For Grant this was a nightmare situation, but he could take his men and if they split up two men with each person it could be doable. He’d call Justin and see what his opinion on the mall was. If he needed more men Justin would supply them.
Angel looked at Damon and asked, “Did you get in touch with the Dean at the school?” Damon nodded and said, “He’ll meet with you after the Christmas Holidays are over with.” Angel nodded then turned to Kaleb and said, “Go get Louisa; I’m sure she’ll want to get her brother something for Christmas and the girl needs some things for herself.” When she entered her house, she saw her grandmother, Maria, and Katherine unpacking the gift wrapped, items she’d bought for Christmas, they were placing them under the tree. She realized there was quite a bit under the tree already.
She asked to speak with her grandmother and brought her into the office and asked her “I want to give Christmas bonus to the employees, but not sure what would be appropriate.” She listened as her grandmother talked to her, she told her that Cody, Kyle, people on the payroll who were in more demanding jobs got the larger bonus, and those who were the hands got less. Her grandmother told her to get with Hannah and have her bring checks out from the account. It would be based on their employment level.
Twenty minutes she was only mildly surprised that her father, Damon, and her grandmother were joining them on their shopping trip. When they got in the SUV’s she turned to the boys and asked, “Did you bring your ID and your Debit cards?” They both nodded and indicated their wallets were in their back pockets. She noted Louisa looked nervous, she imagined she wondered what she was doing along for the ride.
Her grandmother was going to help her find the things Louisa would need for school at Huntington Academy. She was hoping her brothers showed some moderation in their spending and didn’t go crazy. Just because they had it didn’t mean they had to spend it all. But then again, she’d gone crazy for this Christmas as it was their first as a family.
She had pulled her grandmother aside earlier and given her another job. She wanted her to arrange for there to be a proper Christmas dinner on Christmas day. Her grandmother had said she could find a chef who would come in and fix the meal for them. She informed her grandmother all the hands and their families would be invited for Christmas dinner. Her grandmother had told her that whoever catered would need to know the number of people. She’d call a party planner as well. She’d told her that the get together she was going to plan could just be the Christmas Dinner. They didn’t have long just twenty-four hours to get it all pulled together the dinner would be Christmas day.
When everyone separated the first place she headed was to the bank in the mall and got a visa gift card for Louisa, she had the bank load five hundred dollars on it then turned to Louisa and said “This will be an allowance of sorts. You get good grades and every month I’ll load that amount for you on the card.” Louisa was shocked, she would have never asked Angel for anything.
But she would make her proud, no matter what. They quickly got Louisa’s clothing for school and outside school out of the way. Then Louisa went off with Jason who was one of Justin’s men to do some shopping of her own. By the time two hours had passed she had already been to more stores than she could remember. She had stopped at the booths in the mall the local high schools sponsored to have them wrap all the gifts. Two trips had already been made to the vehicle to place both her and her grandmother’s things inside.
When she met up with the others at the prescribed time at the food court, she wasn't surprised to see a crowd of teenage girls talking to her brothers. When she joined her father, and the others her father arched his brow and nodded towards the boys and said, “Clearly their ladies’ men.” Which Angel laughed and replied, “They’re going to break many a heart for sure.”
She looked up again when she heard Jackson yell “Hey Louisa, over here.” Angel didn't miss the looks on the other girls around her brothers faces, Jackson singling out Louisa had infuriated a few. She knew her brothers well enough to know if anyone insulted Louisa there would be hell to pay. She made it to the group about the time the oldest girl made to open her mouth. Angel saying, “Don't and let’s just say you did.” To which the girl looked clearly annoyed, and responded “And, you are?” she was clearly spoiling for a fight. Her tone of voice had both boys and Louisa drawing up. Angel replied, “More than you can handle.” at the same time her brothers said in unison “Our sister.” But it wasn't Angel's response that drew the girls’ attention, no it was the glacial tone of both boys’ voices. The girl was blinking up at them as if she had never seen them before.
Angel asked calmly “Did you get everything you needed boys?” at their nods and Louisa's she said “Good, the air in here is stifling, let's find an environment more conducive to eating to go enjoy a meal.” By the time she reached her father and the others, her grandmother informed her that she had reserved the banquet room at Angelo's for them.
