On her right side, Travis asked, “Doing okay, Nika?”
Veronica nodded and squeezed his big, callused had. “I feel like I’m about to charge Hell’s gates armed with a water pistol.”
At her left, Hank chuckled and said, “We’re all behind you. Nika, far as I’m concerned, you can stay glued to my hip or Travis’s all night. I’m not letting any of them ruin this night for you. You don’t let them draw you away from us for any tacky little comments they want to make.”
“That’s right,” Travis said. “Anything they want to say to you they can say in front of us and everyone else.”
Hank stroked the small of her back. “You’re doing some of those people a favor by allowing them to be here at all.”
Veronica nodded. Over the past few weeks, she’d realized that this time in her life had been a series of confrontations with the bullies in her life. The first had been BookAddictedWhore. The second had been Brent. The third had been Tabitha Lester, although Hank had been her champion in that clash. This was the last one. The one that would be both the hardest and the most freeing. She would be free of the bondage and bullying of her family. They no longer had any power over her. She wouldn’t let them, and if they tried, Hank and Travis would deal with them.
She turned as footsteps came up behind them.
Grandma Kate smiled reassuringly and gave her hands a solid squeeze. “You ready, sweet girl? You look beautiful.”
“Yes, thank you, Grandma Kate.” She smoothed her hand over the white silk and lace knee-length dress that Grace had helped her find in Morehead. “I feel beautiful.”
Jack, Ethan, Adam, and Grace came up behind them, too, and Jack said, “Veronica, we’re all here for you.”
The rest of their group of friends—
all of them
—nodded and gave her reassuring smiles of support over Jack’s shoulders.
The cars came to a stop, filling the circular driveway, and Veronica took a bracing breath. Hank lifted her hand and kissed the ring he’d placed on her finger earlier that afternoon, with Woody Porter officiating. Woody stood with the group, too, having just given her a wink of assurance before she faced the door and opened it.
Grandma Kate came forward to greet the Montana Benedicts on the front porch. Grace joined her on one side, and Veronica stepped forward to her other side as the passengers of the vehicles climbed out and mounted the steps.
Grandma Kate clapped her hands together, a wide smile on her face, and said, “George, Norah, welcome to the Divine Creek Ranch. I’m so thrilled—
we
are so thrilled you and the family have decided to join us.”
Her mother and father, with slightly bemused looks on their faces, came forward and were first enveloped in Kate’s embrace and then introduced to Grace as the lady of the house. They greeted her graciously and then turned to Veronica.
Her father hugged her with care after casting a glance at her knee-length dress and said, “It’s a shame that it had to take coming to Texas to see our youngest daughter for the holidays.”
Grandma Kate chuckled and said, “Oh dear, George, you’re here for so much more.”
He frowned as he stepped aside and glanced in the house but stayed on the porch, making room for her mother.
Veronica kept her left hand behind her back and was able to genuinely smile as Hank intertwined her hidden fingers with his. She braced herself as her mother formed a smile that didn’t really reach her eyes and came close for a hug and a surgically precise whisper. “Pudge, I think you really should’ve have chosen a dress that camouflaged your legs a little better.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Mom. I feel beautiful in it and I love the length.”
Her mother gave a simple, high-pitched “
hmmpf
” and her eyes grew a little round as she glanced over Veronica’s shoulder. Without looking, Veronica knew the reason for her reaction. Hank and Travis were standing directly behind her, like guard dogs, as several more family members mounted the porch.
Her sister, Addison, came next, her brows knit slightly as she leaned down to hug Grandma Kate. “Aunt Kate. Nice to see you again. We rearranged all our Christmas plans and we’re here at your request.” She spoke politely but there was a subtle terseness to her words.
“My dear Addison, willowy thin and to the point, exactly as I remember you, bless your heart. It’s been years since last I saw you but you haven’t changed a bit.” Addison nodded and smiled to Grace and then turned to Veronica.
