Page 46 of Christmas Charms
“I’m glad, too,” I say.
And this time when I smile at him, I feel lit from within, like a thousand glittering Christmas lights. Because right here, right now, there’s no place I’d rather be.
“All done,” I say, placing a shiny green bow on the final wrapped package. The pile of gifts takes up the entire surface of the farm table even though it seems like we just got started.
Jingle, jingle.
Aidan’s saying something about the firemen delivering the gifts to the nearby children’s shelter, but I’m flipping through the charms on the bracelet. I pause when I reach the tiny silver Christmas gift, topped with a green enamel bow. My words from the video float back to me.
Dozens of Christmas presents for all the girls and boys.
“Everything okay?” Aidan asks, studying me because I’ve gone suddenly quiet.
Happiness sparkles inside me. “Everything is perfect.”
Chapter Thirteen
“You sound different,” Maya saysan hour after Aidan and I’ve finished wrapping the gifts for the toy drive and loading them up into the OLFD utility vehicle.
I’m taking Fruitcake for a walk and trying to resist the urge to build another snowman while I explain to my friend that I won’t be making it back to the city, after all. Honestly, it’s weird how much she can discern simply by the tone of my voice.
“How so?” I ask, although I have to admit, Ifeeldifferent than I did when I first arrived in Owl Lake. The bracelet is making me look at my life in a new light. I’m not quite sure how to explain it, but I definitely feel a little less lost than I did a few days ago.
“For starters, you haven’t mentioned Jeremy in a while.”
Right. Jeremy—the man I thought I wanted to marry. “The more I think about it, the more I realize how different Jeremy and I are. I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner.”
“Maybe this trip home has been a good thing,” Maya says, but then she sighs. “Although, I have to ask—you’re really giving up on the promotion?”
Fruitcake romps gleefully at the end of his leash, tossing snow into the air with his nose. I should probably tell my roommate that I’ve got a dog now. She’s going to think I’m losing my mind. Maybe I am. “I’m sure. It’s hard to explain…things have gotten sort of complicated.”
“You keep saying that and then just leaving it there, like I won’t understand, but I’m your best friend, remember? I can’t send gingerbread ice cream through the phone for us to share, but I’m right here and I’m listening. What’s going on?”
“Do you believe in magic?” I blurt.
There’s a loaded silence on the other end of the line before Maya responds. “What sort of magic?”
“Christmas magic.” I swallow. She’s going to think I hit my head or something and now I believe I’m a character in a Christmas movie. “Let me explain.”
“I’m all ears,” Maya says, and her voice is etched with concern.
I tell her everything, starting with the eventful train ride home and ending with the jingle sound that the bracelet made this morning after Aidan and I had finished wrapping the Christmas gifts for the toy drive. I don’t leave out a single detail, and even though Maya doesn’t say a word while I get it all out, it feels good to finally tell her what’s been going on.
When I’m finally finished, I slow to a stop and look around. Fruitcake pants, and his breath comes out in little puffs in the cold air. We’ve made it almost all the way around the walking trail surrounding Owl Lake. There’s a group of children having an ice-skating lesson on this side of the lake, and they look adorable as they wobble across the frozen surface of the water.
I hold my breath as I wait for Maya to say something.
“So what you’re saying is that a mystery woman who looked like Mrs. Claus left you a magical charm bracelet, and now all the wishes you made twenty years ago that are represented by the charms are coming true?” She enunciates each word with extreme care.
“That’s about it, yes.”
“I told you that you’d have the Christmas of your dreams,” she says with a definite note of triumph in her tone.
I can’t help but laugh. “You did, didn’t you?”
“So that’s the entire story? There isn’t anything else I should know, is there?”
Fruitcake goes into a play bow and wags his tail while he watches the young skaters. Everywhere the dog goes, he seems enthralled by what’s going on around him. He lives completely in the moment, awestruck by the magic of everyday life. Thanks to him—and thanks to the bracelet—I’m beginning to do the same.
