Page 108 of Christmas in Paradise

The thought that Charly and I could be his everything makes my breath hitch, and I quickly school my emotions, so my face doesn’t reveal how much I want that.

“Very authentic.” I point to his clothes, leaving enough space between us for Charly to keep treading her path around him.

“Thank you. That’s what I was going for.” His lip pulls at the corner. “Without any lines, I really had to put myself in the sandals of a shepherd to get the part right.”

“Oscar worthy performance.” Our eyes lock, sending a charge of electricity through me.

Charly baas and paws at my legs, and I break the current between Seb and me to bend down. “Hello little lamb. You were the cutest sheep up there.” I scratch her behind the lamb ears on the hood of her costume.

Suddenly her eyes dart toward the door, and she points. “Mama! Santa!”

I look behind me and see Nick walking into the hallway with a group of people. Charly darts toward him, but I grab her hand.

“Hold on. Let’s get this costume off, then we can go see him.”

She wiggles so much that I can barely pull it over her head, and when I do, her glasses fly off. They land a few feet away, and in an instant, Charly is running in the opposite direction after Nick.

“You get the glasses, I’ll get her,” Seb says, already dashing after her.

Charly snakes her way around people milling around. Seb has a harder time getting out of the room, but I know he’ll catch up to her. She can be fast when she wants to be, but she won’t be able to outrun him, especially without her glasses.

I push away the worry that she might get hurt, especially with no glasses to help her see. I have a million of those thoughts every day. If I listened to all of them, I’d never let Charly out of my sight.

I pick up the glasses and follow Seb, but he’s way ahead of me. When I get into the hallway, Pastor Ruth is there and points to the outside exit. “They went that way.”

The prick of worry I’ve brushed away comes back as a sharp stab. The exit leads directly into the very full parking lot.

I move faster, pushing the door open at the same moment the sound of screeching brakes fills the air.

Then I run.

Chapter 35

Sebastian

I spot Charly in the middle of two rows of cars at the same time the headlights of a giant old Cadillac flip on. The Cadillac she’s directly behind.

“Charly!” I yell.

Then I run, pushing people out of my way. I hear them yell at the driver—old Mr. Patrick who always forgets to turn on his hearing aid.

Charly looks side to side but doesn’t move. The car does. Mr. Patrick inches nearer to her. Not fast, but he’s closer to her than I am.

He’s a foot away from Charly when I reach the rear tire. The long back end of the car will hit her before I can get her, so I do the only thing I can.

I slap my hand hard on the trunk, jump butt first on top of it, slide, and push myself off between the car and Charly.

The noise alerts Mr. Patrick, and he screeches to a stop as I scoop up Charly. His car bumps the back of my thighs, and I lurch forward a step, curling Charly into my arms to protect her if I fall.

I catch my balance. I don’t know how, because my whole body is shaking. A rush of noise hits me at the same time and with the same intensity as the reality does of how close Charly came to getting hurt. Or worse.

Her cries are the loudest. Dazed, I pat her back while she sobs, “I want Santa!”

People surround us both, saying things like “That was so close,” and “What a miracle.” Mr. Patrick is next to me, apologizing, close to tears.

Then Hope is there. In front of me. And the look of fear on her face shatters me.

“Is she okay? Is she okay?” she says over and over as I transfer Charly to her arms.

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