Emily was awoken at an hour that, in her opinion, was not just ungodly, but downright satanic. Not only was she horrifically jetlagged, but she was essentially being thrown to the wolves that day as she had no choice but to jump right into the running of the ranch if she wanted everything to be perfect for any prospective buyers.

"You're really not a morning person, are you?" Alex asked with mirth in her voice as Emily trudged into the kitchen in search of coffee. Thankfully, Alex had already prepared her a cup and Emily eagerly accepted it, immediately guzzling it. Taking that to be her answer, Alex proceeded to ask, "Are you ready for your first day of Christmas festivities?"

Emily answered with an unenthused grunt.

"You'll have to do better than that," Alex insisted, "Today isn't just a regular day at the ranch."

That sufficiently grabbed her attention. "Oh?" she asked.

Alex nodded. "Every year, your father chose a cause to raise money for and on the first day of the season, he invited people affected by the issue to come enjoy the ranch for free."

Emily blanched at that. She'd never been all that good at this – at being tactful. Ever since she'd been young, she'd had a reputation for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Either not noticing Emily's sudden alarm or choosing not to draw attention to it, Alex continued, "This year's cause is Huntington's Disease Awareness. A few years ago, Derek's wife, Savannah, died from Huntington's, but your father wanted to wait until Hank was old enough to understand to hold the event.

Emily nodded slowly, even though her stomach sank even deeper.

Emily ducked into the barn to get away from the crowd of people and the cold, not really feeling up to dealing with either. She'd expected to have total solitude, but when the door groaned shut, a little head ducked down from the hayloft. "Miss Emily!" Ethan greeted brightly.

"Ethan?" she said, surprised. "What are you doing in here?"

He shrugged, then offered her a gap-toothed grin. "Hiding," he said matter-of-factly.

She gave a snort of laughter in agreement. "Your mom said you love to help," she pointed out.

"She makes me dress up like an elf," he said with a pout.

"I can see how that would be annoying," she agreed.

He nodded solemnly. Then, he brightened. "Want to come pet the kittens?" he asked.

And, since petting barn cats was a much more tempting prospect than facing the guests, she climbed the ladder into the loft. There were five black and white kittens playing among the hay and a sixth one fast asleep.

Ethan immediately scooped up one of the awake kittens and plopped it in her lap. "That's Magneto," he informed her. "He's the biggest kitten and he thinks he's the boss."

Emily raised a brow. "Magneto?" she repeated.

He nodded. "Mom names all the barn cats," he said, "She usually names them after book characters, but she really likes X-Men."

Emily smiled to herself as she attempted to keep Magneto from shredding her wool coat. "Do you like living on the ranch?" she asked at length, surprising herself with the question.

He nodded enthusiastically. "I love it!" he declared. "It's so much fun – I'm the only kid at school who gets to play with horses all the time!"

"That is pretty cool," she agreed, remembering how jealous other kids used to be when she was in school.

A moment passed, then Ethan seemed to pluck up the courage to ask, "Miss Emily? Are you going to sell the ranch?"

She raised a brow, surprised – both that he knew and that he was candid enough to actually ask. "I don't know, Ethan," she said and if it was a lie, it was just a white one. "I might. It's a lot of work to run a place like this and I live in London." She offered an apologetic smile.

He nodded solemnly as if he understood completely. He was silent for a few moments, then said, "But not before Christmas, right?" When she shot him a quizzical look, he shrugged, admitted in a mumble, "'Cause this is where Santa knows to find me."

With a smile to herself, Emily agreed, "I'll wait until after Christmas."

Their conversation was interrupted then by the barn door creaking open, followed by Alex's voice floating up to the loft, "Ethan? Ethan! You're supposed to be helping me in the kitchen..."

Ethan's expression turned to a look of guilt, followed by a dramatic sigh.

Suddenly feeling a burst of fondness for the boy, Emily climbed down the ladder first, Magneto still clinging to her. "I'm sorry, Alex, it's my fault. I asked Ethan to show me a good place to hide."

Judging by the way Alex raised a brow at the excuse, she didn't entirely buy her lie, but she didn't call her out on it either. "I was wondering where you'd gotten to," she said. "I could use an extra set of hands in the kitchen, if you're looking to get away from the cold."

Emily offered her a grateful smile. "I should warn you... I kind of have a reputation as being a spectacularly awful cook."

Alex just laughed. "Well, in that case, I'll keep you away from the ovens. You can help Ethan decorate the cookies."

"Did I mention I'm also a terrible artist?"

She just rolled her eyes, albeit playfully. "Your alternative is helping Derek by mucking the stalls..." she said teasingly.

Emily frowned. "How hard can it be to decorate a cookie?" she said.

Ethan followed her down the ladder then. Under his breath, he answered her question by saying, "You'll regret saying that..."

The two women shared a grin at that as they started towards the kitchen.

"Aren't you leaving the kitten here?" Alex asked with a nod towards the fuzzy ball in Emily's arm.

As if she'd forgotten he was there, she glanced down at Magneto and shrugged. "I think I'll keep him," she said with a faint smile.