Their First Noel Page 5

  “That’s a lot for a little girl to have to carry.”

  “Thanks to my church, I didn’t have to carry it.” Their footsteps rang in the enclosed area. “They stepped in and sort of became my surrogate family. There are only a few members still at the church from that time but they were a lifeline to me then. Good thing none of them were too busy for church.”

  “I get your point.” He hurried down to catch her on the last landing, snagged her gently by the arm. “But that hardly applies to—”

  The first-floor door swung open and the mayor, Ellie Walker, stood at the threshold gazing up at them. She whipped off one pair of glasses and just as quickly replaced them with a second pair that had been dangling from a chain around her neck.

  The sight of the woman, who was exactly as tall as Corrie but more than a little bit wider around, startled Corrie while at the same time putting her at ease. It had been that kind of day, after all, full of surprises and letdowns, a regular emotional roller coaster. Having the mayor pop in on them seemed the perfect topper to the afternoon.

  “Oh! My! I didn’t mean to intrude.” The mayor smiled in a way that reminded Corrie of someone, a Cheshire cat maybe? “I was just going to come up and tell you that that we’re about to start locking up the building.”

  “You’re not intruding,” Andy dropped his hold on her. “We were just talking about—”

  “Family,” Corrie rushed to rashly supply. She shot him a shy sidelong look in hopes that would let him know she regretted her remark about being too busy for church. It was not her place to say it. Nothing about Andy was her business and had nothing whatsoever to do with why she had come here. Family was why she had come and this was her chance to start asking about her father. “I guess you know just about every family in Hadleyville, don’t you, Mayor?”

  “Oh, not just Hadleyville.” She held the door open for them to walk past her into the hallway of the main floor. “I grew up on the other side of Mt. Piney, in Daviston. I know families all over these parts.”

  Corrie stole a glance at Andy, who gave her a nod as if to say “go on, ask, I know you want to.” For a guy who thought too much like her mother, he sure was the kind of person Corrie liked knowing had her back.

  “So, would you happen to know any Wallaces?” she ventured.

  “Only my nephew in Virginia, but if he knew that I told you his real first name was Wallace, he’d never speak to me again. Of course, right now he only speaks to me when he comes here for Christmas so I suppose I’m safe. Why do you ask?”

  “That’s the big question, isn’t it? Why do I ask?” Clearly her mom didn’t think she’d find her father. Corrie had no idea what she would say or do if she did find him. “I guess that’s something I’m going to have to figure out if I ever hope to get any real answers.”

  Chapter Six

  Corrie didn’t get any better answers at the chili supper. Nobody knew any family with the last name of Wallace. All the while she went around meeting people and trying to work that into the conversation, Andy pushed up his sweater sleeves and dove in, setting up tables, corralling kids, even taking out the trash.

  Corrie couldn’t understand this man. He seemed so determined to do everything himself when it came to restoring the inn but never hesitated to be of service to others. On the surface it looked like such an honorable trait, but Corrie’s experience told her that people who did not understand the importance of give and take could make life very hard on those who cared about them.

  In such a short time Andy McFarland had done so much for her, she thought as she waited by the door for him to get Greer ready to go out into the cold night air. If Corrie could get Andy to accept a little help, he’d be so much happier. That’s all she wanted to do, she justified, leave him a little happier when she went home to South Carolina. That’s how she would thank him for helping her look for her dad and with the gingerbread inn. Yes, that’s what she would do.

  “Give and take.” She smiled to herself.

  “Did you say something?” Andy asked as he ushered Greer out the door past Corrie after they had eaten.

  “I was just…coming up with a new plan.”

  “All right!” He held the door open for her. “Care to share it with me?”

  “I’m, uh, still working on it,” she said in all honesty as she walked outside and the cold air ruffled her hair and made the tip of her nose tingle. “Sometimes you have to see the way things might work together before you really know how to proceed, you know?”

