Barbara Hannay - Little Christmas Miracles

“I’m fine, Mom. Don’t worry. Albert, is that straight?”

“Yes, sir, it sure is. Good job.”

“Thanks. I’d rather you be up here instead of me, but Toby insisted.”

“Yes, sir, I slipped him a fiver,” Albert said with a laugh.

“What’s a fiver, Molly?” Toby asked.

“He’s teasing, sweetie. He’s saying he gave you money to get Richard up on the top of the ladder instead of him.”

“But I don’t have any money—” Toby said.

Molly hushed him at once. “He’s just teasing.”

“But—”

Clearly the explanation wasn’t working, so Molly tried a diversion. “Have you picked out the first ornament you want to hang, Toby?”

That distracted him, and Molly breathed a sigh of relief. The boy immediately turned to the table with all the decorations. She held her breath, wondering which he would choose. The last Christmas she shared with her parents was the only one she remembered. She’d hung the first ornament, a clear glass ball with the manger scene on it.

Toby had chosen one remarkably like it.

When he picked up that particular ornament, Molly sank her teeth in her lips to keep control of her emotion. Twenty years later and she still got emotional about the holidays.

“You might as well hand me some of the ornaments, Molly, before I get down off this ladder,” Richard said.

“All right.” She picked up several balls and handed them to Richard.

“One at a time, Molly,” Richard said, handing back one of the ornaments.

Which meant she was stuck handing balls to him. Elizabeth and Toby were handling the rest of the tree. Molly said nothing, doing as Richard asked. But she’d hoped to do some decorating herself. She wanted ownership in this tree, too. It had been so long since she’d celebrated a Christmas so gloriously.

“Richard, that’s enough balls up there. Come down off the ladder and let Molly hang some of the ornaments, too.”

“Sorry, Molly, I didn’t think. I would’ve been glad to trade places with you.”

“No, thank you,” she hurriedly said, adding in a low voice, “I’m afraid of heights.”

“Really?” Richard asked in surprise.

“Yes, really.”

“Here, I’ll hand you ornaments, how about that?”

“It’s not necessary, Richard. Toby’s the one who needs to decorate the tree.” She didn’t want anyone to know how important decorating the tree was to her. Several years, she’d considered buying a big tree just because she’d enjoy decorating it, but she’d talked herself out of it. Money hadn’t been plentiful, and in the past couple of years, she’d found other ways of celebrating Christmas. But this year—

“But we want you to have a good Christmas, too. After all, you’re not going home for Christmas, either,” Richard said casually.

Molly quickly looked at Toby, but he was busy putting an ornament on the other side of the tree. “Please don’t say that in front of Toby.”

“Oh, sorry, I forgot. That’s the problem when you start telling stories.”

“The story I told was to you!” she snapped. “I didn’t want to tell you my situation. I knew you would make fun of me!”

Richard narrowed his eyes. “You’re not serious, are you?”

“Yes, I am!”

“Okay. So hang some ornaments on the tree!”

“Thank you, I will.” She blinked rapidly, trying to handle the sudden tears as she helped decorate the beautiful tree.

When they finished decorating, they all stood together, staring at the huge tree.

“It will look even better when we turn the lights on tonight,” Elizabeth said. “It will look magical in the dark.”

“I think it looks wonderful now,” Toby said.

“Me, too,” Molly agreed in an awed voice.

For the first time, Richard believed Molly’s statement that she’d lied to him, not Toby. He thought the tree was nice, but he’d had big trees as a boy every year. His mother had seen to that. His father hadn’t participated in decorating the tree, but his mother and whoever the chauffeur was at the time had helped him and Susan with the tree.

He fought the urge to put his arms around Molly. He’d be crazy if he did such a thing. She’d probably slap his face. His mother would order the wedding invitations.

“Now, Albert, you can put up the other decorations,” Elizabeth said in a soft voice, as if she didn’t want anyone to notice.

“What decorations, Mother?”

“I got Albert to get some lights to go around the room at the top of the wall. They’ll blink like the Christmas tree.”

“Oh, that will be lovely, Elizabeth,” Molly said.

“Don’t you want me to put up these, too?” Albert asked.

He held up some greenery.

Richard recognized it at once as mistletoe.

“Mother!” he exclaimed.

IN SPITE of Richard’s protest, the mistletoe went up all over the downstairs.

Molly made a mental note not to linger in any doorways. She didn’t expect Richard to want to kiss her, but she didn’t want to tempt fate. Not that she wasn’t attracted to the man. That was part of the problem. She was. But she had no place in their world. Once Toby was settled in, she’d be back in Florida.

She released an unconscious sigh, thinking about the time she had to leave.

“Molly? Is anything wrong?” Richard asked.

They were all having lunch together, again in the breakfast room. Louisa was off for the day to be with her family, and it made things easier for Delores and Albert if they ate there.

“No, what made you think that?”

“You sighed,” he said, watching her closely.

“Oh, I was thinking about a friend back home,” she hurriedly said.

“A boyfriend?”

Molly shot him a puzzled look. “No.”

“No boyfriend waiting for you in Florida? I find that hard to believe.”

“A nurse doesn’t have a lot of free time, or the energy to do much when she does,” Molly said. She took a sip of tea, hoping that would end this ridiculous conversation.

“That sounds like my life. Since my dad died, I’ve been reworking our law firm, trying to bring it up-to-date and get back on top of the legal world in Dallas. I don’t have much free time, and no energy when I do.”

“Dear, I knew you were working long hours, but I didn’t realize how hard it was for you,” Elizabeth said. “I should’ve paid more attention.”

“No, Mom, I’m fine. We’re about to get to the point where I can take it a little easier.”

“You should take a vacation as soon as you can,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll be here with Toby, so we’ll manage just fine.”

“I’m not sure, Mom. You might need me.”

“Maybe we could get Molly to come back for a couple of weeks,” Elizabeth suggested, looking at Molly expectantly.

“I doubt I’ll get any more time off once I get back. My vacation is scheduled for July.”

“Oh, dear, that’s a long time away. You’re not having any fun at all during Christmas,” Elizabeth said.

“Yes, I am, Elizabeth. I’m enjoying myself immensely, I promise.” Molly gave the woman her best smile. She couldn’t let her think she was suffering. In truth, she wasn’t. She was getting to do things she’d always wanted to do. Most of all, she was getting to spend time with Toby and know she was helping him adjust to his new family.

“All right, dear. Oh, I know what we should do, Richard. We should all go to lunch at Antares, in the ball.”

“Mom is talking about the restaurant located in the ball on the Dallas skyline. You can see the entire area because the restaurant rotates while you’re eating.”

Molly swallowed. Her fear of heights made that prospect turn her stomach.