Chapter 9
CHRISTMAS MORNING BEGAN WITH a snowball fight. Sometime between when she’d stumbled to bed at one and when Ginny woke her at 6:30, three fluffy inches had fallen. Given the rarity of such an event in Mississippi, everybody opted to play first and do presents later. For all they knew, it could disappear by mid-morning. It was all Tara could manage to get the kids into actual clothes under their winter coats instead of their pajamas.
Austin woke Jace with a well-placed snowball to his bedroom window. He rousted everyone else, and the entire Applewhite clan joined in the fun, hair still messy from sleep. While the boys duked it out with freezing ammo, Tara and Ginny made snow angels and started a snowman—though there was only enough snow to manage a small one. Ginny fitted her mit