“Ronnie!” she said in a fake, high-pitched cheery voice with a bounce in her step as she pranced to her. With the fake smile on her face, she said, “You look so pretty. But white? Really?”
“Mmmhmm, really.” Veronica chuckled when she heard Hank growl behind her and she gave Addison a one-armed hug and said, “Yep, you haven’t changed a bit. I’m so happy you could come.”
Grandma Kate greeted Jesse and Barry next. “Why my goodness, Jesse and Barry, you’re both still single? We’ll have to work on that some time when you come visit me in Lusty, yes?”
“Um…sure, Grandma—” Jesse glanced at his mother when she cleared her throat. Veronica caught the disapproval in her glare and he corrected himself. “I mean Aunt Kate. We’ll have to do that.”
Veronica scoffed to herself, making a mental note to have Kate share the true family connection, that she was their distant cousin, if the opportunity arose. Her mother cared enough about them
not
referring to her as Grandma Kate, but not enough to set the record straight. Typical. Maybe her mother was jealous of Kate’s status as the family matriarch and wanted them to keep their distance. Also typical.
Barry came to Grandma Kate and grinned at her and accepted her hug. “Hey, Aunt Kate. Good to see you again. Yeah, maybe we’ll have to pay you a visit out there sometime soon.”
“I think you should,” Grandma Kate said with a chuckle, and Veronica could almost hear the
“Bless your heart”
in her Kate’s tone.
Both Jesse and Barry came at Veronica and hollered “Round Ronnie!” as they reached to grab her up and tickle her. Jesse froze first as he looked over her shoulder and Barry stopped in mid-grab. She’d warned Hank and Travis they would do this. To grab and tickle her until she screamed was part of their greeting. One of the big reasons she’d avoided them whenever she could.
Hank placed his hand on her shoulder in a show of territoriality that she couldn’t help but enjoy. When she looked behind her at Travis, he was shaking his head in warning at the twins, the “hands off” message clear in his eyes.
They both backed off and Jesse said, “Guess you’ve outgrown that, huh, Pudge?”
Hank said, “She’s outgrown the nicknames, too, gentlemen. Her name is Veronica, if you need the reminder.”
Cord and Jackson came chuckling up the steps and kissed and hugged Grandma Kate. Jackson even gently lifted her off her feet a bit as he hugged her before they went to Veronica. The tears brimmed in her eyes as she smiled at them. Having them there made it so much better.
Cord held up his hands and playfully said, “No teasing, no tickling, just a hug for you, sis.” In her ear, he whispered, “Congratulations, little Nika. You look gorgeous.”
Tears threatened to fall and her chin quivered as she said, “Thank you, Cord. I’m so happy to see you.”
“I wouldn’t miss this for the world, baby sis.”
Jackson elbowed Cord aside and stood there smiling down at her for a second. He glanced quickly over her shoulder and then wiped an errant tear from her cheek and said, “Merry Christmas Eve, sis.”
She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and felt it when one of her men stroked the hand she held down at her hip out of sight. She glanced at her mother and noted the confusion that lasted in her eyes for less than a second.
Yeah, Mom, this is what familial love looks like. You should try it sometime.
Jackson kissed her cheek and whispered, “I’m so proud of you, Nika. You give ’em hell and I’ll back you up. I’ve missed you something fierce, girl!” He released her and added, “Ari’s been dying to see you again.”
Cord and Jackson held out their hand to the petite redhead who’d stood back, her trembling lips pressed together as she watched the reunion. She hurried forward and wrapped her arms around Veronica and hugged her tight. She whispered, “You’re not the same girl I remember at all, Veronica. I’m so happy for you. So happy to see you,” she added as she looked at Veronica’s parents and sniffled.
Unable to resist, Veronica turned to Jesse and Barry. “Where are Phil and Gordon? Since you four were always joined at the hip, I figured they’d be along for the ride. That always seemed like a
family
tradition.”
