The quick hug she gave him was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. Tessa stood just behind Ian as he opened the front door to greet their guests, and couldn’t hold back a delighted squeal of surprise as she recognized four out of the six visitors who walked inside.

“Tessa, it’s so lovely to see you again, dear,” greeted Natalie Benoit, the mother of Tessa’s closest friend Julia.

Tessa gave her a fond hug, before turning to greet Julia’s father Robert, her twin sister Lauren, and then Madelyn.

The two male guests that she hadn’t recognized turned out to be Ben Rafferty, Lauren’s husband of barely a month, and James Butterfield, Madelyn’s fiancé.

As Ian passed around champagne to everyone, Natalie linked arms companionably with Tessa as she explained how she, Robert, and the twins had spent nearly every Thanksgiving over the past twenty odd years here in New York with Madelyn. Julia, as a newly married woman herself, was spending the Thanksgiving holiday in Michigan with Nathan’s family this year and wouldn’t be joining them.

“When Ian spoke to Maddy a couple of weeks ago to set up your appointment at the store, he mentioned that the two of you would be spending Thanksgiving here in New York, too. Initially we were all going to have dinner out at a restaurant, but then Ian offered to host the meal here, which was so, so kind of him,” gushed Natalie. “Not quite the same thing as having a home cooked meal, but much nicer than eating in a big, noisy restaurant. And how beautiful everything is!”

Tessa showed the three women around the suite, with only Lauren failing to be overly impressed by the lavish furnishings and decorations. But she wouldn’t have expected Julia’s sister to gush over that sort of thing, given that she and Ben lived in a rustic cabin on the wild California coast when they weren’t flying around the globe on assignments for the travel magazine they worked for.

But Lauren wound up being on her best behavior during the elaborate meal, even helping Tessa to serve the food and clear away plates in between courses. And Tessa couldn’t recall very many occasions when she had enjoyed a meal more, or when she’d actually felt like part of a family. She didn’t know Julia’s parents or aunt all that well, but they went out of their way to engage her in conversation. Not surprisingly, the vivacious, outspoken Lauren had the floor for a good part of the evening, but she did an exemplary job of keeping everyone entertained with stories about some of her and Ben’s most recent travels.

Ian slipped into the kitchen to help her serve the desserts, and she couldn’t resist giving him a fierce hug, not caring a whit if their guests could see them or not.

He smiled down at her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “And what was that for? Not, of course, that you ever need an excuse to touch me.”

“Thank you,” she whispered fiercely, caressing his darkly stubbled cheek. “For inviting Julia’s family here tonight. And for making this the nicest Thanksgiving I’ve ever had. I - well, as you can imagine, I’ve never had any sort of real family gatherings like this before. This was the first time in my life I’ve really enjoyed a holiday. It was a wonderful thing for you to do, Ian.”

He kissed her softly. “Always happy to oblige, darling,” he murmured. “And this is just the beginning. Wait until I unleash all of my relatives on you this Christmas. You might regret wishing for a big family gathering.”

Whatever Tessa was going to say next was interrupted by Lauren’s very loud voice from the dining room.

“Hey, are you two actually bringing out pie, or did you just want an excuse to make out in there?”

Tessa and Ian exchanged a rather embarrassed glance before hastily returning to the dining room, each carrying a pie, and determinedly ignoring the knowing look Lauren sent their way.

Chapter Six

December

The smell of sugar assailed Ian’s senses as he walked through the front door, and even from the entryway he could hear two female voices giggling together happily. He recalled now that Julia was here, helping Tessa with the baking and other preparations for the dinner party that they were hosting tomorrow night. And from the looks of the festive holiday decorations that filled the entry way and several other adjoining rooms, Tessa had taken him up on his suggestion that she decorate the house for Christmas any way she liked. Wreaths, garlands, candles, gilded reindeer, and a stuffed Snoopy dressed like Santa Claus - a whimsical gift he’d bought her in New York - were among the numerous holiday trimmings that covered nearly every available surface. Ian was grateful to observe that everything at least was tasteful and classic, except perhaps for those glittery reindeer, and knew that Julia had likely helped Tessa select most of the decorations. She did, after all, have a great many contacts, being an interior designer by trade, and would have known exactly what little shops and showrooms to go to for the best selection of goods.

The towering Christmas tree that dominated the foyer, however, had been something he’d chosen personally. He and Tessa had spent a good hour combing the tree lot until he’d declared that this was the perfect one. She had been more than happy to go along with his wishes, and the eight foot Noble fir had been delivered and set in its stand by a tree lot employee. They had spent a very enjoyable evening stringing lights and hanging ornaments, though Tessa had fretted a bit because they didn’t have very many of the latter.

At his encouragement, she’d begun to collect Christmas ornaments from each city they visited on their business trips, but they weren’t nearly enough to fill up the gigantic tree. She’d been oddly reluctant, though, to just go out and purchase boxes of generic ornaments to fill up the tree.

“This might sound silly,” she’d told him uncertainly, “but, well, I’d prefer that each ornament we hang on the tree actually mean something to us. You know, like a memento from our travels or some other important occasion. I realize it will take longer to fill the tree up that way, but - do you mind?”

“Of course not,” he’d assured her gently. “And I think it’s a lovely idea. I’ll just have to make sure there are plenty of special occasions to commemorate, won’t I?”

Tessa had been delighted, though, to receive a small box from Joanna that included several old family ornaments that had originally belonged to Ian’s grandmother. She, of course, had nothing of her own, especially since her mother had disliked celebrating Christmas, and had refused to put up a tree or other decorations.