  “The way things work together?” He let the door fall shut with a thud.

  “Or maybe how they don’t work?” she ventured, knowing that wasn’t quite what she meant, either. She laced her gloved fingers together. “Look, you’re the big Mr. Fix it. Surely you’ve had to take a look at a project and come at it from a different angle from time to time. Take what you know works and what you think should work and compare it to what isn’t working and—”

  “I’m going to run ahead and get us a good spot,” Greer announced. “Here, will you hold this for me, Corrie?” She pushed her school backpack into Corrie’s hands even as she took off down the sidewalk.

  “Walk, Greer. Don’t push. Stay where I can see you,” he called out as the young girl made her way to the park not half a block away. “Sorry.” He turned to Corrie and motioned for her to walk with him. “She’s all worked up.”

  “That’s okay.” She slung the backpack over one arm along with her purse. “I wasn’t saying anything important. Just thinking out loud.”

  “No, no. You made a lot of sense in your own special way. I think I get it. You’re saying sometimes you have to figure out why something broke before you can restore it.” He spoke with enthusiasm as they walked along, as though energized by the concept. “And I think that might be what I need to do with the gingerbread inn.”

  “Shh, you don’t want anyone to hear you talking about your working with me on my contest entry.” She put her finger to her lips then smiled slyly just to tweak his he-man let-me-do-it-my-way-and-it-will-all-be-fine-little-lady ego.

  “Thanks.” He looked down, shaking his head. “Let me just say, I have a couple ideas for stabilizing your project but, you know, it might work better if I could see it put together. I’m in restoration, after all. Maybe I’d do better working backward from a completed model, flaws and all.”

  “Oh my goodness, that’s perfect!” He’d just handed her a terrific way to teach the man give and take and also to bolster her hopes of creating a respectable entry in the upcoming contest. She grabbed him by the arm and gave it a squeeze. “Thank you, you won’t regret this.”

  “Regret?” Andy took her by the hand and turned her to face him. “What are you talk—”

  “And here the two of you are again!” Ellie Walker approached them with her arms spread, her smile wide and her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Andy, you are either the world’s best ambassador for our town or Corrie here is—”

  “She’s his girlfriend!” Greer shouted as she practically flew across the open space of the park to the sidewalk where they stood.

  “No!” Andy said it before Corrie could. “She’s just…”

  “…a friend,” Corrie finished for him.

  “Who’s a girl.” Greer folded her arms and rolled her eyes. “A girlfriend.”

  Andy started to speak but before he could, a chorus began to sing on the steps of the bandstand/gazebo. The evening came alive around them. People shuffled forward, sheltering steaming cups of hot chocolate in their gloved and mittened hands. A group of small children all dressed in reds and greens began shaking sleigh bells.

  No one seemed interested in Andy’s explanation but that didn’t keep him from moving in close to Corrie and saying, “That came off harsh.”

  “It’s okay.” She didn’t meet his gaze. The man had made it clear he didn’t want people to know about his advising her on the contest. She understood why he’d also not want them to believe the two of them w
ere dating. Especially since she would probably go home in a few days and never return, leaving him looking like she’d dumped him. If Corrie really wanted to get through to Andy, she had to keep her distance from him.

  The crowd began to press in to get a better view of the activities. Corrie followed suit, hoping it would bring an end to the embarrassing topic of her being Andy’s girlfriend. Or rather of him so strenuously not wanting her to be his girlfriend, not even wanting anyone to think she was his girlfriend. Her cheeks grew hot. She folded her coat more tightly around her body and put some extra distance between herself and Andy, just for safe measure.

  “You see, just before you showed up at the inn, Greer said a prayer that I’d get a girlfriend by Christmas.” Andy maneuvered with her, keeping himself at her side.

  The aroma of hot chocolate drifted across from the cups cradled in the hands of people pressing close around them.

  “I think Greer praying that is sweet,” Corrie told him.

