Page 52 of Hot Times in Heart Falls, Vignettes Vol 3

Ugly Sweater Redux

It’s time for the annual firefighter’s Christmas party, and this year the ugly sweater contest is front and center in everyone’s minds.

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Well, maybe not the only thing on their minds….

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Featuring: All the firehall crew: Brad & Hanna Ford and family, Mack & Brooke and family, Ashton & Sonora Stewart, Yvette Wright & Alex Thorne, Ryan & Madison (Maddy) Zhao and family.

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Timeline: This scene is set in December after the conclusion of A Cowboy’s Claim and during the final pages of Gifts of the Heart.

1

Brad Ford had glitter in his beard.

He didn’t know how it’d gotten there. Probably sometime between two-year-old Ethan shaking an entire vial of gold sparkles on his sweater and four year-old Drew grabbing a glue stick and smearing it directly across Brad’s left sleeve.

He twisted his head to see if the shimmer that had flashed him from the kitchen window was real.

Yup. Gold and silver danced as he scratched his jaw.

He gave his wife, Hanna, a mock glare across the kitchen island as he rumbled, “This was your idea.”

Hanna, completely unfazed, looked up from her own Christmas sweater-in-progress and grinned. “You said you wanted a low-key holiday evening at home.”

“I meant watching Die Hard after the kids went to bed.” Which was bullshit, and they both knew it, but his nonsense brought a flash of a smile to her face, which was a total win.

“Brad.” Her tone was pure love with that hint of amusement that always got to him, “We don’t do low-key around here anymore.”

He huffed. But he couldn’t argue.

Not when fourteen-year-old Crissy—a teenager! When had that happened?—was at the far end of the table helping her little brother Drew stick felt snowmen onto his sweater. The little tyke’s usual wildcat energy was so focused at the moment by the importance of the task, the tip of his tongue stuck out as he carefully positioned each cutout.

Not when next to them, Ethan was covered in green puff paint and delighted about it.

And especially not when Hanna had pulled an old flannel shirt of his over her petite frame, her face lit with joy. The sight brought back many other priceless memories of her from the past years wearing his shirt and nothing else…

Fuck.

Brad loved it. All of it. Having a wife and a family. He loved the gang he worked with down at the fire hall, competitive as they were together. Hell, tonight he even loved the glitter.

He just needed a minute to grumble about it first.

“Got any extra reindeer for me?” he asked his daughter.

Crissy tossed him a pile of felt cutouts, watching with curiosity for a moment. “You’re putting them on the back?”

Brad gave her a long, solemn look as he deliberately flipped the cutout to hide the comical face Hanna had sketched. Instead, he quickly redrew the antlers and legs to make the beast pop up in reverse. “No one expects reindeer butt on the back of my sweater. That’s why I’ll win.”

Crissy rolled her eyes, but she snickered. “You need a bunch of fluffy tails then, Dad.”

“On it.” Hanna tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, fingers brushing his as she passed him a thread that held a vivid white pom-pom. “You’re taking this very seriously.”

“It’s a contest,” he offered, deadpan.