Page 69 of Healing Hearts at the Christmas Inn
"How did you know?" Trinity's eyes widened, then fell. "Is it that obvious?"
"Trin..." Maddy squeezed her arm. "You haven't seen him in almost three years, of course, that’s what you’re going to wish for."
Three years.
The words nearly knocked Jane over. Three years since Trinity had seen her father. Three years since Jane's accident. Three years since she'd lost everything that mattered.
"What were you saying about a ripple effect, Jane?" Trinity's voice pulled her back from the edge of the dark abyss she'd been about to fall into for the second time that night.
Jane forced herself to focus. "Yes. Say you wished that your father would come home. My grandmother..." She glanced to where Julie and William stood a few feet away, talking intimately. "She would say that when the wish came true, it would be because his coming home served other purposes too. Like maybe on his way here, he stopped to help someone whosecar broke down, and that person made it to the hospital in time to say goodbye to a loved one. Or his presence here inspired someone else to do something brave. Wishes ripple outward, touching lives in ways we can't predict. So one wish coming true isn’t just one wish; it could be hundreds that come true because of it."
"I'm surprised you remembered that, sweetheart," Julie said, appearing beside them so silently that Jane jumped. Julie turned and smiled at the girls, then looked at Jane and held out a card and pen. "Come now. It's your turn to make a wish, Jane."
Jane looked at the card. There was only one thing she'd ever wish for, and that would require turning back time. So why bother?
"No thanks, Gran. I'm good," Jane said.
The girls immediately protested, insisting she make a wish. Jane refused, shaking her head.
William stepped forward. "How about this? The girls make a wish for you."
Jane opened her mouth to argue, but Trinity and Maddy had already taken the card and were huddled together, whispering conspiratorially.
"What are you two writing there?" Jane asked, trying to see.
"No!" Maddy got between them. "Nope. If you look, it won't come true."
"Yes, Jane," Julie said, her eyes twinkling. "You can only look after Christmas."
"That's not fair," Jane protested.
"Come on, let's get you a candy cane," William said, taking Jane's arm and leading her away toward the counter.
Jane glanced back at the girls, who were bent over the card with serious expressions, and felt something warm unfurl in her chest. They cared about her. These two twelve-year-olds who barely knew her cared enough to make a wish on her behalf. And for the first Christmas in three years, Jane felt a bit of the magic she’d once believed in coming back.
JULIE
Julie watched the girls finish writing Jane's wish, their heads bent close together, whispering. Trinity wrote carefully while Maddy guided her thoughts, both of them concentrating with the seriousness children brought to important tasks.
When they finished, they looked up at Julie expectantly.
"Can I read it?" Julie asked.
The girls exchanged glances, then nodded. They handed her the small card.
Julie read it, and her eyes misted over:
We wish that Jane's heart gets mended and she's blessed with everlasting happiness.
"Oh, girls," Julie whispered, pressing the card to her chest. "That's beautiful."
"We want to hang it by the angel," Trinity said softly. "At the very top of the tree. So it has the best chance of coming true."
Julie looked up at the massive tree, at the angel perched at its peak, glowing softly in the lights. She turned to William, who was still talking with Jane at the counter.
"William," Julie called. "Can you get us to the top of the tree?"
He looked over, saw the card in her hand and the determined expressions on the girls' faces, and smiled. "Of course."
