Page 32 of Lonesome Moon

“Looks good, you two,” Stella said. “Now we’re ready to use the cookie cutters to make shapes.”

Stella slid a box full of them across the table. Stars. Christmas trees. Santas. Gingerbread boys. And, of course, crescent moons.

Feeling like a kid, I reached for a star, then pressed it into my dough. Luci chose a crescent moon first, then followed up with a Santa hat. Soon enough, we had two full baking sheets.

“These have to chill before we put them in the oven,” Stella said. “When you roll and cut dough, the butter in it softens from the warmth of your hands, the counter, and all the handling. If you bake it while the butter’s soft, the cookies spread in the oven. Chilling firms the butter back up, so the shapes stay sharp and recognizable when they bake. I didn’t know this when the boys were little. It took Caspian’s obsession with cooking to educate me. Before that, they always came out all disfigured. Terrible thing to do to a cookie.”

“Did he always want to be a chef?” Luci asked.

“Oh, yes. Since the time he was a small boy. It was a little unexpected, frankly, to see my rough and tumble little boy at the stove in my apron, happy as could be. And in the next moment, he’d be racing his brother to the river to fish, worms stuffed in his pockets.”

“It must have been hectic, all those boys in the same house,” Luci said.

“In the best ways, yes.” Stella sighed, glancing toward the window. “I miss those days. Now my little boys are grown men. I’m proud of each one of them, though. They’re good people, and that’s the most important thing. And they’ve made me a grandmother, so I really can’t complain.”

While the trays chilled, Stella told us more about the history of the ranch and how she’d been afraid she would lose it to the bank after her first husband left her and then died unexpectedly. “Now, I’ll tell you about my first husband, and God forgive me for speaking ill of the dead, but the truth is—he was a bad person. Cheated. Lied. You name it and he did it. One morning he just up and left me. Five little boys. A ranch that needed more than just me running it. But I’ll tell you, the worst thing that ever happened to me was also the best. Because I met Jasper. He’d just moved to town and worked at the bank. First time I met him, I thought, this boy won’t last a winter here. He’ll be running back to the city. But he didn’t. Instead, he stayed and became the husband and father to my boys that I’d spent a lot of nights praying for.”

“I thought he was their biological dad,” Luci said.

“No, he adopted them once we were married. Told me there was no other choice than to follow his fate. Crescent Moon Ranch must have called to him from way out in California. He always says it was meant to be. Him with the last name of Moon and me owning Crescent Moon Ranch.”

“That’s kind of amazing,” Luci said. “When did you turn the ranch into a lodge?”

“Well, I was about to lose the place and Atticus, he’s my oldest.” She lowered her voice. “Don’t tell the others, but he’s the smartest of all of them. Genius, actually. For real. Tested and everything. Anyway, he had the idea to turn this into a dude ranch for visitors. Best decision I ever made. Now we all pitch in to run it and we try and give folks as much joy as we can when they come here to unplug. They start noticing things they don’t when their heads are in their phones. Nothing’s better than seeing that.”

“Were you surprised when Ivy called about renting the place for her wedding?” Luci asked.

“Gosh, yes. Thad took the call and he said he thought it was a prank phone call at first but then Ivy sang a line or two for him to prove who she was. You should have seen us when he told us at dinner that Ivy James and Jack Wilder wanted to get married here and rent the whole ranch out for the month of December. There’s never been as much hooting’ and hollerin’ as there was that night. We’re all big fans, for one. For two, winter months can be rough for us financially. This wedding’s made our whole year. Probably the next one too.”

By this time, the sheets of cookies were chilled sufficiently. Stella asked me to put them in the oven, which I did.

Soon, the kitchen smelled of butter and sugar, making my mouth water.

When they came out, I snatched one right off the pan and took a big bite, burning my mouth. I spit it out in my hand. “Hot. Very hot.”

“You’re supposed to let them cool,” Luci said, laughing.

Stella swatted my hand when I reached for another. “Paws off, young man. These are for decorating.”

“How long until we get to paint them?” Luci asked.

“Quite a while, actually,” Stella said as she started transferring them, one by one, onto the cooling rack. “They have to be nice and cool before you put the frosting on or it’ll melt clean off. Usually thirty minutes.”

“That’s so long,” I said. “What do we do now?”

Luci and Stella laughed.

“Don’t you worry,” Stella said. “I have something for you to do while we wait.”

“What is it?” I asked, almost cringing at the childlike excitement in my voice.

“Making our famous Moon family hot cocoa,” Stella said. “To sip while we wait.”

“This is the best day of my life,” I said.

“This is Jasper’s recipe. His mother made it after watching that movie with the chocolatier. What’s it called?” Stella asked, already reaching for a saucepan.

“Chocolat,” Luci said. “I love that one. So romantic.”