Iris returned the hug with interest, and then came forward to take Misty’s hand in both of hers. “Misty, I’m so happy to finally meet you. Sorry to descend on you in force like this.” She smiled. “The kids are probably going to want to spend most of the time shifting and exploring, so hopefully you and I can get to know each other in peace.”
“After the big party,” Ty put in.
“After the big party,” Iris agreed. She let Misty’s hand go, but it was taken up again almost immediately by her husband.
“Can’t say how impressed I am by what Ty’s told us about you,” he said sincerely. “Sounds like you’re doing a great job of keeping the peace up here.”
“Thanks,” Misty said, feeling a little overwhelmed.
Not by the need to impress Ty’s family, like she’d thought she would be, but by how nice they were being.
Ty, meanwhile, was being swarmed by a gaggle of young adults, all wanting to tell him about their final exams or their new jobs or whatever else had been going on in their lives. He was hugging everyone and looking happy as a clam.
Misty thought about watching Ty be that happy, about getting to know the smiling couple who seemed to already think Misty hung the moon. About really doing Christmas, for maybe the first time in her life—her father had mostly worked on Christmas, talking grimly about family gatherings and the potential for violence.
Looking around at the delighted faces surrounding her, Misty thought maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
***
Ty
The grand opening of the community center went off without a hitch.
After a month and a half of repairs, restorations, painting, furniture installment, and decoration, they’d decided to officially open it to the public for a big community holiday party.
Not that the public hadn’t been the ones doing all the work on it already—Ty didn’t think there was a single person in town who hadn’t been inside already at least once—but this was the first time everyone would be there simply to have fun.
Iris’ mouth dropped open as they pulled up in front of the building. “Ty, it’s beautiful.”
It really was. With its new cheerful red-trimmed paint job, covered in snow, the rambling structure looked almost like something out of a fairy tale. It was all lit up with Christmas lights, and the windows were glowing golden in the twilight.
“Come on, I can’t wait to meet everyone,” Iris was saying, and they all piled out of the van and went on inside.
There was a whole flurry of activity the second they came inside. Iris and Steve wanted to meet all of Ty’s old friends, and he wanted to introduce them to all of his new ones, and the kids were making a beeline for the tables piled with food. Ty saw Rayanne introducing herself to Zeke while piling a plate high with little sandwiches, and smiled to himself.
Zeke and Ryder had really come through with this place. They’d worked hard on restoring it, first out of guilt, Ty knew.
But Ty also knew that working on a place like this was the perfect way to get a kid to start feeling some ownership and responsibility for his efforts. It wasn’t long before the boys had been excited to show off the work they’d done, and now they were as invested in this place as anybody.
Misty called him a genius. Ty called himself someone who’d once been a teenaged boy himself. For him, the Marines had been the thing that really showed him what it meant to invest yourself in something. He was glad Ryder and Zeke had something closer to home.
And he had a private hope that one or both of them would think of joining up as a deputy after they graduated. Their perspectives on the sheriff’s office had certainly changed since Misty had been instrumental in saving Zeke’s life, and Ty had already had a couple of serious talks with each of them about what a man should be and do—something their dads hadn’t ever bothered with. He’d really hammered home the point of what Misty was trying to accomplish around here, and it seemed like they were starting to get it.
Speaking of Misty—he looked around and found her deep in conversation with Lynn, Stella, Mavis, and Pauline. As he watched, Iris came over to say hello, and was immediately drawn in.
“Well?” Steve said next to him. “How’re you settling in, up here?”
Ty smiled. “I have to tell you, completely honestly: it’s like I never lived anywhere else.”
“That good, huh,” Steve said, smiling back.
Ty nodded. “I wouldn’t give up those years with you guys and the kids. I’ll always be Uncle Ty, and Great-Uncle Ty, eventually. But living up here in the wild, and being with Misty...it’s going to be home forever.”
Misty looked up, as though she’d sensed him talking about her, and met his eyes. “‘Scuse me,” Ty told Steve, who gestured him away with a grin.
He went over to the women, just as Misty detached herself. “Hi,” she said, her eyes warm with love and happiness.
“Hi,” Ty said back. He bent down and kissed her softly.