knew he was rolling his eyes. "Says the girl who bought me a plastic shovel for my last birthday."
"Hey, you're the one who got the pickup stuck! I got you a thoughtful gift that'd be helpful when it happened again."
"It probably won't happen again, but whatever," he muttered. "Do I even want to know what you've come up with for her?"
I sighed, feeling disgusted with him. "You have no faith in me."
"For good reason," he grumbled. "Will you spit it out already?"
I grinned and sat up a little straighter. "Well, I want to surprise her."
"Blake," he groaned, running a hand through his hair, "that's the point of Christmas. Are you gonna tell me or not?"
For a minute I pouted, but then it occurred to me that this was about Coda, not me. "I want to surprise her with her brothers."
Even in the dark, I could tell that Kellan's eyes went wide at my suggestion. "And just how in the hell are you gonna pull that off?"
I chewed my lip for a moment. It hadn't escaped my attention that the idea was a little far fetched, but that didn't stop me from wanting to do it. "I don't know. I guess we just call them up and see if they'll come over?"
Kellan sighed and I watched the outline of his body as he ran a hand down his face. He tended to do that when stressed or frustrated.
"C'mon, Kel," I almost begged. We both knew that I wouldn't be able to pull this off alone and it was the only thing I could think of to lift Coda's spirits. "Please? For Coda?"
Even in the dark, I knew he'd caved. It was common knowledge that he'd do anything in the world for that pretty little blonde. It used to be because he was head over heels for her, but now it was the fierce protectiveness that came with being a part of our family. Like it or not, Coda would always have me and Kellan in her corner ready to kick the shit out of anybody that tried to hurt her.
"Okay."
"So you'll help me?" I couldn't get rid of the grin that spread across my face, wider than the whole state of Texas.
"Yeah," he yawned, stretching one long arm over his head, "I'll help you. But you owe me one."
***
"Did you get ahold of them?"
I almost yelped when Kellan appeared out of nowhere and began speaking. I'd been hiding in the pantry for twenty minutes now, just scrolling through instagram and eating christmas cookies that were supposed to be off limits. He was about the last person I expected to be caught by, but I was grateful that it was him and not Mama Callie. She wouldn't swatted me good and hard for eating the food she'd spent days making specifically for tomorrow.
"Jeez, you scared me," I hissed, holding a hand to my heart. Kellan smirked at the sight of the half eaten sugar cookie in my hand and took a sly bite out of a snowman shaped one I watched him sneak from the plate.
"But yeah, I got ahold of them. Charlie's staying with Tommy for a week over break and he promised he'd be here with Torrin tomorrow at five."
Kellan groaned softly and I was grateful. God knew we didn't need to get caught. "Too early."
I lifted an eyebrow and grinned. "Am I rubbing off on you or something?"
He snorted. "No, I'm just tired all the time. Doing homework for three is a lot harder than you'd think."
"Whatever," I rolled my eyes, sneaking one last cookie. He adjusted the few left so there weren't any bare spots on the plate and we both exited the pantry, trying not to look guilty.
"Do you know when your parents are supposed to get here?" He questioned, brushing the crumbs off his wranglers.
I shook my head and glanced to the window. More snow was falling but it was letting up some. When I woke up a seven it was impossible to even see out of my window due to the flurry of huge, white flakes being blown this way and that. While it was pretty now, I knew I'd be getting tired of the eternally white, frozen landscape by the end of January. And according to Coda, sometimes it wouldn't be all melted off even in April.
"Wait, is that them?"
My ear perked up as Kellan rushed to the front window and peered out. Shoving him over so I could see, I looked out, too.
There were two pickups chugging slowly up the lane. I couldn't quite tell what color the second one was, but the first rig was obviously my parents'. My dad's second gen dodge always stood out no matter where we were. The paint was a royal blue and the silver cross-box on the back always sparkled in the sun.