Angel was only mildly surprised to, actually be greeted at the host stand by Angelo himself. He took in the party with her with a nod and said he would make sure everything made it to them perfectly. She could tell Louisa was a bit out of her element and so were the boys. But, once they cleared the dining room into the private banquet room, they relaxed again. Their lunch went off without a hitch, it was a bit late for a lunch true, but it was still their lunch. She watched the boys interact with her grandmother, she loved that Belle showed no partiality between her and the boys. She seemed to love them just as much as she did Angel. But she could see the undertone of sadness in her grandmother as well.
Her grandmother had never left her grandfather before. She knew the separation was breaking her heart. But it wasn't a problem she could fix. Jamison would have to fix it himself, by apologizing and promising, to never do it again. He would have to accept the boys too.
It was nearly three in the afternoon before they made it home. It took several trips to get everything inside. And several more trips to get all of Louisa's new things to her home. She could tell from the look on his face how touched Enrique was that his sister was being taken care of. Angel herself knew all about being in that place he was in.
There had been so many children back where she’d come from who had done without. Antonio, tried to help them, but he had limited means. It was one of the many reasons she had Hannah look into making what Antonio did into a non-profit outreach program legally. She wanted to help find a building she could donate to the cause and donate money for the upkeep. So, he could reach out to more children and help them reach for the stars. She had even talked to him about sponsoring a scholarship; actually, she was going to give away five ten-thousand, dollar scholarships a year. If a particularly bright student came thru, she would consider paying for their full tuition. She wanted to give back and pay it forward so that others could reach their potential and do the same.
She stood still for a minute just taking in the semi-organized chaos around her. She realized her father and Grant were right she had rushed in and committed herself to more than she could do on her own. She was going to need help. She had a committed and faithful family and as hurt and discouraged as she was by the actions of some of her grandparents after having lived without them for so many years. She realized she couldn’t completely cut them out of her life. She pulled her father aside and told him what she had decided. She was going to call a family meeting at a neutral location, and everyone was going to sit down and listen to what she had to say and what her brothers wanted to say. Hunter assured her he would set it all up.
She went to talk to her grandmother, she found Belle putting her things away. She informed her of what she’d decided and then said “I’m by no means saying you aren’t welcome here. You are more than welcome for as long as your anger stands. But the life I’ve led has made me realize one thing most importantly. That family is family, you may fall out. You may not see eye to eye, but you never turn your back on them. So that being said, “there will be a family meeting tonight and every member will be there, I’m going to set a few things straight.” Belle watched as her granddaughter left the room and she was humbled by the purity of her granddaughter’s heart.
She had seen her give and give to the point of exhaustion on her part, yet she still made time for her family. She knew Angel would be the best role model and example for the boys. If they became half the individual their sister was, they’d be unbelievably good men. Someday somewhere there was going to be a man and two women in their futures, and she only hoped and prayed that whoever they were they deserved the gifts that would be put in their lives.
She shook herself from her thoughts and got back to her party planning, she had called Angelo because she knew he would be off for Christmas to ask for his recommendation of a chef for the holiday party or a particular caterer. Angelo had insisted that he would himself do the cooking. She knew that Angelo’s wife had passed on nearly ten years ago and he had no children. She rather fancied he thought of Angel as his surrogate. He explained he had some staff members who could use the extra money. And he would be able to prepare majority of the food at the restaurants’ kitchen. He told her everything would be perfect she would let him know that the party would be held out of doors under a tent, and he had assured her that would be fine. The party planner had already arrived and was marking off the areas she’d need to place the tent and other equipment. Other than that, everything seemed mostly normal around the Wild Creek Ranch.
Angel herself was in her office on the phone with Hannah about Christmas bonuses. Hannah had gotten with the accountant and told her that they had figured out what would be appropriate bonuses based on level of employment. She’d assured Angel she’d have the checks delivered before six that evening.
This left Angel to talk to her brothers, when she approached them and told them about the family meeting, they were hesitant to say the least. She understood that hesitation because they were afraid of being uprooted from where they felt safe. She told them simply “At the meeting be sure to make your feelings known.” Don’t hold back, be respectful but let them know where you stand. If you want to continue being here with me, you’re always welcome. But if you feel you’d have a better life with our grandparents I won’t hold it against you. Jackson looked at her closely and replied, “We are where we want to be.” To which Kaleb nodded his head, Angel smiled and told them they’d have to be ready by seven which was when they would be leaving.