Dance Me a Dream (Wishful 7)

H

is mother came out on the porch as he gathered up the reins and clucked at the horses to head out. She lifted one hand in a wave. There would be questions later, but he’d endure them. It was worth it for the excited stream of questions and chatter from Ginny and the unguarded look of pleasure Tara beamed over her shoulder at the kids.

“Dashing through the snow.”

Beside him, Tara startled when he began to sing.

“On a one horse open sleigh. Ginny?”

“Over the fields we go, laughing all the way! Ha ha ha!” she shouted, joining in with more enthusiasm than correct pitch.

“Bells on bobtail ring.”

Tara jumped in. “Making spirits bright.”

“What fun it is to laugh and sing a sleighing song tonight.”

They picked up Austin on the chorus and the four of them belted good cheer into the late morning air, startling some birds from the trees in the apple orchard as they rolled through. A rendition of “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” got them to the edge of the fir trees.

Jace drove the horses down the center lane before pulling them to a halt. “Now we walk.”

Tara leapt down before he could help her, but Ginny waited, arms outstretched for him to lift her down.

“How tall are your ceilings?” Jace asked.

“Just the standard eight feet.”

He pulled one of their premarked measuring sticks and handed it over to Austin.

“What’s this for?”

“See this mark? That’s seven feet. In a stand, that’s about as tall as you can go with your ceilings. You hold this next to the trees to check and see if they’ll fit.”

“Okay. C’mon, Ginny!”

The pair of them scampered down the row, Ginny launching into an off-key rendition of “Frosty The Snowman”.

“She hasn’t quite mastered the difference between singing and shouting,” Tara said. “They’re loving this. Thank you.”

Jace retrieved the axe and headed after them, Tara falling into step beside him. “You’re more than welcome. There’s hot apple cider when we get back. Made from our own apples.”

“Oh, you don’t have to go to any trouble.”

“No trouble. Just part of the package. You brought them out here for the whole live tree experience, right?”

Again, something flickered over her face. “Yes. They’ll be talking about this for weeks.”

“We like making it into people’s memory books and family traditions.”

“We’re working on starting some new ones.” Tara’s expression was fierce as she said it.

Jace recognized a vow when he heard it. “Gotta be hard on you. All that responsibility.”

He got that sharp look again.

“You’re too young to be Mom. You and Ginny have the same eyes. I figured sister.” He’d known already but didn’t see the sense in confirming her expectation that people were talking.

Ahead of them Austin and Ginny raced from one tree to the next. Tara watched them for a moment before answering. “Half-sister, actually. We share a father, such as he is. As it happens, I lucked out more in the mom department than they did. So I’m working on making up for that.”