The Best Christmas Ever. Stella Bagwell

that she’d found it nearly impossible to pay her rent and have enough left from her paycheck to care for her son and herself. If it hadn’t been for her Grandmother Lee, Allison didn’t know where she would have been living now, or how she would have been surviving. The older woman had convinced her to come to Arkansas and live in her house. The place was old and a bit run-down, but at least it would take away the added burden of paying rent.

      The past three years had been difficult ones for Allison, but since she’d moved to Arkansas in May things were slowly improving. She had a better job, a house to live in, and for the first time since her mother had died, she had a real family—her son and her grandmother.

      The three of them would more than likely be the only family she would ever have. But that was just the way Allison wanted it. In her dictionary, the definition of man was trouble. And she didn’t want trouble entering her life or her family’s ever again.

      * * *

      “Oh my, that’s really going to look pretty, girls,” Ella said appreciatively, eyeing the long dining table. “Especially when we get the wedding cake and serving dishes on it.”

      Kathleen had covered the dark aged wood with a white lace tablecloth and Olivia had put together two flower arrangements of white and red poinsettias to flank the cake. Now the three women were standing back, admiring the effect of their handiwork.

      “I think we need candles,” Olivia said, just as Sam and Nick walked into the room.

      The two brothers exchanged grins. “Does this woman of yours have eating or romancing on her mind?” Nick teased.

      With a wicked smile on his face, Sam went to

      Olivia and slipped an arm around her waist. “Both, I hope,” he said.

      Kathleen continued to study the table with a critical eye. “You’re right, Olivia. Candles would make it perfect.”

      “There’s some in the kitchen pantry,” Ella said. “And I think I can find a pair of silver holders in the buffet. They’re probably tarnished, but we can clean them tonight with the rest of the silverware.”

      Earlier that afternoon, Nick had changed out of his military khaki. Now he looped his thumbs into the pockets of his blue jeans and rocked back on the heels of his cowboy boots as he eyed the elaborate table. “I thought this was just going to be a simple wedding. Am I really worth all of this?”

      Sam groaned, and Kathleen said, “We didn’t even know if you were actually going to be here or not.”

      Nick looked offended. “Sam knew I’d be here even if the rest of you didn’t think so. Isn’t that right, Sam?”

      Sam snorted. “I knew if you didn’t show up, you’d better have a hell of an excuse.”

      Nick laughed at his brother’s stern warning. Sam had always been the serious one. Even back when they’d been teenagers, it had been a major effort just to make him laugh. There’d been a time when Nick had wished his older brother would lighten up. But now that they’d grown older, Nick knew he wouldn’t want his brother Sam any other way.

      “Sam! Do you always talk to your brother like this?” Olivia asked, amazed.

      Nick laughed. So did Ella as she came back into the room carrying two white candles. “Olivia, from the time Nick was old enough to walk, Sam has ordered him around and threatened him to within an inch of his life when he wouldn’t obey. Nick’s used to it.”

      “Never did mind you very much either, did I, big brother?” he asked with a playful poke at Sam’s rib cage.

      Sam gave him a dour look, but then his lips twitched with something close to a grin. “You want Allison to see you with a bloody nose?”

      Nick cocked a brow at him, then touched the bridge of his nose. “I’d hate for you to have to get married with two black eyes. Olivia might want to postpone the honeymoon.”

      Sam laughed, then pressed a kiss against the curve of Olivia’s cheek. “A couple of black eyes couldn’t keep us apart, could they, honey?”

      “Nothing could ever keep us apart,” Olivia murmured.

      Nick watched Olivia look adoringly at his brother and wondered what it would feel like to be loved like that. He’d never seen such love on anyone’s face before and he felt a stab of jealousy in spite of himself.

      “By the way, Mom,” Kathleen said, glancing at her wristwatch, “is there anything I need to do in the kitchen before Allison arrives?”

      “No. The sandwiches and snacks are all ready.”

      “What about a high chair for Ben?” Olivia asked.

      Ella shook her head. “Ben thinks he’s too big for a high chair. I usually let him sit on my granite roasting pan.”

      Nick was thoroughly confused as he tried to follow the women’s conversation. “Allison has a small child?” he asked. “I thought she was an elderly woman. Why, Old Lady Lee is probably close to a hundred, isn’t she?”

      “Nicholas, I’m going to whack you if I hear you say ‘Old Lady Lee’ one more time. What will Allison think of you? Especially when I’ve told her that you’re my most mannerly child.”

      “That’s not saying too much for us, is it, Kathleen?” Sam commented.

      Nick shook his head helplessly. To be honest, he wished his mother hadn’t invited anyone to the house tonight. He’d wanted to spend his first evening back home with just his family. Now he was going to have to make a point of being polite to some woman he’d never seen in his life. He liked meeting people but not tonight.

      He almost wished he’d volunteered for Captain Logan’s maneuvers drill and come home a day later. Toting an M16 over miles of wet, dark terrain seemed like a party compared to the evening ahead of him.

      Chapter 2

      “Now listen, Ben, you must remember to be polite tonight,” Allison told her son as she stepped up on the Gallaghers’ back porch. “Ella thinks you’re a good little boy.”

      “I am,” he replied solemnly.

      Allison didn’t know whether to laugh or cross her fingers. “I know. That’s why I’m counting on you to be on your best behavior.”

      “Where’s Jake and Leo?” the child asked, tugging on his mother’s arm just as she raised it to knock on the screen door.

      “I don’t know. We’ll find out when we get inside,” she told him, then reached to slick down the unruly cowlick at his forehead.

      Kathleen answered the door and quickly ushered them into the house.

      “Take off your coat, Allison, and I’ll help Ben with his,” Kathleen said, already kneeling to assist the small boy.

      “My goodness, what a pretty dress. You didn’t have to go to such pains for us,” Ella spoke from across the room.

      Allison’s fair complexion became tinged with a delicate pink as she unconsciously smoothed a hand down the moss green skirt. “Thank you, Ella, but this dress has been in the washing machine more times than I could count.”

      “Come on to the den,” Kathleen urged her. “I’m dying for you to meet Nick.”

      When Allison and Kathleen entered the den, Nick was standing with his back to the fireplace, listening quietly as his father and brother talked farming.

      “Well, there’s my little Ben,” S.T. boomed out as he spotted the small boy. “Come here, son.”

      The redheaded child ran eagerly to the older Gallagher and climbed up on his lap, while Kathleen urged Allison farther into the room.

      Nick tried not to stare, but he felt as if someone had whopped him over the head. The woman with his sister was nothing like