It didn't look like it was going to be a white Christmas in Paradise. The sun shone brightly over the valley and although the nights had chilled somewhat, the climate had remained arid. Still the people who lived in this boom and bust town celebrated the holiday in great spirit, decorating the pines and oak trees and the merchants painting their windows in their storefronts.

School let out a week earlier and most of the kids spent their days working on ranches and shops rather than playing. Some of the merchants hired them to deliver packages in the valley for them during holiday seasons.

Other families had left Paradise during its most recent bust. After the bank had been put up for sale yet again, it took four months to find a permanent buyer. Amelia had stepped back into running it while it still remained in limbo. It hadn't helped that the previous owners had just abandoned it in the middle of the night.

Sounded familiar to her seeing as that's what had happened with her ex husband Pierce. She'd woken up one morning in their house and he'd just taken off. Not even leaving a note behind, or any sign that he'd been alive and well. But then again, no bodies dismembered or otherwise had turned up either. So even as she sat in the swing on the porch in shock for an hour or so as the sun rose over the mountains, she'd known he was probably out there somewhere alive.

If she'd had any idea where he'd gone, she'd have tracked him down herself and dealt with him. Maybe even killed him….as she'd been raised a crack shot but instead she sat there thinking.

Her mind always in the mode of trying to figure out what to do in a crisis and her husband disappearing on her was a crisis at least for a while. She remembered that's when she'd seen the gunslinger who had a place in town but spent most of his time out of it. Trailing some outlaw or being a hired gun for people including those less than scrupulous.

But that day he'd gotten off his horse and walked up the steps. She didn't like him much the little she saw of him. Men who lived and died by the gun had never been counted among her favorites. Still he'd taken off his hat and offered to go find her husband for her.

Wouldn't even charge her but a small commission less than his usual going rate…and she'd almost been tempted. But she'd turned him down and he just nodded before getting back on his horse and riding away.

Come to think of it, he'd been the only town's person who hadn't judged her for what her husband did by leaving. She'd heard the whispers and gotten wind of the gossip, just ignoring most of it.

She swore once she sold the bank and left Paradise and that man, Ethan Cord she'd never return to banking. But after she did come back to town not long before the firestorm erupted, after it had settled, she found herself sweet talked into handling its affairs until it sold again.

So she did that like she promised even as she got back together with Ethan and when he'd asked her to marry him again, she'd accepted. But then he'd had to take the children and travel to Virginia City on a mission to meet up with an uncle and aunt that were related to their no-good father. He'd gotten a job with a mine while the children got acquainted with some family they'd never know existed.

So he said goodbye to her again as he hitched up the wagon and the children piled aboard. His last one he promised before he'd return and settle down, cutting back his jobs.

It'd been three months since he'd left her.

The town had been so quiet. Dakota had become marshal during the time Ethan had taken off and he didn't have much to do so he spent a lot of time at the saloon playing cards and having a good old time. She occasionally ate dinner with him when she had time but the bank kept her busy. Matilda the one teller she had working with her spent much of her time with the other ladies catching up on what little passed for small town gossip.

Amelia smiled as she unlocked the bank that morning while Matilda waited quite cross. She saw several other merchants opening up their stores and Axelrod putting out his fresh food for sale outside his store. He looked at her and just shook his head. He'd been doing that for a while now so she paid him little mind.

"Amelia, you're late this morning. I was waiting here for an hour."

She just shrugged.

"I overslept."

"You what…?"

Amelia struggled with the door a bit and pushed it open so they could go inside.

"I usually get up earlier but I was up late last night reviewing the account ledgers."

Matilda sniffed.

"Well make sure it doesn't happen again," she said, "Mr. Lee and Mr. Applegate both came to make deposits this morning."

Amelia brightened.

"Oh good…I heard their sales picked up a bit with the season."

Matilda looked around the bank adorned with Christmas decorations, even a small tree in the corner and several wreaths.

