Page 70 of Unexpected Gifts

Jack cheered, raising his arms above his head. Lily let out a squeal of pure delight, clapping her hands and bouncing on her toes. Even Sophie reacted, tenting her hands under her chin and looking up at the tree with an innocent wonder that tragedy had not been able to steal from her.

Sophie was still a kid. Abby would do whatever it took to protect her from growing up any faster than she already had.

“It’s so beautiful. So perfect. Isn’t it?” Abby looked up at Luke.

“What part?” He smiled softly, pulling her in just a little closer.

“All of it.” She let her head rest on his shoulder. “You. The children. This place. You’ve all grown so special to me. I know, it probably sounds silly.”

“Not to me,” Luke said. “I know exactly what you mean. I’ve lived here my whole life, seen a lot of these tree lightings, but none of them were as beautiful as tonight. Which brings me to only one conclusion. It’s the company we keep that makes the ordinary, extraordinary.”

This is where I’m meant to be. Right here. Right now.

Such unexpected gifts. The three little people and the massive man beside her. The kind of gift one might think of as a Christmas miracle.

She tilted her head back, her cheek still pressed against the fluff of Luke’s jacket, and looked up at the sky. The bank of clouds had parted so that a slice of the purple starry night sky was now visible. Her gaze lingered there for a moment, taking in the spectacular beauty of the stars that not even the town’s Christmas lights could mimic. And then a feeling she could not exactly name came over her. She felt almost swept upward into the night as if her soul flew through the inky sky between sparkling stars that sprinkled magical fairy dust upon her fractured heart.

Her heart stirred with a quiet sense of peace. Goose bumps traveled up her limbs.

An image played before her eyes. A long-ago forgotten memory of her and Ramona. They were out in the yard on a warm August night, spread out on top of a quilt. Their gaze fixated on the sky. Watching and waiting, hoping to see a shooting star. It had been Ramona’s mother who had sent them outside to witness what she’d described as pure magic. “In August, the stars dance across the sky to remind us of all the people who have physically left the earth but who are still here, watching over us. They shine brightly so that we might never forget them. And to let us know we’re never really without them.”

Her mother. Her aunt. And Ramona. All gone from this physical life but yet still part of her. For the first time, she understood fully, absorbing this insight into the core of who she was. They were still with them—all of them. The stars told their stories. Tonight, the clouds had actually parted just so she would know that they were all there, watching out for them.

Proud of me.

Yes, they were proud of her. They recognized it hadn’t been easy to give up her plans to be here. But she’d done it. With grace even. She let in their love and pride into a place so deep inside that she’d not known it existed until now. Until God had sent her here to love these motherless children, she had not known her true worth. Perhaps she would never have become her best self if she had not been needed in this specific way.

It was the essence of pure love she felt. From her mother and Ramona, their spirits were woven into the night.

And this man, as sweet as the maple syrup he cared so deeply for—standing with his arm around her, not caring who saw him. Caring only that he kept her close.

A soft breeze rustled through the square. Abby closed her eyes, hearing Ramona’s voice.

I knew you were the one. It was always you. Only you.

When she opened her eyes, the scene before her remained the same. Yet she was changed. Guilt for being the one here lifted from her soul, and she was free. Free to love and be loved and to live with purpose.

“Should we get pizza?” Luke asked.

His simple question made her laugh, throwing her head back so that the stars might see her joy.

20

ABBY

Ayear went by, full of packing lunches, overseeing homework, school events, ballet recitals, fishing, and sleeping out in the backyard to watch the falling stars shoot across the purple sky. The kitchen remodel provided further chaos but when it was finished, and she made her first roast chicken in her new oven, she knew it was all worth it.

Abby’s work kept her busy. Balancing work and family provided both a challenge and a deep satisfaction. She knew she was using her gifts to provide for her family but also to give a service to the community that had embraced her with such generosity and kindness. In no time she’d learned the names of dogs and cats that came into the office she now shared with Doc Ford. She knew the ins and outs of all the local farmers and the animals they loved so deeply.

By the time spring came, Abby, Sophie, Jack, and, of course, Rufus had become a true family. A family that included Lily and Luke, as the five of them were inseparable, sharing their ups and downs, triumphs and failures, cheering one another on and providing comfort and encouragement when needed. Abby knew they were stronger as a unit than any of them would be ontheir own. Wasn’t this the nature of family, after all? At times, messy and complicated, with squabbles and misunderstandings, yet when the day was done, there was nothing they wouldn’t do for one another. No matter what, life tossed their way.

As for Luke Hayes and Abby Parker? For her part, she was convinced their love story had been written in the stars. Perhaps it had already been decided all those years before when she’d watched the stars shoot across the sky. She’d not known then that someday she would come back to Sugarville Grove and the Hayes family for good.

As happy as she was, there were still times she wondered why it was she who got to stay and raise Ramona’s babies. Or why she had this extraordinary love with Luke, when Ramona and her husband had been torn apart. But during her moments of clarity, she understood that despite the tragedy that had brought them together, she and Luke were blessed beyond belief and that it was not her job to question why. Her work while she remained on earth was to give her whole heart to him, the children, and her practice.

Not a day went by that she didn’t thank God for all he’d given her. She prayed that she would be worthy of the unexpected gifts given to her and to never, ever take them for granted.

By the time Luke proposed, there was no doubt in her mind that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. They decided to marry in the month of December to celebrate the season that had brought them together. Abby’s first instinct was to simply wed down at the courthouse, but everyone, including Luke, rebelled. Sophie, in her wise way, said a ceremony would be something they could all remember forever. “It will be the day we all become an official family.”

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