“Damn right it would,” Holly muttered.

“It’s excellent, Mrs. C.,” Max said. “You outdid yourself.”

The others looked surprised and then suddenly they were all dipping into their bowls and the reactions were comical.

“Oh my God, this is heaven,” Ethan groaned. “My wife made this?”

Holly huffed at him and shot him a quick glare.

No one spoke for a long moment as they all savored the wonderful-tasting bisque. When they all finished, Holly began dishing up the grilled fish fillets. When she opened the covered bowl containing the étouffée, there were looks of amazement all around.

She carefully ladled the étouffée onto the plates, covering the fillets.

“What the hell did you do to our mother?” Dillon demanded as he forked another bite into his mouth.

The entire table cracked up at his irreverence. Even Holly grinned. “You like?”

“Like? I damn well love,” Dillon said around another mouthful. “Did my wife teach you how to make all this?”

Holly shot a proud glance in Lily’s direction. “She sure did.”

Adam, Ethan, and Ryan all looked over at Lily, and Ethan said in mock reverence, “How can we ever thank you? You’ve performed a miracle. We never thought we’d see the day she didn’t burn the house down after two hours in the kitchen.”

“Oh, shut up,” Holly said in exasperation. “I’m not that bad!”

When silence greeted her defensive statement, she burst into laughter. “Okay, so maybe I was.”

“Everything is wonderful, baby,” Adam said with a smile. “You did an amazing job. This will be a Christmas we’ll never forget for many reasons.”

Holly smiled back at him, her cheeks flushed with pleasure.

“It’s awesome, Mom,” Seth assured her.

One by one, her children and her husbands, Max, and Lauren all chimed in with their compliments until Holly beamed from ear to ear, and really, even if it had been horrible, who would have wanted to wipe away that kind of smile?

It had been a year of many milestones and events, changes and renewals, scares and rejoicings. The next year promised to be even sweeter.

But no matter what else would be recounted from this point forward, this would always be remembered as the year Holly Colter finally managed to conquer the kitchen.