“Yeah, right,” Huck said. “It would take a lot more than that to embarrass you.”
Ellis and Rose greeted each other with a tight hug. Ellis had gotten to know Jackie and his mother during their two visits in autumn. Ellis had felt immediate kinship with Rose. They had a lot in common: divorce, rural living, sons close in age, veganism, reverence for the natural world, and, of course, Raven and their coming grandchild.
In October, during their first walk alone together, Rose had abruptly begun crying. “I should have known,” she wept. “I saw something wasn’t right with Raven and her mother.”
“You can’t take any of the blame for what Audrey Lind did,” Ellis said.
Her tears kept coming. “I should have called the police. There were times I almost did.”
“What would the police have done when Raven showed no signs of abuse?”
“I know. That was why I never called. I had no proof of anything bad going on, just a gut feeling. But still . . . I wish I’d done something.”
“You did do something,” Ellis said. “You gave my daughter love. You helped her feel less isolated. You gave her the courage to ask for school. She’s told me that you, your sons, and Reece changed her life.”
Rose’s hazel eyes had gleamed. “She said that?”
“In my most hopeful moments after the abduction, I dreamed of a compassionate person like you helping her. It’s as if those hopes took wing, found her, and steered her to your family. I’ll never be able to express how grateful I am . . .”
She and Rose had embraced, both crying, and from that moment they’d been as close as friends who’d known each other for many years.
And during this holiday, Ellis would get to know the other two boys who had changed her daughter’s life. Already, she could tell Huck and Reece would be as easy to like as Jackie.
After the guests were shown their rooms, Raven and Jackie disappeared into the woods. No one tried to find them when a late lunch was put out. They had a lot to talk about.
During lunch, Rose asked, “Have you made any progress convincing Raven to go to a hospital for the birth?”
“She absolutely refuses,” Ellis said. “She wouldn’t agree to a midwife either. She said she and Jackie have studied how to deliver a baby on the internet.”
“Oh my god! Seriously?” Reece said.
“This worries me,” Rose said.
“I know. But what can I do? Drag her? Audrey made her phobic about hospitals.”
Keith said, “We’re hoping she’ll go into labor while Jonah and Ryan are here. Ryan is a doctor.”
“What kind?” Rose asked.
“A surgeon. He doesn’t normally deliver babies, but he knows how.”
Ellis said, “I told Jonah to warn Ryan that he might have a working vacation.”
Everyone laughed. Ellis laughed with them, though she dreaded her daughter’s labor. She never would trust fate. It always did what it wanted. Fate didn’t give a damn how good a person was, or how innocent a baby, before it swept them away.
Shortly after Raven and Jackie returned home, Jonah, Jasper, and Ryan arrived. Ryan was four years older than Jonah, but he had a youthful appearance that made him seem younger. He was tall and fit, had blond hair and blue eyes, and wore glasses with aqua frames. He hugged Ellis and kissed her cheek as if he’d known her all his life.
He whispered in her ear, “I brushed up on my delivery skills. I’m ready. But that will be our secret.”
“Thank you,” she whispered back. “She still says Jackie is going to deliver the baby.”
Ryan grinned. “Brave boy.”
They put two tables together in the living room for dinner. Keith turned down the lights to better see the Christmas tree. He also lit a fire, though it was still warm outside. For “ambience,” he said.
Ellis loved how full her house felt. With family, new friends, laughter, healing. She nearly cried during dinner more than once.
Dinner cleanup went fast with everyone’s help, even Quercus, who licked many plates clean. The group was in a lively mood. Everyone except River. Ellis recognized the fraught look in his eyes.
She took him by the hand and led him to the front porch. “You want a drink, don’t you?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“To me it is.”
“I want one so bad I’m about dying. If I had a driver’s license, I’d probably be gone by now.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. You’ve been doing so well.”
“It’s all of this,” he said, gesturing at the lights on the holly tree. “I haven’t had a sober Christmas since I was maybe Raven’s age. Normally I go through the whole season in one long stupor. And now I’m finally twenty-one and I’m supposed to be sober? How ridiculous is that? Can’t I see what it’s like to order a drink legally, just for once?”
“You’re making up excuses.”
“I almost asked Reece or Huck to take me.”
“Raven would be devastated if you did that.”
“I know,” he said.
“Wait here.”
She went inside, grabbed a bottle from the refrigerator, and popped the cap. She brought it to River.
He stared at the brown bottle. “Is that a beer?”
“It’s a little recovery secret I learned from a guy in a campground.”
Caleb reading “Song of the Open Road” in her tent. She always thought of that night when she bought kombucha. Caleb had recommended it to help her stay sober. Back then, the drink wasn’t as easy to find in stores as it was now.
She put the bottle in River’s hand.
He looked at the label. “I’ve never tried kombucha.”
“The guy I met told me it helps when you’re craving a drink. It’s fermented and fizzy like a beer, and holding a cold brown bottle helps.”
River tried it. “Pretty good.”
“It has a little alcohol in it from the fermentation process. Not enough to get you even tipsy, though. I have quite a bit in the refrigerator. Hidden in the back.”
“Did you buy it for me?”
“For both of us.
