“Wow! That is a lot of greenery. What are you doing?” Tina asked. She walked over and sat down, setting her a cup of coffee on the table.
“Well, I somehow got myself roped in to making Christmas wreaths to sell at the festival. The town wants to use the money we raise to go toward the toy drive.”
“That’s a wonderful thing to do. I’m so amazed at this little town and how everybody seems to help each other. It feels like I landed at the north pole, without all the snow.”
Julie laughed. “Make no mistake, there’s a lot of hard-working people behind the scenes. But it’s a wonderful place. Before I moved here, I didn’t have any idea that a place like this existed outside of those sappy TV movies, anyway.”
“Where did you move here from?”
“The Atlanta suburbs. I had been married for twenty-one years, and then my husband made a series of poor decisions. Next thing I knew, I was starting my life over here. It turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“That’s amazing. You’re a very strong woman to be able to start over like that. I wish I could.”
It surprised Julie that she had said something about her history. Both she and Dawson had been careful not to ask too many questions, assuming that if Tina wanted to open up, she would.
“It’s never too late to start over, Tina.”
She sat there for a moment, her eyes looking lost in thought. “I wish I could believe that, but I’ve made some terrible choices in my life. I’ve hurt some people I dearly loved. It just feels like there’s no coming back from some of those choices. Maybe I’m meant to be punished, you know?”
“Listen, I don’t know what you’ve been through, but I know that a new life starts with a new choice. Sometimes, we put ourselves in these self-imposed prisons. If you made bad choices, you have to learn how to forgive yourself. Once you know better, you do better, right?”
Teary-eyed, Tina nodded. “Thank you. I will give that some thought when I say my prayers tonight before bed.”
“Can you say a little prayer for me? Because I don’t know how in the world I’m going to make twenty-five Christmas wreaths by myself.”
Tina laughed. She reached over and pulled some greenery toward her. “You will not do it alone.”
“You don’t have to help me. You’re a guest here!”
“It’s the least I can do. And, I have worked at a flower shop before. Do you know how many wreaths I’ve made in my lifetime?”
Julie stared at her, wide-eyed. “Oh, God has sent me an angel straight from heaven then!”
* * *
“You want me to sing? Christian, come on. You’ve heard me sing in the car. I swear cats were following us the last time I belted out a Broadway tune.”
Christian laughed. “Darling, it’s Christmas caroling. Nobody’s asking you to stand on a stage and sing an aria. But the Christmas festival requires all of us to contribute something, and certainly we can both stand in a group of people and sing a few Christmas songs.”
Meg sighed. She cut up the rest of the banana she had on her plate and slid it over to Vivi, who was sitting in the highchair, waiting for yet another snack. She was a bottomless pit lately. “Fine, but if I get made fun of by my family for the rest of my life, I’m blaming you!”
Christian laughed and then kissed the top of her head. “Your voice is beautiful to me, my love.”
She rolled her eyes. “You shouldn’t lie. I might be good at a lot of things, but singing is certainly not one of them. Hopefully, everybody else will just drown me out.”
“One more thing,” Christian said, smiling like he was worried she might fling a dinner plate across the room at him.
“What?”
“We have practice in an hour.”
She stared at him. “Tonight? But I just got home from school and Vivi needs a bath…”
“No worries. Your mother said we could drop her by the bookstore for an hour while we do a little practicing on the square.”
Meg stood up and poked her finger in the center of his chest, looking up at him. “You’re going to get coal in your stocking.”
Christian pulled her into a tight embrace, her cheek pressed against his chest, the thumping of his heart loud in her ear. There was no place she would rather be on earth. They had had a rough road at the beginning, first falling madly in love in France and then finding out she was pregnant. There were so many times when Meg thought they would end up apart, but they were stronger than ever now.
“I think Santa will forgive me.”
She looked up at him. “I think this is the happiest I’ve ever been.”
He smiled. “I know it’s the happiest I’ve ever been. I can’t wait to spend this Christmas with you, Meg. It’s going to be our best one yet.”
As she hugged him tightly, she wondered if they would ever make things official. Or would he be one of those guys who never thought he needed to marry her now that they had already started a family? Maybe she had to ask him. Maybe she needed to be honest about her feelings.
For now, she was just going to enjoy Christmas with her new little family and worry about the future another day.
* * *
Colleen stood in the middle of the office, looking from one side of the room to the other. While their offices weren’t that big, she never expected so many toys to be delivered.
“And you say there’s more coming?” Tucker asked.
“From what I understand. I mean, this is great for the toy drive, but how are we supposed to work here now?”
Tucker laughed. “Why don’t we put all of this in the conference room? All future deliveries can go directly there.”
“Good idea.”
They spent the next half hour moving stacks and stacks of toys into the small conference room. When they were finished, toys were stacked on the table all the way up to the ceiling.
Colleen loved that Tucker was so invested in making sure the less fortunate children in their community had plenty of toys to play with. A big kid at heart, she enjoyed seeing him look at every single donation. Sometimes it appeared as if he was toying with the idea of pulling each item out and playing with it himself, but he refrained.
“So, did Christian tell you he wants all of us to sing at the festival?”
“Yeah, he told me. I tried to explain that I can’t carry a tune in a bucket, but that French accent can convince you to do anything,” Tucker said, shaking his head.
“Well, then I guess I should hope that no French women get near you,” Colleen said, putting her hands on his cheeks. He leaned down quickly and kissed her.
“No woman, French or not, could hold a candle to you.”
“Are you just gunning for a really great Christmas present?” she asked, scrunching her nose.
“I already have the best present I could ever have,” he said, squeezing her tightly.
“I think you’ve been around Christian too much. That was super sappy!” she groaned.
As they stood there laughing, Colleen was so thankful. There was nothing else she would’ve wanted in her life other than what she already had. Some people didn’t get to live the life of their dreams, but somehow she was getting to live hers.