Christmas With My
Grandparents
By Lyn Horner
When I was a little girl up in Minnesota, we always gathered for Christmas with
my mother’s relations at my grandparents’ house. They lived in Montgomery, a
small town about fifty miles southwest of Minneapolis,
where my folks and I lived. It could be a tricky drive over sometimes icy
roads, but my dad always got us there safely. And none too soon for me! I loved
seeing my aunts, uncles and cousins, and especially Grandma and Grandpa.
Their house was small, only two bedrooms, a living room,
kitchen and bathroom. We kids took over one bedroom where we played. The
menfolk sat in the living room, gabbing often in Bohemian (a form of Czech),
which irritated my dad. See, he was from Texas
and didn’t understand a word of their lingo, but they somehow got along.
Mama, her three sisters and Grandma ruled the kitchen. The
aroma of roasting chicken, duck or goose filled the whole house, mingled with
the yummy scent of Grandma’s homemade rolls and kolaches. Uh, that’s pronounced
ko-lach-kee in Bohemian. At least it was by my relatives.
Much to my regret, I don’t have my grandmother’s kolache
recipe, but you can find a good one from the Little Czech Bakery in West, Texas (a town settled by
Czech immigrants) in this Texas Monthly article.
http://www.texasmonthly.com/food/kolaches/
The one big difference between that recipe and my
grandmother’s is that she didn’t top the individual portions of dough with
fruits and crumbles and bake them open-faced. She rolled out the dough, cut it
into squares (I’m guessing 2-3 inches across) and dropped a teaspoon of fruit
or poppy seed filling onto each. Then she wrapped the corners of each square
together over the filling, brushed the tops with a little butter and baked. Oh,
were they delicious!
By the time we headed home in early evening, I was stuffed
from the feast, delighted with my Christmas gifts and tired but happy after
playing with my cousins. We probably didn’t get ten miles before I fell asleep
in the back seat. Those were the days!
The
Perfect Gift, my Christmas novella, also brings a family together.
It’s Christmas 1885 and everyone comes to celebrate at the River T ranch. The
day promises a feast and fellowship for all, but surprises lie ahead.
This novella is included in the western historical anthology
Silver
Belles and Stetsons
Blurb
Nora Taylor adores Vittorio
Medina. He’s been her best friend all of her young life, but now she wants more
than friendship from him. She’s too young, he insists while fighting his own
growing feelings for her. Besides, she is the boss’s daughter. He’s just a poor
cowboy of Mexican blood. They can never be together.
Although Nora refuses to accept what Vittorio says, she’s
afraid he will go off and marry someone else before she is old enough to fight
for his love. This Christmas threatens to bring her more pain than joy. Or will
an unexpected gift offer hope for the future?
Excerpt
Nora stood on
the front porch watching for riders. Goshdarn! What was taking Mr. and Mrs.
Crawford so long? Uncle Tye and Auntie Lil had come early to help Mama and
Daddy get ready. Lil’s parents were to come later with their men, but surely
they ought to be here by now. What if something had happened to prevent them
from coming?
No! Don’t even think that! They have to
come, they just have to!
Smoothing the
front of her Mother Hubbard, a short, baggy little girl’s dress she hated, she
wished for a grown-up gown, but Mama had decreed she couldn’t start dressing
like a woman until she turned fourteen. At least this Hubbard was made of
pretty pink calico printed with sprigs of white flowers, and she liked the
ruffled shoulders and neck. The color set off her black hair, which Mama had
helped her put up, and her black stockings and high tops. She hoped Vito would
approve.
She stuffed her
hands into deep side pocket and glanced at her brothers and cousins. She’d
shooed the four boys outside so Grandda Seamus could nap in his favorite chair
in the parlor. Together with Maria’s younger children, they were playing ring
taw, a game she’d once loved but now considered babyish. Crouched around a
circle drawn in the dirt, they took turns shooting marbles, trying to knock
each other’s marbles out of a small inner circle. Her brother Reece, less than
two years younger than her, was winning judging by the pile of marbles he’d
collected. Not surprised, Nora scowled, remembering how many marbles the little
fiend had won from her and their baby brother Seamus in the past.
A faint
thudding sound caught her ear. Shading her eyes, she spotted a cloud of dust in
the distance. Then she made out a buckboard and horsemen. Finally! The expected
company was almost here. Heart thumping wildly, she whirled and ran inside to
alert her parents.
“Mama! Daddy!
The Crawfords are coming,” she yelled, forgetting about her napping
grandfather. At his grumble of complaint, she said, “Sorry, Grandda.”
Aunt Lil
stepped out of the kitchen holding a large bowl and spoon just as Mama walked
in the back door.
