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“We’ve got a celebrity in our midst now,” he yelled above the whoops. “C’mon, Judge. Strut your stuff.”
Judge didn’t normally like the spotlight on him, and he thought his light show had spoken volumes for himself. But today, he decided to let the light shine, and shine bright.
He stepped onto the carpet and he did a mock model walk into the house and toward the kitchen, where the carpet ran. He slapped hands with Lincoln and Mitch, and Sammy stepped out of the line of men and women cheering for him to hug him.
He laughed with her, and since she broke ranks, the line broke upland the next person to grab onto Judge was Etta. “I’m so happy for you,” she said, and when he pulled back and met her eyes, she looked genuinely joyful.
They hadn’t done any of the things he’d suggested when she’d brought him his phone after June had broken up with him. He’d made up with June, so he didn’t need to go down to the movies in the park or the tree lighting ceremony to meet a new woman.
His heart hurt for Etta, but he kept his smile on his face. “Thank you, Etta.”
Cactus grabbed him next, squeezing him so tightly and lifting him right up off his feet. They laughed together, and that was all. Cactus didn’t even have to say anything for Judge to have a conversation with him.
There’d been so many times Cactus could’ve given up over the years. He’d withdrawn, sure. He’d come back, and had setbacks doing so. Heck, he’d punched his own brother right on the front steps of this house. He could’ve disappeared again. He hadn’t.
Bishop took Cactus’s place once he moved out of the way. Then Preacher and Charlie got him in a double-hug, and when they separated, Preacher said, “This is the greatest day ever.”
He’d been there for almost every single light show—this was the only one he hadn’t witnessed Judge pulling his decorations out, obsessing over them, answering a ton of hypothetical questions, and dealing with the crazy for six months out of the year.
“Thank you.”
He herded into the kitchen with the huge group, where three chocolate cakes sat on the counter. June had definitely made those, and he started looking around for her.
Ida rounded the island and raised both of her hands. “Okay, okay, settle down.”
Judge wanted June at his side, and she seemed to know it. She stepped around Ranger, who held his new baby girl in hisarms, his smile as wide as his whole face, and slipped her hand into Judge’s.
“Did you bake me a cake, baby?” he asked, leaning his head down toward hers.
“Just one,” she said. “I gave the recipe to Etta and Bishop, and they made the other two.”
“Which one’s yours?” he whispered as Ida started going over the food.
“The middle one.”
Judge nodded, supremely happy when Ida said, “And because Judge loves June’s chocolate cake, we’ve got three here. We’re having dessert first, because that’s what you do when you’ve worked for two decades to win the Christmas light show.”
She beamed at him, and everyone cheered again.
“Speech!” someone yelled, and some of the joy seeped right out of Judge.
He started shaking his head. No, he wasn’t going to give a speech.
The chant picked up, and wow, these Glovers could be so incredibly loud.
“Speech! Speech! Speech!”
Someone nudged him, and he glared at Ward. He wore such a huge smile, and it didn’t slip a centimeter despite Judge’s dark look.
Finally, he rounded the island and faced his family. They quieted, and Judge could see them all so clearly. Bear and Sammy, with their three boys.
Ranger and Oakley, with their two kids, as well as her mother.
Bishop and Montana, and while Aurora was gone, they had Robbie and her aunt and uncle at the homestead today.
Ace and Holly Ann, who cradled their sleeping son against her shoulder, both of them beaming at him. He hadn’t seenmuch of her this month, but she fit in the family, just like everyone who’d joined it did.
Zona and Duke stood next to them, but they didn’t have their daughter with them. He found Shiloh in Mother’s arms, and his heart started pounding hard.