"It's going to be a bleak Christmas this year Amelia," she said, "The town's gone bust again and there might be no way out. What was so wrong about what the Wyatts did?"

Amelia didn't want to go into that right now. She wanted to catch up with the books. The handling of the bank had been sloppy under its prior ownership and if it wanted to be appealing to buyers, she had a lot of sorting out to do with the records.

"It put Paradise in a bad way Matilda," she said, "but I think it will come back after the holidays though it's going to take a lot of work. Besides it's our home."

"I thought you always hated it. That's what I heard."

Amelia knew that for years, she'd felt hated in a way that came only when you felt trapped somewhere. The whole world beckoned to her to go explore it and she had been tied to the bank and the town it served for a few years. But though she hadn't realized it until much later, she had grown to care about the town and its people. When hardship hit and she had a difficult choice to make, she chose the town because it wasn't all that hard. It needed her and she needed it.

Not to mention that a man and the family he'd inherited lived here. Like her, he'd always been drawn back to Paradise and called it home. He'd been here when she left him to do the traveling she'd always wanted and he'd been here when she returned.

"I don't hate it. I wouldn't be here if I did."

"But your man left didn't he?"

Amelia sighed because Matilda just said out loud the question others had been too polite to ask. But she knew it'd become fodder for gossip as to why she remained in Paradise while Ethan and the children were over a hundred miles away.

"Not for much longer," she said, "The children discovered family and he wanted them to spend some time getting to know them."

The fact that he'd gotten a lucrative security job at the mine hadn't hurt. But as he'd wrapped his arms around her and kissed her goodbye, he'd said that nothing could ever keep him away from her for long.

"It's been a few months. Don't you think if he were going to come back he'd be here?"

Amelia reached for a ledger and flipped it open.

"I don't want to discuss this with you," she said, "We've got a lot to finish if we're going to be ready for the buyer after Christmas."

Matilda just grumbled. Amelia knew she didn't like working at the bank much but she paid her pretty well out of the conservatorship budget. But she had to get with it. Amelia had taken the position to run it because the town needed a bank that was open. If she had her way, she might have gone to Virginia City with Ethan and the children but she needed to stay here. Besides, she'd been pretty tired herself lately from all the long hours.

Or so she thought until something new happened this morning when she woke up. But she felt much better now.

The door opened and Mr. Lee came in with one of his adopted sons that Ethan had saved from an unscrupulous mine owner during one of Paradise's boom periods. She smiled at him and caught up while processing deposits.

It'd taken a while but talking with her customers when they visited the bank became her favorite part of it.

Ethan got to the mine and started his security detail. Not much had happened. Some minor break ins at night and a fight yesterday. The children and he had been staying at their uncle and aunt's spread just outside of Virginia City. The couple had been nice enough showing the children faded photos of their family going back a generation or two but he'd been restless the past several weeks.

Samuel and Helena wanted them to spend the Christmas holidays with them, to make up for lost time but Ethan felt the pull to head on back to Paradise. He'd been away for three months and for a couple, he'd been so busy and the change in work had kept him on his toes. It was so much different from being a town marshal and the children had been rapt at staying in a city larger than Paradise. After all, they'd grown up in the city.

Ben and George had gone with the uncle to his mercantile in town and had been impressed at all the wares he sold there. It was quite a bit larger than the one back home. Claire and Joseph had been to the new theater that had been built there watching the traveling shows. Ethan thought it reminded them of their own mother who'd been a singer. One of the troupes that had come to town to perform had been one including members who had known Lucille. The children had spent hours listening to stories about her mother back in her youth when she'd just gotten started.

Ethan knew that going to Virginia City provided them with a crucial piece of their heritage and he didn't want to deny them that. But he missed her and it had been three months.

He'd told her that he'd come back and he meant it.

The foreman Bud came up to him with the latest report from the guy hired to do night security.

"Not much to report," he said, "Thieves didn't come back."

"That's good…and the men in the fight?"

"Shook hands and made up after spending the night in the cell."

Ethan knew that the fight had broken out at a nearby watering hole because of a poker game that had gone bad.