“Are they
here?” both women asked.
“Not yet but
almost. Should I tell Maria?”
Her mother
nodded. “Aye, and your father and uncle. Lil, let’s greet your folks outside.”
“Right, you go
ahead. I’ll set the cornbread on the stove and be right out.”
Nora was
already dashing for the courtyard. “The Crawfords are almost here,” she announced
to her father and uncle as she raced toward the cookhouse.
“What’s your
hurry?” her father called.
“I have to tell
Maria that Vittorio’s coming.”
Hearing the two
men chuckle, she tore into the steamy little building. “Maria, Vittorio’s
nearly here!”
“Sí, I heard you, niña,” the cook said with a broad smile. Tall and rather plump,
with gray-streaked black hair, Maria was one of Nora’s favorite people. She was
kind and good-natured and always ready with a tasty snack for all the children.
And she was Vittorio’s madrecita,
making her special.
Setting aside
the huge kettle of gravy she’d been stirring, Maria mopped her sweaty face with
her red-checked gingham apron – only worn on Christmas – and motioned for Nora
to lead the way. “Let us go and welcome my son.”
Silver Belles and Stetsons
Ten Western Romance Christmas Novellas
Available as a boxed set for a limited time
Bestselling and Award-Winning Authors bring you ten western romance novellas
featuring alpha-cowboys from the past. This boxed set will take you back in
time when men were rugged and handsome and the women who loved them, courageous
and daring.
The
Greatest Gift: A Montana
Cowboy Christmas by Kathleen
Ball. Amazon Bestselling and Award-Winning Author. Looking for the man who ran
out on her, Ginger finds a cowboy worthy of love but he doesn't want or need
love.
Catherine’s Cowboy by Cait Braxton,
Amazon Bestselling and Award-Winning Author. During a supernatural dust
storm, Fate steps in when rugged army tracker, Elam, helps Catherine deliver her
child.
Stone Mountain Christmas by Caroline
Clemmons, Amazon Bestselling and Award-Winning Author. Can
Celia restore the town's Christmas spirit? "A beautifully written story
about love and hope and all the emotions Christmas brings out in people."
Karren Lucas
Angel and the Texan from County Cork
by Carra Copelin. Amazon Bestselling and Award-Winning Author. Does Angel
trust marriage to the man she suspects of killing her husband or the stranger
who promises to pay off her debt and set her free if she decides their marriage
of convenience won’t work?
The Drifter’s Proposal by Kristin
Holt, Amazon Bestselling Author. The baker's man is home for Christmas...
"Compelling. Heartwarming. Tender." ~Diane Darcy, USA
Today Bestselling Author
The
Perfect Gift by Lyn
Horner. Friendship has blossomed into young love, but it seems destined to die
on the vine...until an unexpected Christmas gift promises happiness.
Marshal
Mistletoe by Susan Horsnell. She married the wrong man. Will fate
intervene?
Christmas Redemption by Paty Jager,
Amazon Bestselling and Award-Winning Author. Can two battered hearts find
solace or will the past continue to haunt their lives? "A story of
forgiveness that has a wonderful hero who has worked hard to redeem
himself."
A Hard Candy Christmas by Hebby
Roman, Amazon Bestselling Author. Two damaged souls. Can their budding love and
the healing power of Christmas bring them together?
Cowboy Christmas by Margaret Tanner.
Will a miracle Christmas baby unite two tortured souls, or will it forever keep
them apart?
Award-winning author Lyn Horner resides in Fort Worth, Texas
– “Where the West Begins” – with her husband and several very spoiled cats.
Trained in the visual arts, Lyn worked as a fashion illustrator and art
instructor before she took up writing. She loves crafting passionate love
stories, both historical and contemporary. Lyn also enjoys reading, gardening,
visiting with family and friends, and cuddling her furry, four-legged children.
The author’s Texas
Devlins series blends authentic Old West settings, steamy romance and a
glimmer of the mysterious. This series has earned multiple awards and nominations,
including Crowned Heart reviews and a Rone Award nomination from InD’Tale Magazine. Lyn is also a
contributor to Rawhide ’n Roses, a Western Romance Anthology,
which finaled in the 2015 RONE Awards.
Jumping from the American Old West to the present time, Lyn
is now hard at work on her romantic suspense series, Romancing the Guardians. These books combine her trademark flashes
of psychic phenomena with Irish folklore and a chilling apocalyptic theme.
Along the way, readers are treated to thunderous action, terrifying suspense
and sizzling romance.
Lyn invites you to visit her on these sites:
Pioneer
Hearts (a Facebook group for western romance readers & authors)