Jesse and Barry looked at each other, and Jesse said, “Since Brent split up with you, we haven’t seen very much of them. I asked them if they wanted to come with us but I guess their mom must’ve had something special planned. Phil said they’d be dead men if they went on this trip. I don’t know why.”
Veronica laughed at his words and the little inaccuracy and said, “It’s cold out here, why don’t we all go inside.”
Grandma Kate and Grace agreed and everyone filed in and Veronica, Hank, and Travis brought up the rear.
Cord, Jackson, and Ari quickly reconnected with Grace and her men, and with Lucy, Patrick, and Beck since they’d met at a commitment ceremony in Lusty a few months before, and were soon involved in a conversation with several of the others.
Veronica introduced her parents around the room and all her friends gave warm greetings, and Veronica watched as it sank in to her parents that this was a gathering that included many ménages. She supposed this was therapy by immersion for them. Chance and Clayton Carlisle drew her father into a conversation with Joaquin and Angel about ranching and he seemed to settle right in, nodding to her before she continued on around the room with her mother and her sister.
“All these people are in threesomes and foursomes?” her mother whispered as Rachel Wolf approached and put out her hand.
“Not all of us, ma’am. I’m Rachel Wolf. I’d like to introduce you to my husband, Eli, and our son, Levi.”
Her mom smiled at Rachel and inquired about Levi who seemed entranced by her mother’s bright white hair. He grinned at her and held up a shy hand and waved to her. Her mother was captivated by his pale silver-gray eyes, which were replicas of his father’s.
Addison stood beside Veronica at the kitchen island, watching as the family got to know her friends. “So have you enjoyed your stay down here, Ronnie? You seem to have made lots of friends. Surprising.”
Veronica turned to her sister, noting her men were close by as promised, and tilted her head at Addison’s subtle, but cutting tone. Her specialty, inherited from her mother.
“Why is it surprising—wait. Before you answer that, I’d like to ask a favor,” she said, firmly drawing strength from the gentle, callused hand that grasped hers. “Please don’t call me Ronnie,
round or otherwise
, anymore. Don’t call me Pudge or Chubbs, either. My name is Veronica. Now, why is it surprising that I’d make lots of friends here.”
Addison shrugged, not even offering an acknowledgment or apology for her request to not use the nicknames. “I don’t know. I figured that you’d wind up holing up in a cabin somewhere and writing the whole time you were here. You were always so standoffish and unsociable.”
“You know what?” Jesse said as he and Barry sidled close, obviously not having found anyone else to talk to yet. “I figured the same thing. That you were playing the hermit somewhere, writing your books.”
Hank closed in on her other side and she smiled when Jesse and Barry backed away just a bit and Addison frowned.
“It’s funny how a lifetime of teasing and bullying can condition a person to take the abuse and to withdraw from their family and even their world,” Veronica said before looking up at Hank and Travis. “It’s also pretty amazing how love and acceptance is capable of drawing an introvert like me out of her shell.”
Addison shrugged and rolled her eyes. “We did our best, Ronnie, you can’t blame us. We constantly tried to draw you out of your shell and all you did was whine. I always felt bad for you but—”
“Please shut up, Addison. You don’t know what you’re talking about. You didn’t try to draw me out, you did your best to force me deeper and wound up succeeding admirably, all three of you, with lots of help from Phil and Gordon. And don’t ever call me that horrible nickname ever again.”
Jesse scowled and shrugged, “I always figured Phil and Gordon were kinda assholes to you, Ronnie, but if you’d stood up for yourself—”
Veronica cut him off and skewered them both. “Call me Ronnie again and you’ll see just how well I can stand up for myself. And Phil and Gordon were incredibly abusive toward me and you were aware of it and did nothing.”
“We wanted you to defend yourself, Ronnie—Veronica,” Addison said, rolling her eyes. “Are you saying that the way you were, so withdrawn, is
our
fault?”
“No. I’m an introvert. That’s not your fault, but neither did I need to be
cured
of it. You took every opportunity to insult my personality, my appearance, my weight—”