“It’s not putting pressure to be yourself and follow through on your commitments. It sounds like her ex wasn’t great at that. Give her a glimpse of what she’s giving up. Besides, it’s all about holiday spirit and goodwill, right?”
He really did want to follow the project through to the end. “All right.” As they argued over the last egg roll, he wondered if holiday spirit and goodwill would be enough.
Chapter 9
MARY ALICE WAS GOING to be late for D-Day. But she was hoping to see Chad today and get a chance to talk to him. After how she’d reacted, she felt like she needed a little extra insurance, so here she was at the fountain. How many times in her life had she walked by it? Countless. She’d stopped before, had lunch perched on its ledge, but she’d never wished. Maybe because it had been hard to believe when the fountain was all but defunct, with barely a trickle of water dribbling down. But it seemed, over the past couple of years, it had come back to life.
Ridiculous. They’d probably just finally figured out what was wrong and fixed it. But there was no denying the appeal of the steady burble of water. Some kind of heaters in the basin kept the water from freezing during the cold winter nights. Through the clear water, she could see hundreds of glittering coins. Maybe more. And she was about to add her own. As soon as she figured out exactly what to wish for.
For Chad to show up today? He’d signed up before her blow up, but he didn’t strike her as the kind of guy who’d back out on a commitment just because of that. Fountain of Hope had become important to him. So, she’d bank on that. Should she wish for his explanation to be reasonable? That seemed a waste. Wishing wasn’t likely to change the truth, whatever it was. No, what she really needed was a dose of personal fortitude to get through it.
I wish for the courage to really hear what Chad has to say.
She let the quarter fly, watching as it arced neatly into the water. Too late, she wondered if she should’ve wished he’d actually talk to her. But he’d said to come find him when she was ready to talk. Hopefully he hadn’t changed his mind on that in the last three days.
The community center was packed when she arrived. She didn’t see Chad. Quashing the disappointment, she let loose a two-fingered whistle to get everyone’s attention.
“Thank you all for coming to help out on delivery day. Thanks to everyone’s hard work, we have an unprecedented number of gifts to deliver today. Every single child was adopted by someone this year.”
The group cheered.
“Now, we’ve made arrangements with the parents or guardians of each child to meet somewhere other than home, in order to maintain secrecy from the kids and privacy for the families. Each delivery will be made in a pair, and most of you have more than one delivery to make. For those of you who are new to the process, I’ve paired you with someone who was here before.”
As Mary Alice read through the list and each couple came up to get their boxes of wrapped presents and meeting locations, she kept an eye on the door. Still no Chad.
He probably got called in for surgery or something.
It was fine. She’d take care of her deliveries and find him later. This had to be taken care of first.
Mary Alice checked her list for the next pair of names. “Cam and Norah Crawford, y’all have three.”
Two male feet stepped into her line of vision, and she looked up, expecting to see Cam. But it was Chad, hands shoved in his pockets, face scruffy, hair wind-blown, looking good enough to eat.
Mary Alice wanted nothing more than to frame that face and kiss him. God, how could she have missed him this much in just a matter of days? “Hey.”
“Hey.”
Aware there were still more than a dozen assignments to pass out, she said, “You’re with me today.”
After a long, unreadable look, Chad nodded and stepped out of the way.
Once the last of the boxes were passed out and the assorted Fountain of Hope elves scattered to their respective meeting locations, Mary Alice finally turned toward where he waited beside their gifts. There were so many things she wanted to say. To address the white elephant standing between them. But they were on a schedule, and they’d need—she hoped—more time to talk uninterrupted.
“Thanks for coming today.”
“I said I would.”
Mary Alice felt the silent rebuke. He’d never lied to her, never broken a promise. “Look, I wasn’t fair to you, and I’m sorry for it. I owe you a lot more than an apology, and I hope you’ll give me the chance for that. But right now, we have places to be. Will you stick around when we’re done so we can talk?”
“Sure.” He hefted a carton under each arm, leaving one for her. “Lead the way.”
They both stayed quiet through their first two deliveries, and it was the first time the silence felt awkward, full of things unsaid. Mary Alice itched to be finished so they could resolve this one way or the other.
“Who’s next?” Chad asked.
“Isaiah’s grandmother. We’re meeting her at the hardware store.”
The older woman was waiting when they pulled into the parking lot beside Edison Hardware. Mary Alice parked by her car so they wouldn’t have far to transfer the packages. The other woman was already out of the car, beaming by the time Mary Alice and Chad climbed out.