"With Christmas just around the corner, the men are getting antsy."

Not uncommon for men working hard to get itchy and restless when the holidays neared. Bud had told him there were some Christmas bonuses going out soon.

"What about you, what are you doing to celebrate?"

Ethan knew what he wanted to do and where he wanted to be but the children had just met up with the only living relatives that seemed interested in them. Their aunt and uncle seemed hardworking, nice enough much different than their father. Only Claire knew the difference because she'd figured out the truth that day over a year ago.

So he felt torn.

"I'm not sure yet…Might stick around. Might head on back…"

Bud nodded.

"I wish we could keep you longer but I knew that this was a short term job."

Ethan had only agreed to two months initially and then he'd added on the third one to get some money saved up and to give the children the extra time.

"Guess I better get started," he said, "I'll have the report in an hour."

Bud nodded and Ethan went to work.

Amelia took an early lunch at the hotel and Scotty joined her as she ordered up her food. She felt famished because she hadn't eaten breakfast.

"You are saving some for dinner?"

She just looked at him.

"It's been a busy morning."

"How's the bank doing?"

She smiled gamely at him.

"It's doing…well. Matilda and I have put in a lot of time to get the paperwork up to date on all the accounts. It seems the Wyatts were too busy with their vision for prosperity to keep up."

Scott nodded.

"Thought they went over aboard from the sight..."

Amelia wanted to say otherwise but she kept quiet. Truth be told Scotty and most of the other merchants had been beholden to the father and daughter team. But now everyone was rewriting history hoping no one paid attention.

"So did I…but now it's just going to be a lot of work to sort the bank's affairs out if we're ever going to get a buyer."

"Why don't you buy it?"

He looked at her as if that were a brilliant idea but she just stared at him.

"No chance…I sold it and I'm rid of it. I only agreed to handle it until it's sold because so much of the town's money's tied up in it."

Scotty sighed, feeling chagrined.

"We all are very grateful that you stayed to help out," he said, "You could have gone with Ethan and the children to Virginia City instead."

She didn't like being reminded of that fact and when during quieter periods when she remembered how much she missed the children and Ethan that hit home hard. But they'd be returning soon and life would get back to normal. It's just that more time had passed than she'd thought and she missed them.

"I know but they'll be back soon enough and Ethan will go back to being a marshal."

A job that suited him and now that she'd grown to accept that it'd always be a huge part of his life…their lives, she'd been ready to accept a life with him.

Dakota walked in the restaurant.

"Good afternoon Amelia…Scotty…"

He looked happy like he enjoyed being the top law and order man. Not that there had been much to do which Amelia counted as a blessing given what had happened six months earlier. The town needed a period of calmness after the storm.

"How are things Dakota?"

He smiled.

"Quiet the way I like them," he said, "Helps me fix my poker game."

Scotty shook his head.

"Ethan would be after you if he heard you say that."

Amelia smiled.

"Oh come on Scotty…Dakota's proven himself a great deputy and the town needed a marshal."

Dakota nodded in agreement before he went to order himself some lunch. Amelia knew despite appearances, he'd taken the job as marshal seriously. He'd grown up a lot since he came to Paradise and Ethan knew he'd left the town in good hands.

If only he'd come back soon, perhaps before Christmas so they could all celebrate together.

Ethan looked at Ben and George listening to Samuel tell them a story about their mother that made them laugh as his words brought her back to life again. He knew how much good it'd done for Lucille's four children to learn more about the mother they'd lost too soon.

"And when Christmas comes…"

Samuel told them they'd go out and take a look at the decorations that adorned every building and street light. But Ethan sighed to himself. He felt pulled back to Paradise and what waited there. But if the children really wanted to spend Christmas with their relatives…

Then Ben spoke up.

"We…we are goin..going home for Christ…Christmas aren't we Uncle Eth…Ethan?"

Everyone just looked at Ethan including Samuel and his wife. Helena looked uncomfortable.

