I'll Be Home for Christmas

It’s Christmas time, and the entire Thornton clan is spending the holidays in a cabin deep in the Washington woods.

What could go wrong with twelve adults, four kids, and a dog all staying together in one big cabin?

Only the most chaotic—and memorable—Christmas ever!

Expect kisses under the mistletoe, lots of (spiked) eggnog, and even a surprise wedding as the Thornton clan celebrates the most romantic holiday of all.

Author’s Note: I’ll Be Home for Christmas is set six months after the last book, Till There Was You, ends. It’s recommended that you read the other books first, as this novella is an epilogue to the entire series. Merry Christmas and happy reading!

Harrison & Sara


The idea had been Harrison’s, and once Caleb had gotten on board, the rest of the family had followed. Harrison wanted all of the Thornton siblings, their spouses and significant others, and their children to rent a cabin near the Cascades during Christmas.


As Sara Thornton, formerly Flannigan, watched her husband and the rest of the Thornton clan bustle inside the huge cabin, she wondered how great of an idea this really was. Nothing like putting a bunch of people together in a cabin to create some chaos, she thought wryly.


The cabin could house up to fifteen people, with seven bedrooms and four bathrooms, a huge living room and kitchen, and a hot tub out back. Constructed solely out of pine, it resembled a log cabin you’d imagine one of the pioneers living in centuries ago—if you didn’t include the indoor plumbing and central heating.

Although it hadn’t gotten dark yet, someone had already turned on the outdoor Christmas lights, the colors twinkling merrily.
The selling point was that it had enough rooms for each couple and one more for the kids.

James, Sara’s son, hadn’t been pleased that he had to sleep in the same room as the little ones, but when Sara had promised him he could help Harrison and the guys cut down a Christmas tree, he’d gotten over his disappointment with his rooming situation quickly. James also enjoyed looking after the babies, no matter how much he tried to act otherwise.


Sara couldn’t help but smile as she inhaled the scent of evergreens. She’d never been in the woods like this. She’d grown up poor, her family having had to make do with cheap artificial Christmas trees strung with popcorn.


“Mom, Mom!” James scampered up to her, his cheeks rosy.

At almost ten years old, James was growing so much that soon he would be taller than his mother. He shared her blue eyes, although Sara preferred to blame his sauciness on her ex-husband, James’s father.


“Mom, there’s a bird stuck in the chimney!” His eyes widened. “Uncle Caleb is trying to get it out.”


“That’s great. Where’s your brother?” Sara and Harrison’s son, Bennett, now ten months old, was just starting to become mobile, and Sara had asked James to watch him while the adults got their suitcases out of all of the cars.


“He’s with—um. Aunt Lizzie? I think?”


Before Sara could grill James about Bennett’s whereabouts, James scampered off again after Caleb shouted something unsavory from the nearby living room.


Along with Harrison, his five other siblings were also staying at the cabin: Caleb, with his wife, Megan, and their infant daughter, Evie; Mark, with his wife, Abby; Lizzie, with her husband, Trent, and their toddler, Bea; Seth, with his girlfriend, Rose; and Jubilee, with her fiancé, Heath.


Sara found Bennett in the living room and scooped him up, kissing him on his chubby cheeks. She couldn’t believe her baby would be a year old in just two months. Where had the time gone?

Bennett giggled when Sara kissed him again before wiggling to get down. He’d been lifting himself up lately and, with the help of his parents, had walked some. Sara definitely wasn’t ready for her baby boy to be running all over the place yet.


“Where’s the broom?” Caleb asked as he crouched under the chimney, Harrison and Mark close by. “We need to get this damn bird out. Otherwise it’s going to get roasted for tonight’s dinner.”


“You could smoke it out,” said Mark, his voice low and rumbling. “Not sure a broom would help.”


“I think if you light a fire, it’ll fly out,” said Harrison as he peered up into the chimney. “Then again, it might just catch on fire.”


“Please don’t set the cabin on fire,” said Sara. She caught Harrison’s gaze and smiled. “I’m going up to our room. Bennett needs to take a nap.”


Harrison smiled back, and Sara couldn’t help the flutter in her chest at the sight. Even after two and a half years of marriage, Harrison still managed to make her giddy.