Ruth Herne - The Lawman's Holiday Wish

Probably. But her leaving had ensured the girls safety and that was what mattered. Rogue cops were nothing to be taken lightly, and bad cops who’d had witnesses disappear before?

They’d posed a direct threat thwarted by her whistle-blowing phone calls.

This year would be different. She wouldn’t spend this Christmas alone, crying as she tended animals in an empty veterinary clinic outside Chicago. She’d be here in Kirkwood, with the girls and her mother. With Uncle Berto, Piper and the Harrison family next door. For the first time in three years Rainey wouldn’t dread the change of seasons and the lonely holiday. This year she’d join in the celebration, because this year she was home. And no matter what happened, she was home to stay.

She joined Noreen in the store and used the next few hours to roughly sketch how she’d like the dairy booth to look.

At seven o’clock, she closed the store and headed for the house, reenergized. The family gathered for a meeting each Friday night, where everyone aired ideas and compared notes. At tonight’s get-together she’d convince them to let her put her best foot forward. No matter what, she had to make them listen to her concerns about the loss of business. And take action. Even if it meant Rainey had to find a different job. She crossed the wide yard and hurried into the house.

Wedding plans were spread out across the large dining room table. Farm notes were laid out in similar fashion in the kitchen.

“I saved food for you.” Lucia smiled at Rainey as she came into the room. “Nice and warm, in the oven. You eat and we talk.”

Food was the last thing on Rainey’s mind, but her mom’s caretaking was a welcome respite from the negativity she encountered whenever she stepped off the farm. “Thanks, Mama.”

“Okay.” Rainey’s sister, Piper, called for attention as people grabbed seats. “Wedding first. Let’s take thirty minutes to coordinate things and make sure we’re synchronized.”

“Are we planning a wedding or strategizing a battle plan?” Zach Harrison wondered, but then the New York State trooper flashed a smile toward his fiancée.

Piper leveled him a look, then laughed. “How can we have seven adults in this family and not one of us has ever planned a wedding?”

Zach’s father shrugged. “Zach’s mother did all the work for Julia and Evan’s wedding. My job was to sign the checks.”

Zach held up ringless hands. “First-timer.”

Piper acknowledged his hand and added, “And your only time, buster.”

Her mom made a face of regret. So did Uncle Berto, Lucia’s brother.

“Julia’s planned a wedding. Maybe we should have her come over,” Zach suggested. His sister was living in his house next door, until she closed on her own place two miles south.

Berto sprang out of his chair. “I will go watch her little boys and she can talk flowers and fancy cakes and things. On wedding day, I will be a bear.” He drew up his shoulders to make himself look bigger. “Moving things, setting things up, taking things down, this I can do. Planning a party?” He strode to the door, looking relieved. “Miss Julia will be better equipped.”

Lucia waved him on. “Go. It is a good idea. The boys like their uncle Berto.”

“Me, too.” Piper sent him a look of gratitude. “Thank you.”

Julia joined them less than five minutes later. She carried a clipboard and had a pen stuck behind her ear. She walked in, scanned the planning notes on the table, and within thirty minutes had a timeline of the wedding day mapped out. “I’ll transfer this to my laptop this weekend,” she told them when they wrapped up the session. “And I’ll email it to each of you. Notify me if anything changes and I’ll keep it updated.

“Everything’s been ordered,” she continued. “We’ll use the front barn for the reception if the weather turns bad, and we have six days after the wedding to get ready for the bicentennial festival. That takes us right into the holidays. We’ll be fine as long as we pay attention to details.”

Marty Harrison grinned at her. “You are your mother’s daughter, for sure.”

Julia’s smile turned bittersweet. “I see Mom’s face when I look in the mirror. But that could mean I’m getting old.”

“That’s my vote,” Zach quipped.

Julia punched his arm, then laughed when he hugged her. “Mom would have loved seeing you get married.” The wistful note in her voice said she missed their late mother. “And she’d adore Piper.”

Zach nudged his future wife. “Me, too.”

“And now, the farm plans.” Piper moved to the kitchen table, but not before she met Zach’s smile of appreciation with a wink. “The legal move to incorporate as Harrison-McKinney Farms will be completed next week.” She high-fived Zach’s father across the table. Their new partnership put McKinney Farms back on solid financial ground. Except for the current loss of business in the dairy store.

“But we’ll keep the name McKinney Farms to avoid confusion,” Marty added. “Keeping it simple is best for business and reputation.”

“Marty’s name will be added to the farm signs we’ve ordered, and it will be on our letterhead and all official documents.”

“And Piper and I are going to the stock sale in early November to add a new line of heifers to our breed stock,” Marty added. “By next fall we should have an overabundance of milk to supply the new Greek yogurt facility near I-90 and the dairy store.”

“So all is good on that front.” Piper turned toward Rainey. “And now the dairy store.”

Rainey stood. She hated to be a downer at the family meeting, but the numbers gave her little choice. “We’re losing money at the store and I believe it’s because of me.”

Lucia’s lips thinned.

Piper’s expression went from engaging to concerned in a flash. “Rainey, we always have a slowdown in September. Kids go back to school, ice cream sales drop. The days are getting shorter so people don’t come out at night like they do over the summer. Then things pick up again in October and go crazy until the holidays.”

Rainey acknowledged that with a nod as she passed a printed sheet to each of them. “That’s all true, and it’s supported by last year’s figures, but here’s the problem.” She pointed out a group of highlighted numbers. “Our everyday stock items have dropped nearly twenty percent from last September’s figures. That’s huge. That eats up our profit margin and dumps us ten percent into the hole. And I think it’s because some customers don’t like who I was. That’s a tough thing for folks to move past.”

“We all make mistakes,” Marty counseled. He shrugged lightly. “And people forget, Rainey. It just takes time.”

“But can we survive for however long that takes?” Rainey wondered. “I know you want me to stay,” she told everyone. “You’re all being wonderful about this, but I have to do something to fix the situation or I’ll go crazy worrying about it.”

“Worry is not of God,” Lucia reminded her. “He has taken care of us so far, mi Larraina. I trust He will take care of this, as well.”

Rainey appreciated her mother’s gesture of acceptance, but knew she needed to act quickly. “Well, I’d like to help the good Lord all I can, so here’s what I’m proposing. We’ve got a farm booth signed up for the bicentennial festival. I’d like to have a dairy booth alongside. We’ve got portable coolers and the generator, we could use the space you’ve already reserved so we don’t have to ask for extra space from the committee, and it would be a great way to give out samples of the new items we’re going to carry for the holidays. I don’t want Noreen outside all day if the weather during the festival is dicey, but Marly said she has no classes that Friday so she’ll help me run the booth all day Friday and Saturday.”