"Well we just assumed you'd be spending it here with us."

Ben shook his head.

"I wa..want to go back to spend it…with John…Tay…Taylor and Missus Lawson…"

That hit Ethan cold because once again Ben had taken his own thoughts and turned them into spoken words. He might stumble in his struggle to get those words out but their meaning was always crystal clear.

George shook his head.

"But what about Uncle Samuel and Aunt Helena…?"

Ethan felt torn again. Helena just sighed.

"It's up to you children how you want to spend Christmas but we'd like you to stay here."

Claire looked up from what she'd been knitting.

"I miss home and what about the people there?"

Ethan had been thinking about that too. He got up to refresh his coffee in the kitchen and Claire walked behind him.

"Uncle Ethan…I think we should go home…but I don't want to hurt their feelings."

Ethan poured some coffee.

"It's been great meeting them but I'd rather spend Christmas with John Taylor and Amelia…and go to the church on Christmas Eve."

Ethan wanted that too, more than anything but he knew he had that family mattered even that discovered later in life.

"We'd have a tree and Christmas dinner and everyone we know is there."

"Claire what about your uncle and aunt?"

She paused.

"We've spent three months here and it's been wonderful but I don't feel like it's where we should be and I don't think you do either."

Ethan knew where he wanted to be, back home with Amelia who he'd gone three months without seeing. He'd promised her he'd be back sooner than that.

"Maybe we can all sit down and discuss it," he said, "and then we'll decide what to do."

Claire nodded and they headed back to the others.

Bella laughed at Amelia as she put dinner on the table for her as the other women had eaten earlier. They'd finished doing their ranching chores and Rosie had cooked up some good beef and vegetable stew on the stove. Rosie was set to marry Dr. Carter after the holidays so they'd be losing her not before long.

"Dakota's a live one," Bella said, "but I bet he's secretly glad he's not marshal after Ethan returns."

Amelia smiled.

"It's been quiet and he likes that. Said it helps his poker game…"

"I imagine it does," Bella said, "but he's no closer to settling down."

Amelia sat down in front of her meal as Bella joined her.

"He'll be some day when he meets the right woman."

"He's a lot like Ethan in that regard."

Amelia shrugged.

"I'm not sure Ethan's settled down," she said, "but he's softened his rougher edges even when I didn't ask."

"Well he knew he'd have to meet you halfway Amelia," Bella said, "He's learned that lesson and he does love you a lot."

Amelia nodded.

"I know that and I miss him and the children. I wish they'd be back for Christmas."

"There's still time," Bella said, "and I notice you've been involved with getting the town ready."

"Keeps me busy and it's perfect after spending all day at the bank."

Bella looked at Amelia closely.

"Gets your mind off of something else…"

Amelia took a bite of stew.

"What else?"

"You know what I'm talking about," Bella said, "You've been looking a mite peaked in the morning."

Amelia just stared at her.

"I have not…I just haven't been that hungry."

"Yeah…well I'm sure you've thought about it."

Amelia stopped eating and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Yes I have…but I'm not sure…"

Bella chuckled.

"You will be and I'm sure he'll be happy when he finds out."

Amelia looked at her.

"I'm trying to remember that but we're not married…"

Bella shrugged.

"You're engaged…and I'm sure he'll fix that when he gets back."

"That's what worries me."

"Why?"

"I want to marry him…and I believe it'll actually happen," Amelia said, "It'll just be a shorter engagement."

"That might be good in your case."

Amelia had to smile at that because of all the pitfalls that had befallen her and Ethan when they'd been engaged before.

"We have a little trouble getting to the altar."

"That'll change," Bella said, "He won't let anything get in his way."

Amelia guessed that because she knew that their relationship had grown much stronger through adversity.

She missed him and she wished he and his family…their family would come back home.

Ethan lay in his bed tossing and turning. He had taken both Claire and Ben's words to heart but also George's desire to stay with their uncle and aunt for Christmas.

What would they do, that decision still had to be made though he knew what he wanted to do.