  “Sweet, but I don’t want her to think that’s the way prayer works.” Again he pushed closer to make himself heard, bumping against Greer’s backpack as he did. “That’s why I had to make sure she knew you weren’t my girlfriend.”

  “I know. I’m nobody’s girlfriend,” she said softly, not really angry or even hurt, just more than a little annoyed that he felt compelled to go and point it out again. That agitation was probably why she couldn’t just keep her thoughts to herself. “And while I totally get your not wanting to give into Greer’s equating prayer with a virtual wish list, I believe that God does answer prayers.”

  The caroling ended and the mayor took the microphone. She hushed the crowd with an upraised hand. “I’d like to welcome you all…”

  Corrie couldn’t concentrate on a single syllable, much less make sense of whole sentences with Andy moving in so close. A strand of her hair got swept up by the wooly softness of his coat’s lapel. The bulky buttons pressed through the thickness of her coat into her back.

  The mayor went on. “Fourteen years ago…”

  Andy raised his voice to make himself heard to her ears alone above the mayor’s speech. “Sure. I’m not disputing that God answers prayers. But not like that, right? You don’t just send up an order and suddenly there’s—”

  “Corrie Bennington!”

  People around them began to applaud.

  “Corrie?” Ellie Walker beckoned her toward the bandstand. “Come on up here and press the button that turns on the light display you organized.”

  “Me?” Corrie gripped the straps of her purse and Greer’s backpack.

  A smattering of applause began to build around her.

  “Yes, you! You didn’t think I was praising the talent and good taste of my fellow committee folks, did you? Half of them didn’t even vote for me last election. How clever could they be?” She laughed at her own joke. “We wanted to thank you for all your help today and let you know that as far as we’re concerned you can stay here until—”

  “Until it’s time to take the decorations down again,” a gruff old voice shouted out.

  “That should come ’round March,” shouted a second voice from the crowd.

  More laughter.

  Only for once in her life Corrie didn’t feel like rushing in and joining the impromptu joking. She had just figured out what she wanted to do where Andy was concerned and that involved playing it low key so as not to embarrass him and make him shut down.

  “Surely there’s someone local who deserves it more than I do.” She retreated a step and bumped into Andy’s broad chest.

  “You’re welcome to bring Andy up here with you.” The mayor smiled like she was in on a secret as she motioned for both of them to come forward.

  “She’s not my girlfriend.” Andy held his hands up as if he needed to prove he didn’t have any claim on her.

  “You really do not have to keep saying that,” Corrie grumbled over her shoulder to him. Then she spoke up, intending for the mayor and everyone else to hear. “I just think that—”

  “I’ll do it!” Greer raised her hand and jumped up and down from one foot to the other.

  “Great idea. Let Greer do it.” Corrie nudged the child front and center.

  No one would have the heart to say no to the adorable child whose mother was detained helping others create families. Off the hook. No more chances for anyone to make cracks about her being Andy’s girlfriend or for him to deny it. This was the best way to keep her distance from Andy.

  Greer rushed up the steps.

  The crowd showed their approval with a new round of applause, some murmuring and appreciative laughter.

  Greer soaked it up with a wave and a smile so bright Corrie forgot about the cold. Or maybe that was because Andy put his hand on her shoulder and leaned in to whisper, “Thank you for doing that. You can tell it means the world to her.”

  “And takes the focus off you and me,” she whispered back.

  “Corrie, I just wanted to—”

  “Shh, everybody. This is it.” Greer stuck the tip of her tongue out and pressed the big red button on the extension cord.

  Every eye lifted to the wires and bulbs lining the gazebo.

  Nothing. Darkness.

  Greer tried it again and then again to no avail. “Hey, this thing doesn’t work.”

  Corrie let the backpack and purse slide to the sidewalk as she rushed up to the child. “Sweetie, I’ve found that if things won’t work the usual way then maybe you need to—”

  “I can fix it.” Andy took two long strides and in seconds both of them had their hands on the button, Greer between them.

