been
their
family. His and hers. They should’ve been spending
every
holiday season all gathered around together, all talking at once with kids making a mess of their food and dreaming of ponies and babies and Santa Claus.
When the meal ended, he left their offspring to clean up the mess, and took Vidalia with him into the main part of the saloon. The eighteen-foot tree stood bare and waiting. “We’re gonna deck these halls tonight. Then, dessert by the fireplace. Will you stay?”
“You couldn’t get me out of here if you tried, Bobby Joe.”
He smiled at her, and he knew he was going to have to tell her the truth pretty soon. But maybe it could wait just a few more nights. Just a few. He wanted a Christmas without heartache. One so chock full of joy and sappy holiday magic that his sons would never forget it. He wanted that, just once, before he died.
They all stood around the eighteen-foot beauty of a tree, and Bobby Joe said, “I bought decorations, but I don’t think there’s gonna be anywhere near enough.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Selene said, walking right up beside him and resting her hand on his shoulder. “Mom had us bring a small portion of the horde of holiday decor she had stashed at home in the attic.”
“I think we have enough for ten trees,” Vidalia said. “Plus two.” She gazed at the boxes, smiling in self-deprecation. “Some of these haven’t seen daylight in several years. I can’t wait to go through them. Shall we?”
“Lights first,” Caleb called. “We have to string the lights first. That’s how we always do it.”
“I’m with you on that Caleb,” Jason said.
“Fine, you young men handle the lights,” Vidalia told him. “Robert, can you find us a couple of stepladders around here?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Robert said. And if Bobby Joe didn’t know better, he would think Rob was starting to enjoy himself a bit. His sadness seemed distant, and he was even smiling now and then.
Melusine cranked up the music. Caleb and Rob strung the lights, while Vidalia gave constant direction. The others girls vanished into the kitchen. But in short order, they were back, handing cups of hot cocoa around. Jimmy, Kara’s husband, turned up the music a little louder, and when Randy Travis started singing Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the children all sang along.
They were are all picking through boxes of ornaments, re-attaching hooks or strings, and passing them around to be placed on the tree. And it seemed to Bobby Joe that every single piece in Vidalia’s old dusty boxes from the attic had a story attached to it. Her girls didn’t mind one bit telling them as each one was added to the tree.
He heard all about the Christmas when they’d all made homemade gifts for each other because money was low, but how somehow, they’d still found Cabbage Patch dolls under the tree, one for each of those girls, from Santa.
“You never told us how you did it, Mama,” Maya said softly.
“I got up at two a.m. on Black Friday to be first in line at the Kmart, where they had a five doll limit. I pawned my wedding ring to pay for them.” She rolled her eyes. “Oh your father was furious when he came home and saw my ring finger bare. Course, by then it was February, and I’d saved up enough to buy it back.”
Selene pulled out an ornament, a picture frame shaped like Santa’s sleigh with a baby in the seat beside Santa. “This was me!” she said happily. “Look!” She held it up.
“Baby’s first Christmas” was part of the frame itself. But someone had taken a green marker and carefully inscribed “Selene Brand,” and her birthday.
She grinned and handed it to Joey. “We always joke that I was conceived by the Corral. Born nine months to the day after her doors opened.”
“Yeah, Barroom Baby,” said Melusine.
“Saloon Sister!” Kara threw in.
“Beer Barrel Brat,” Maya called.
“Happy Hour Half-Pint,” Edie sang.
“Enough already!” Selene said,
their
family. His and hers. They should’ve been spending
every
holiday season all gathered around together, all talking at once with kids making a mess of their food and dreaming of ponies and babies and Santa Claus.
When the meal ended, he left their offspring to clean up the mess, and took Vidalia with him into the main part of the saloon. The eighteen-foot tree stood bare and waiting. “We’re gonna deck these halls tonight. Then, dessert by the fireplace. Will you stay?”
“You couldn’t get me out of here if you tried, Bobby Joe.”
He smiled at her, and he knew he was going to have to tell her the truth pretty soon. But maybe it could wait just a few more nights. Just a few. He wanted a Christmas without heartache. One so chock full of joy and sappy holiday magic that his sons would never forget it. He wanted that, just once, before he died.
They all stood around the eighteen-foot beauty of a tree, and Bobby Joe said, “I bought decorations, but I don’t think there’s gonna be anywhere near enough.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Selene said, walking right up beside him and resting her hand on his shoulder. “Mom had us bring a small portion of the horde of holiday decor she had stashed at home in the attic.”
“I think we have enough for ten trees,” Vidalia said. “Plus two.” She gazed at the boxes, smiling in self-deprecation. “Some of these haven’t seen daylight in several years. I can’t wait to go through them. Shall we?”
“Lights first,” Caleb called. “We have to string the lights first. That’s how we always do it.”
“I’m with you on that Caleb,” Jason said.
“Fine, you young men handle the lights,” Vidalia told him. “Robert, can you find us a couple of stepladders around here?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Robert said. And if Bobby Joe didn’t know better, he would think Rob was starting to enjoy himself a bit. His sadness seemed distant, and he was even smiling now and then.
Melusine cranked up the music. Caleb and Rob strung the lights, while Vidalia gave constant direction. The others girls vanished into the kitchen. But in short order, they were back, handing cups of hot cocoa around. Jimmy, Kara’s husband, turned up the music a little louder, and when Randy Travis started singing Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the children all sang along.
They were are all picking through boxes of ornaments, re-attaching hooks or strings, and passing them around to be placed on the tree. And it seemed to Bobby Joe that every single piece in Vidalia’s old dusty boxes from the attic had a story attached to it. Her girls didn’t mind one bit telling them as each one was added to the tree.
He heard all about the Christmas when they’d all made homemade gifts for each other because money was low, but how somehow, they’d still found Cabbage Patch dolls under the tree, one for each of those girls, from Santa.
“You never told us how you did it, Mama,” Maya said softly.
“I got up at two a.m. on Black Friday to be first in line at the Kmart, where they had a five doll limit. I pawned my wedding ring to pay for them.” She rolled her eyes. “Oh your father was furious when he came home and saw my ring finger bare. Course, by then it was February, and I’d saved up enough to buy it back.”
Selene pulled out an ornament, a picture frame shaped like Santa’s sleigh with a baby in the seat beside Santa. “This was me!” she said happily. “Look!” She held it up.
“Baby’s first Christmas” was part of the frame itself. But someone had taken a green marker and carefully inscribed “Selene Brand,” and her birthday.
She grinned and handed it to Joey. “We always joke that I was conceived by the Corral. Born nine months to the day after her doors opened.”
“Yeah, Barroom Baby,” said Melusine.
“Saloon Sister!” Kara threw in.
“Beer Barrel Brat,” Maya called.
“Happy Hour Half-Pint,” Edie sang.
“Enough already!” Selene said,
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