CHAPTER 100 CHRISTMAS EVE MAGIC

It was a homely smell of gingerbread cookies that was still baked and the faint smell of pine from the Christmas tree placed in the corner of the living room. The atmosphere was so charged with expectancy – that kind of expectation that comes only with Christmas eve. Out there, snow was on the ground, the sky was clear, blue and the night was going to be starry. Jenna was in the kitchen; she was putting the last of the cookies that came out of the oven into the cooling tray. She had just come in from the oven; therefore her cheeks were red, hair a little unkempt but there was happiness in her eyes as she scanned the kitchen. Every table, every surface was dusted with flour and the counters were piled high with bowls and spoons that had been dipped in the batter, proof positive that Lily and Jack had been helping bake all day. She looked at the clock and realized that it was high time for the Christmas Eve dinner which they always had. Ryan was in the living room with the kids prepa