Christmas…
Del’s stomach grumbled loudly as he sat down at Lily’s table. She’d gone all out and was even dressed for the occasion in a pretty red and black dress that accentuated her sexy hourglass figure. It was hard not to stare. Her cheeks glowed as she placed the platter containing slices of turkey in the center of the table she’d gone to obvious pains to set for the holiday. Candles glowed in the center of the table, illuminating her beautiful face as she sank into her seat.
Clay murmured, “Lily, it looks fantastic.”
Lily beamed. “I hope it tastes good.”
After saying grace, Del offered Lily the platter so she could serve herself. She glanced at him, and he saw a flicker of hesitancy in her eyes before she smiled and lifted the meat fork from the platter. Clay sighed deeply as they dug into their Christmas dinner and chuckled at Del’s appreciative groan when he took his first bite of breast meat, stuffing, and cranberries mixed together. “Lily, you outdid yourself.”
“Thank you, cowboy.” The endearment made him chuckle quietly.
They’d received an invitation to eat Christmas dinner with Clay’s friends, the Warners…Grace and Jack…or Grace, Jack, Ethan, and Adam, or however Clay knew them. Del had gotten around a bit, but this new trend in Divine was still confusing to him.
He’d been working nonstop at the ranch, so he hadn’t met anyone but Grace so far. Evidently there were numerous small groups of men in the area who were committing to one woman. Del didn’t get it, but he didn’t judge, either.
He’d run across a number of men in the last few years who had multiple wives, but that was a totally different culture and value system. He’d been nauseated by the way the women were treated as property or cattle and in many cases horribly abused.
Suppressing a shudder at his memories, Del forced his thoughts into the present. Lily had insisted that their first Christmas dinner should be at home, and she’d prepared small feasts for them for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thanksgiving with them had been his only real day off the month before. He could tell both Lily and Clay were exhausted from working in the shop and appreciated her efforts even more.
Helping himself to more turkey, he took another bite and groaned in pleasure. He glanced up at Lily and caught her relieved sigh. It occurred to him that it was likely she’d never received many compliments on her cooking, judging by what Clay had told him of her marriage.
“Lily, this meal is wonderful. You did a very good job.”
Clay grinned at him across the table and seemed to understand his effort to bolster her self-esteem. “Del’s right. It’s fantastic.”
“How’s your dad?” Del asked before taking another bite of her stuffing and cranberries.
Lily’s lovely lips bowed with the trace of a sad smile. “He called this morning. I’m worried about him, but he said he’s doing fine. There was nothing new to report about his cancer from his last doctor’s visit. He seems very anxious about my divorce being final. Every time I’ve talked to him recently, he’s asked me to let him know as soon as it’s official.”
“I wonder why?” Clay asked, helping himself to more sweet potatoes.
“I don’t know. It’s always the first thing he asks about. I explained to him that the process takes sixty days. Considering the date I filed, that means it would have been final in mid-December. But with the holidays, scheduling, and the difficulty my lawyer has had in dealing with ‘jerk-face,’ it could be January or February before it’s actually final.”
Clay took a drink of his iced tea and seemed impatient as he said, “It can’t happen soon enough.”
“Dad was happy when I told him I changed my last name back to Valentine. I’m happy to leave behind every vestige of my life as a member of the King family.”
Del was glad to hear that, too. He knew Lily had gotten teased as a child for having an iconic last name, but he’d always thought it suited her. “So you’re our Valentine once again?”
Lily snorted. “That was lame, but yes. It was official a couple of weeks ago. Want more cranberries?” He wasn’t surprised she’d remembered how much he loved them with turkey. She’d always picked up on things like that.
“I’m going to do some more cooking for you next week, after the dust settles from Christmas. You should make a list if there’s something you want me to cook special for you. Are you eating okay? Remembering to eat?”
Busted. He’d been spending a lot of time outside, working. After he ate, he usually drank a beer and fell asleep for another round of subconscious torture in the form of recurring nightmares.