Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“We’ll see you soon,” I assured him.
“Take your time. I have to undo the death web out back.”
And that sent Hannah into hysterics.
When we got home, I could tell Sam’s handiwork out front. Instead of Jake’s looping lines of lights, they were tight, placed into age-old hooks that were used every year. There were wreaths in every window facing the street, and the peppermint-candy lights went from the curb to the back gate as usual. Parking the car, I noted as we came out that the lights in the back were in the individual trees, and not draped between them.
Hannah got out and ran over to her father, who was standing on the back porch, leaning on the railing. He straightened up just as she reached him and caught the young woman who basically vaulted into his arms. Hannah was not a delicate flower. Much like her father, she loved hard, and if he had been a smaller man, she would have knocked him down. But she knew from years of hitting him like a projectile missile, that he would wrap her in his arms and swing her around as though she were as light as a feather.
“You started fixing everything before we called you,” she squealed as he spun her.
“Perhaps,” he teased, putting her down with a kiss on the forehead. “It’s possible that I couldn’t let go either.”
She sighed deeply as he hugged her again, and when I reached them, his favorite treats in hand, I got a kiss too.
“Oh, I liked being thanked this way,” I said playfully.
“It’s not the stroopwafels, though they are my favorite,” he husked, nuzzling my ear, covering me with goose bumps that fast. “I missed you, and you’re sweeter than any cookie.”
I scoffed, he laughed at how cheesy he sounded, and I shoved the box at Hannah so I could get a hug from Sam Kage as well.
“I’ll never complain about any part of our traditions again,” he promised, kissing the side of my neck and clutching me to him.
“You can complain. Your mother complains,” I reminded him. “But we all know she loves it. The bitching is part of it, so we can all tell her how much we appreciate her.”
“Well, I don’t need all that,” he apprised me. “And besides,” he added as I leaned back to look up at his face, “I had no idea the elves just needed direction.”
I tried not to laugh as I saw Kola, Harper, and Jake come out the back door and then onto the deck, now better layered since the temperature had dropped quite a bit.
“Stop calling us elves,” Kola ordered his father, “or we’ll revolt.”
“If you revolt, you won’t get candy canes for dinner,” Hannah told them, cackling as she walked by into the house.
“Wait,” Harper said before anyone else could say anything, sniffing the air like a beagle. “Were those the waffle-cookie things we had last year?”
Kola thought a moment and then bolted after his sister, the other two boys following. We heard her squeal from the kitchen.
“No!” she yelled, laughing. “Get back to work! What do you think this is?”
“My family is so weird,” Sam said, hugging me tight again. “I love you guys so much.”
“I know,” I assured him, leaning up for my kiss.
And that’s it. I hope you all have wonderful holidays, and I will see you in the new year.