Page 61 of Let Me Hold You

“Speaking of work, I haven’t told you that my cousin is expanding Christmastown to the greater Atlanta area, and asked me to submit my resume as the regional warehouse manager.”

“Interesting.” Another sign that Levi would continue to stay in Atlanta while she would start a new life in Florida. Maggie’s eyes teared as she looked away. “When is the grand opening?”

Levi stopped at a traffic light. “He didn’t say but I’m guessing July. I think he wants the metro market next Christmas season.”

“It’s a corporation so they’ll pay more, I’m sure.”

“Yes, but that’s not why I would consider it. I’ll only go if the Lord directs me to.”

“How do you think the Lord would direct you?” Maggie wiped her eyes.

“Providing for my future family, for example.” Levi didn’t seem to notice Maggie’s angst.

Lord, I have to let him go. Right now, in the name of Jesus, I let Levi go.

Goodbye, Levi.

Oblivious to Maggie’s prayer, Levi kept his eyes on the road. “Left fork, we go back to the Village and check out the bazaar. Right fork, we go back to your house. What do you think?”

“I’ve been so busy these couple of weeks that I haven’t had time to check out the bazaar.” Maggie’s face brightened. “I guess we have a little bit of time now that the house is cleared and most of the packing and moving are done.”

“Left it is.” Levi flicked on his turn signal. Traffic picked up as they headed toward Midtown Village which was sandwiched between Fulton and DeKalb counties.

They circled the parking lot a couple of times before they found parking.

“I expected it to be this busy.” Levi parked his truck.

The sunny day made this a warmer-than-usual mid-December, but Maggie kept her jacket on because of the wind. She wished she had worn a baseball hat or something because she wasn’t at work, and now she would be seen with Levi, their non-relationship on full display.

On the other hand, they would probably be in a crowd of strangers and nobody cared.

Maggie waited for Levi to lock his truck. He came around the hood.

Maggie was walking down the sidewalk toward the first booth when she felt a warm hand on hers.

Startled, she looked down.

It was Levi’s hand.

“What are you doing?” Maggie asked.

“I’m holding my best friend’s hand. Is that not allowed?” He grinned. Charming.

“We’re not kids.” She pulled her hand away.

“We held hands on the night of the Christmas concert last week, remember?”

“That was because you wanted to show Soline sitting in the balcony that you’ve moved on. I was basically one of the props on stage.”

“Props? That never crossed my mind.”

“Oh?” Maggie got curious. “Was it the crowd then? I was pushed back and we almost got separated.”

Levi nodded. “Yeah, I didn’t want to lose you then.”

That was a loaded statement.

“And I don’t want to lose you now.” Levi reached for her hand again. Wove his fingers into hers.

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