The black tow mirrors stuck out as it rolled to a stop in the driveway. I pushed my way out from underneath Kellan and started towards the front door. Heart swelling at the thought of seeing my parents again, it took all the self control in me to not fling it open and run out in my slippers. Under Kellan's watchful eye, I methodically pulled a pair of clunky snow boots from the hall closet and slipped into a heavy coat. By the way one side of his mouth was lifted just a little bit, I knew I'd given my excitement away, but that was okay.
"You better go see them."
Knowing that Kellan understood, I yanked up the zipper of my bulky brown work coat and threw the door open. A layer of dry snow covered the porch, the kind that crunches under your feet and makes really terrible snowmen. I carefully stepped across the width of it, keeping my eyes trained on my boots. One experience of falling down slippery stairs and bruising my tailbone was more than enough for me.
Only when I made it safely down all four steps and had both feet firmly planted in the six inches of new snow did I look up. Dad was just hopping out of his pickup, and much to my astonishment, my mom was crawling out of a white Ford Ranger that I'd be hard-pressed to not recognize.
"Merry Christmas!" Dad grinned, shoving a hand in either pocket of the lined vest he'd been wearing every winter for as long as I could remember.
"Merry Christmas," I muttered distractedly, unable to take my eyes off of mom. She'd pulled up right behind dad so the rigs were parked nose to tail. Stretched across her face was a grin I knew very well, mainly because it was the one thing I'd inherited from her.
"Why's my... What?" I waved my arms in her direction, unable to get any words out.
Mom tipped her head back and laughed at me, then opened her arms for a hug. "Merry Christmas, Blake."
"Wait, but why?" I stared at her and then swiveled to look at my dad. He shooed me away. "Go give your mama a hug."
I tripped forward and wrapped both arms around my mother. She squeezed tight and I could feel a smile where her chin rested on my shoulder.
"You guys brought my pickup? But why?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see dad smiling. Mom stepped back and held me at an arm's length. "Well, Blakey, we thought you could use your own rig up here."
I felt my eyes widen in wonder and one side of my mouth lift in a manner very unlike me. "Really?"
Still grinning widely, mom nodded. "Yes, really. Unless you want us to give it Kellan, because that can be done, too."
"No way!" I shouted, bouncing up and down. A real smile blossomed, even reaching my eyes. "I can't believe you guys brought it all the way up here! Oh, baby, I've missed you!"
"Well," my dad drawled, chuckling as I threw myself over the hood to give my beloved vehicle a hug, "we figure you've been awful good lately."
"Reward good behavior, reprimand bad?" I smirked, quoting the man himself. That was a saying he typically used when training horses, but it applied to his parenting strategy, too. Well, kind of. My dad had never been much good at disciplining his only baby girl. That was more of my mom's department.
"Yep," my mom spoke up, throwing an arm around me. "You've really stepped up to the plate lately. We're proud of you, sis."
Had it been possible to grin any bigger, I would have.
Words of encouragement from my mother were few and far between, much like sentimental talks with Kellan. I always took care to file the memories away in a sacred part of my brain because they meant so much to me.
"Thanks," I breathed, ducking my head slightly. I rarely let emotions surface, but when I did, it was overwhelming.
Dad rubbed his western-shirt-covered arms and blew out a cloud of frosty breath. "How about we go inside and make a mess of Callie's floors? I'm freezing."
After grabbing their bags, my parents and I trudged inside. Mom kept an arm wrapped around my waist and I didn't bother to hide my smile. For once in our lives, we were getting along. There was no way in hell I was about to ruin that.
***
Heyyyy, everybody! Here's your Sunday update! I barely got this one done, not gonna lie... It's been a pretty eventful weekend.
Yesterday was my senior prom, which I didn't go to, but my mama and I went shopping in the closest city and when we went to church after one of my best friends who moved this year caught me and asked me to HIS prom! Gahhh, I'm so excited!!!
Yup, so I'm a pretty happy camper. Blake is too, yay!
I'm literally so psyched about the next chapter! It's one I've been waiting to write since I started this book, so get ready!
Last, but not least, thank you to all of you for VOTING! (And commenting, those never fail to make my whole entire day!) I hope you're enjoying reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it!
Until next time,
--Lindsey