  “…try something new,” Corrie murmured, her eyes locked in Andy’s gaze, her face just inches from his.

  “We have a connection.” Mrs. Walker raised her arms to make a show of plugging two thick orange extension cords together. “Go for it!”

  Greer hit the button again and thousands of tiny lights came on all at once like scads of twinkling stars just a few feet away from them. They lit Andy’s face and shone in his eyes.

  Corrie’s heart didn’t just beat faster, she knew in that instant what people meant when they said their heart leapt. Was this how her mother felt when she met her father? Or was it just a trick of the moment, the meeting of sentimentality, excitement, possibility and Christmas?

  The crowd cheered.

  Corrie decided that it didn’t matter why or how this had happened, she would be forever grateful for it. Years from now, even if she had to go away without ever having found her father, she would have a wonderful memory of this place to cherish.

  “Isn’t it pretty?” Greer asked in awe.

  “Beautiful,” Andy said softly, his eyes never leaving Corrie’s.

  Christmas or pretty lights, Corrie didn’t want to over-think why she felt the way she did or allow herself to remember that it couldn’t last. For just one moment, just one time in her life, she didn’t want to have to think fast or make new plans or wonder if she was really alone in the world.

  “It’s perfect,” she whispered.

  “You guys aren’t even looking at the lights!” Greer said so loudly that everyone in the park seemed to hear and burst out laughing.

  Andy shut his eyes and groaned under his breath.

  Corrie pulled up straight. She pushed her glasses up and fidgeted with the fringe on her scarf as she turned to address all those faces peering curiously at her. “I just want to let everyone here know—”

  “You’re not Andy’s girlfriend,” a fair number of the crowd filled in for her dutifully.

  Corrie managed a laugh through a wincing smile. She had been going to say something about how she had fallen in love with this little town even after only being here twenty-four hours.

  “Enough!” Andy took charge, waving people off as he reminded them, “We didn’t come here to speculate we came here to celebrate. I say let’s get back with the program.”

  The mayor called for everyone’s attention. The ch
oir launched into another song. People began to shuffle around to look at the lights and talk to one another. Greer ran up into the center of the bandstand and began to twirl around. Andy went after her.

  Back with the program. Back on track. That’s the way it would be when Corrie left. Andy would see to that, probably welcome it. Earlier today, alone in the museum, she feared she would always be alone. Now in a crowd she had that same feeling. She supposed it might seem silly that she would think she could make Andy open up to the idea of not just giving but accepting help.

  She gathered her purse and Greer’s backpack and slipped quietly away from the Christmas activities. Still, she couldn’t help thinking that she was the best person of all to teach Andy that lesson. It was all she had to offer him.

  She turned to catch him pretending to skate around the floor of the bandstand holding his little sister up just high enough to keep her feet off the floor. She thought of the conversation they’d had about loving the inn. She saw how the man felt about his family and community. He could not be that hard to reach, she just had to find the right time and place.

  Chapter Seven

  “Andy!”

  Unsure if he had actually heard his name or dreamt it, Andy pried open one eye and searched the darkness of the room in the inn where he had been bunking down the last two months.

  Nothing. Not a sound. No movement.

  He groaned and pulled the blanket up over the T-shirt and sweatpants he slept in just in case he had to get up to take care of Greer or a problem in the building. He must have imagined hearing his name. He hoped that was the case because he hadn’t gotten nearly enough sleep yet. Not after spending most of the early evening trying to find Corrie at the Christmas lighting party and wondering why she had left so early.

  After the gathering broke up, he had taken Greer back to the inn but when they pulled into the drive and he’d seen she’d fallen asleep, he decided to turn around and drive back to Hadleyville. Corrie’s car was at the Maple Leaf Manor all right. That didn’t tell him why she had crept away from the festivities without so much as a goodbye.