Hudson had only met Harper a few times, but gauging by the opportunities he had, he was sure as hell that few things ever cut off her capacity for speech.

“Holy cow,” she finally said.

“I sort of overdid it with the decorations, huh?”

“Sort of. But crap, this place is huge.”

Nick laughed. “There’s no half-assing it with my brother. It’s always ba—”

Hudson cut Nick a look, effectively silencing him from finishing what he knew was a sentence that would contain the word “balls.” “Something to drink, Harper?”

“Um sure, thanks. Maybe a glass of wine?”

“Red or white?”

“Whatever everyone else is having is fine by me,” Harper said. She shrugged out of her coat and any further thoughts on host duties were derailed by the outfit that was revealed. Allie’s friend was done up in a mixture of patterns and colors that might as well have been an outfit from 1985, with a retro twist of the hipster movement. Hudson was clueless when it came to women’s trends, but even he could tell this woman marched to the beat of her own drum.

“Get her something to warm her up a bit first,” Allie said. “She can have the wine with dinner.”

Demanding little thing. Hudson smirked at her, then lifted a brow at Harper. “Scotch?”

“Sure, why the hell not.”

He felt his stomach growl as he made his way to the bar. Cocktail time had expired about two hours ago, but the fact that he was pouring scotch and starving to death was proof he’d say or do anything to keep that look of happiness on Allie’s face. Hell, who didn’t deserve a good shot of happy?

“So what’s the story with the redhead?” Nick asked. Hudson cut his brother a glance out of the corner of his eye and as he poured the amber liquid, having a brief moment of concern over Nick being in such close proximity to the liquor.

“Allie’s . . .” He paused as he put the crystal stopper back in the decanter. “BFF.”

Hudson held back on doing the whole finger quotations, but Nick couldn’t stop himself. “BFF?”

“Yeah, ‘Best Friends Forever,’” he said, picking up two crystal glasses full of high-octane scotch.

Nick laughed. “How long did it take for you to figure that one out, bro?”

“Hell of a lot faster than you.” Hudson strode over to the two women huddled together by the fire, deep in some female, fast-as-lightening convo.

“So after three delays and an aircraft switch, we were all set to board and then the tower closed the runways.”

“Your mom must be so disappointed.”

“She’s been in a panic since this morning.” Harper mimicked her mom’s voice. “‘Al Roker is saying it’s going to be worse than the blizzard in 2011.’” She shrugged. “But hey, it could be worse. I could be like those people stuck at O’Hare, sleeping on a cot on Christmas Eve. At least I get to have dinner with my bestie and sleep in my own bed.” Hudson held out the tumbler and Harper took it without missing a beat. “Thank you.”

“Did they rebook you for the morning?”

“Yeah, if this snow ever stops.” She glanced at the flakes coming down in a curtain of white outside the window, then took a sip of the scotch and choked. “Whoa, that will put hair on your chest.”

“Sign of a good scotch.” Hudson smirked. “Too much?

Harper took another sip. “Nope, all good. Although this one better be careful,” she said, nodding to Allie. “One glass and I’m liable to spill all her secrets.”

Hudson watched as Harper took another slug of scotch. Well, well, well. Perhaps the evening would be more interesting than he first thought.

Allie pushed to her feet. “Okay, loose lips—”

“Sink ships?” Harper smiled and Nick chuckled.

“Put the drink down and come help me get dinner on the table.”

Harper uncurled herself from the couch. “How about I bring my drink with me and help get dinner on the table? I’m starved!”

Good God, that made two of them, Hudson thought as he took another swig of his scotch. “Need help in there, baby?” He crossed his legs ankle to knee and hoped like hell she didn’t drag his ass into the kitchen and find another apron for him to sport. Though Nick looked to be game-on.

“We got this.” She bent to press a quick kiss to his lips and he was a goner.

Hudson cupped the back of her head, holding her to him. “Make it quick, I’m eager for dessert,” he murmured against her lips. Allie turned and walked into the kitchen with Harper’s arm slung through hers. He watched her leave, then glanced at his watch, counting the minutes until dinner would be over and he could have her under him shouting his name.

‘Tis-the-season-of-giving.

From the kitchen he heard Harper’s voice pitch to a new octave. “Shit, this kitchen is the size of a studio apartment.”

He chuckled into his glass.

“Looks like the white stuff is really piling up,” Nick said from behind him.

Hudson craned his neck. In the distance the frozen lake was barely visible. He joined his brother at the window for a better view. The cars below them moved at a snail’s pace down Lake Shore Drive and were nearly covered with the snow.

“Dinner is served,” Allie said. She and Harper came into the room carrying two dishes a piece.

Already in motion, Hudson moved aside the table settings that seemed to be multiplying by the hour and found space for the platters weighing down their arms. “Smells amazing,” he said. When she smiled it knocked him upside the head: this was her Elysium. This disjointed family coming together at the last minute, weather be damned, was exactly what she needed.

Cutting through the sentimental meditation was Nick’s baritone laugh and Harper’s cheerful voice. “It sure does,” she said. Her gaze dropped to the empty place settings and a string bean that had jumped ship. “But seriously, guys, you didn’t have to wait for me. I’m sure the last thing you wanted was to put dinner back in the oven.”

Allie’s mouth popped open in surprise.

Harper rolled her eyes. “Please, like I couldn’t hear all those plates clanking together. And for the record, I totally pictured you snapping your fingers at these two,” she swung her pointed finger between Nick and Hudson, “to help you race it all back to the kitchen.”

Nick laughed. “Sounds like she’s got your number, Allie.”

“Like I said, I know all the secrets.” Harper smiled at Nick as she lifted her glass to her lips and took another sip of the throat-burning scotch. “You know,” she said glancing down at the crystal tumbler. “This stuff gets a lot smoother the more you drink.”

“Definitely no more for you, then,” Allie teased as Hudson filled the wineglasses.

“So where are you supposed to be tonight?” Nick asked.

“St. Louis,” Harper said, digging into the sweet potatoes and scooping up extra marshmallows.

“Is that where you grew up?” Nick asked. He’d loaded his plate with protein and the sum of a teaspoon of veggies.

“Yeah. Allie told me you guys grew up in Michigan. What part?”

Nick halted the spoon midscoop in the stuffing and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Um, yeah, we moved around a lot.”

“Northern peninsula, mostly,” Hudson interjected. Nick’s discomfort mirrored his own. Their past was a closed subject as far as he was concerned. Needing a change, he switched gears to a safer topic. “So tell me, Harper, what sort of celebration is going on in St. Louis tonight?”

“Oh jeez, let’s see.” Harper heaped another spoonful of potatoes on her plate and it dipped from the added weight. “Well, my mom for sure made a big bowl of her famous eggnog, the one Aunt Sue swears doesn’t affect her even though she’ll start singing show tunes on the way to midnight mass. My nieces and nephews are probably so amped up on cookies and candy canes by now that if we open the window we can probably hear my sister yelling about Santa’s hotline all the way from here.” Harper set her plate down and glanced at her watch. “And in about an hour Uncle Eddie will be passed out on the couch watching It’s a Wonderful Life with his hand tucked into the waistband of his pants.”