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“That’s right. But before she was a glamorous movie star, she grew up here in Blue Fern. They were childhood sweethearts. Now they have Josie. She’s two and completely adorable.”
“How sweet,” I said, thinking of Rhett and Holly.
“Then there’s Caspian, who you’ve met. He and Elliot met when she came to work for him at the restaurant. They have a little baby named Henry, eighteen months.”
“I bet he’ll love to cook,” Luci said.
“Right?” Thad chuckled. “We Moons eat good.”
“Are you the middle?” I asked.
“No, I’m the youngest, actually. I’m married to Sammie. We have Chloe. She was three when they came to Blue Fern. When we got married, I adopted her. And we have a one-year-old baby named Benjamin. We call him Benji. He’s the happiest little guy you ever met. Takes after me that way.”
He went on to tell us that Finley, who helped Thad run guest services, was married to the second youngest Moon brother, Soren. “Those two were quite the “opposites attract.” My brother’s a grouch and Finley’s a ray of sunshine. But they love each other, so that’s all that matters. Rafferty is married to Arabella. She grew up with us, and they hated each other back then. They were both away for some time. He was in medical school and she was in veterinarian school. When they moved back, sparks flew. She’s expecting a baby boy any day now. We’re all hoping for a new year baby.”
“And you’re all just here—living together?” I asked.
“One big, messy, happy family. Yep.” Thad grinned at us from the rearview mirror. “We still fight like we did when we were boys, only without fists. At the end of the day, though, we’d all die for one another. Thanks to our mama beating family loyalty into our heads. Not with a belt. Just her iron will. She’s completely different as a grandmother—totally indulgent. It’s pretty funny.”
“She can just have fun with them, now that’s she’s a grandma and not responsible for turning you into contributing members of society,” Luci said.
“That’s right. We had to tell her last Christmas to pull back on the gifts for the grandkids.”
“Did she listen?” I asked.
“God, no,” Thad said, laughing.
Once we got to town, Thad parked behind the bar and grill. “What time do you want me to pick you up?” he asked, as he helped Luci out of the van.
“I don’t know.” I joined them on the icy pavement, salt crunching under my feet. “A couple hours?”
“Great. I’ll be back at 4:30. It’ll be getting dark by then so it’s best we get you home safe. The hardware store’s just a few minutes from here.” He gestured toward the brick building at the end of the main drag. Today’s the first day of the Christmas Market over in Pioneer Park. Follow the smell of kettle corn.” He pointed toward the park, where the market appeared to be set around the gazebo.
Luci and I looked at each other and grinned.
“I feel like I’m skipping school or something.” Luci tugged her cap over her ears. “Should we get boots first? Or the Christmas Market?”
“Let’s do boots first, which you can then change into before we take a look at the market.”
“I love it when someone besides me makes a decision. I’m diagnosing myself with decision fatigue.”
I laughed. “Well, I’m here for you then.”
“Do you like to be in charge?” Luci asked.
We started in the direction of the hardware store. Instinctively, I offered her my arm, aware of the slippery sidewalks.
“I don’t know,” I said in answer to her question. “I’m not against taking the lead on things, but it depends on the situation. For work, I’m mostly the support guy.”
“Keeping the beat.”
“That’s funny you say that. I was thinking about that just yesterday.”
“At the clinic, it feels like the whole operation depends on me,” I said.
“Doesn’t it?”
“Not really. My staff is phenomenal. Small but mighty. They’re all good at their jobs and don’t need much from me. I guess it’s more the financial aspects that keep me up at night. Like am I going to be able to keep the lights on? What should I spend money on? That kind of thing.”
