“I asked her if she wanted to sit on the carriage and smile and wave at people and say ‘Merry Christmas,’ that it would be a good way for her to see the town and for everybody in town to get to know her.”
She slaps the steering wheel. “I’m so proud of you! What a great way to welcome someone to town! And you finally know her name! What is it?” Ben’s face falls as he turns to look at his mom. “What’s wrong?”
“I forgot to ask her her name.”
They laugh all the way home.
TWENTY-SEVEN
By the time Lauren shows up at nine the next morning, the floats are lined up, and cars and trucks are parked along the road and on the grass of the parks department. She finds a spot farther down the road and hoofs it back to the parks department, looking for Ben. Her breath makes small clouds in the air and she pulls her scarf up over her mouth. Maria Delgado wears a bright red coat with yellow gloves as she directs a tractor pulling a long-bed trailer covered with hay bales. Football players and cheerleaders from the local high school each hold a red sack, no doubt filled with candy for the parade route. She spots Ben in front of a table at the hot chocolate dispenser and runs to catch him.
“Ben!”
“Lauren?” Stacy peers around Ben.
“Hey, Stacy! I thought you’d be at the gazebo.” She notices that Ben is wearing a white sash draped from shoulder to waist, with red lettering that reads GRAND MARSHAL.
Ben looks at his mom and Lauren. “You know each other?”
“You know Stacy?” Lauren asks.
“She’s my mom!”
Stacy moves from the hot chocolate line, looking at Ben. “How do you know Lauren?”
“I met her at the store and asked her to ride on the carriage with me.”
Stacy smacks her forehead. “You are kidding me! How did we not talk about this?”
“You told me your son worked at a grocery store but there are a lot of grocery stores and I just never thought about Ben being your son.”
“I never knew you went to Clauson’s,” Stacy says.
“I went there the first day for something quick to eat and got a message from Ben, so like everybody else, I just kept going back for more. It was so awesome of him to ask me to do this.”
Ben smiles and reaches for a hot chocolate, handing it to her. “I have a confession, though,” he says, glancing at Stacy. “I never knew your name. Not even last night when I asked you to ride in the carriage for the parade.”
Lauren bends over laughing, careful not to spill the hot chocolate. “That makes this even more awesome!”
When all the floats and bands are in place Maria directs Ben and Lauren to take their places on top of the first carriage. A beautiful brown horse named Major has his own wreath of green around his neck and swags of evergreen decorate the simple red carriage. Ben and Lauren take their seats as Maria places a red wool blanket over their legs. “Remember! Wave and throw candy and wish everyone a Merry Christmas,” she says, handing them two large red sacks filled with candy. “Thanks again for leading our parade, Ben!”
Lauren spots Travis standing in front of the parks department building and she waves. “Merry Christmas!” she yells, getting his attention.
Surprised, he waves as the carriage pulls away. “What’s going on?” he yells after her.
“I’m riding with the grand marshal!” She is laughing and her face is bright and pink in the cold, which makes Travis smile.
People applaud and cheer as the horse pulling the carriage for Ben and Lauren approaches. She watches his face and remembers from science class in high school that we can’t see light itself. We can only see what it lights up: a beaming point in a black sky, a candle’s flame in a dark home, or a hand reaching out for us from the shadows on a moon-bright night. God lights up Ben and that light splashes onto everyone he meets. She listens as the crowd calls out to Ben; he isn’t just some guy who works at the grocery store. He is part of this family. He turns to her, waving to people on her side of the carriage and his face is electric. He waves his arm in front of her, trying to get someone’s attention. “Merry Christmas, Mr. Borroli!” He looks at her. “My old history teacher.” He waves and shouts and throws candy as if his life depends on it. “Isn’t this great?”
She waves with abandon, using both arms to throw out Christmas cheer for somebody who may be like she was a few weeks ago, looking for a place to belong, a place to call her own, looking for the light that beams from Ben’s face onto everyone standing along the parade route. “It is so great, Ben!” she yells. They travel down Oak Street, then Fourth Street before the horse clip-clops its way onto Main Street. They will travel around the entire square, waving at shopkeepers, bankers, restaurant staff, firemen, and the librarians who have left the front desk to watch the parade. She hears her name coming from the crowd and smiles when she sees both Holly and Betty, in front of Betty’s Bakery, waving and shouting at her.
She laughs out loud when the carriage approaches the gazebo and she sees the children from Glory’s Place holding up makeshift signs made from lyric sheets that spell out W-E L-O-V-E Y-O-U L-A-U-R-E-N! Stacy, Gloria and Marshall, Miriam, Dalton and Heddy shout and wave the bright green scarves in the air as the carriage passes.
“What a great day!” Ben hollers, throwing candy to the kids.
Lauren shouts above the noise of the crowd. “It’s the best day of my life!”
* * *
She had to park her car several blocks away and is out of breath when she arrives at the gazebo. The area is covered with parade onlookers who are now scoping out the silent auction items for Glory’s Place. She smiles when she sees Gloria waving both arms over her head to get her attention. “We had no idea you were going to have such a place of honor in the parade today,” she says, standing between two tables. “I always knew that Ben Engler was a brilliant, discerning young man.”
“It looked like it was great fun,” Miriam says, adjusting the bright green scarf around her neck.
Lauren smiles. “It was so much fun!” Someone squeezes her hand and Lauren looks down. Cassondra is adorable in a white fluffy hat with flaps that cover her ears and tassels that tie beneath her chin.
“I wish I could have ridden on the carriage with you!”
“That would’ve been great!” Lauren says.
“Look at our beautiful auction!” Gloria says, spreading her arms.
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t be here to help you set up,” Lauren says, looking over the items.
“Are you kidding?” Gloria says, moving out of the way of potential shoppers. “And have you miss the parade!”
Something catches Lauren’s eye on a table, and as she walks toward it she can hear Gloria talking in the background but can’t make out the words. She stops in front of the table and gasps. Cassondra opens her arms like a magician’s assistant about to present the next bit of magic. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
Lauren’s face is solemn as her mouth drops open. “It can’t be.”
“Is something wrong?” Gloria asks, watching her.
Lauren runs her fingers over the lettering on top, muttering the words beneath her breath. “The Lord says, ‘I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you’.” Tears pool in her eyes as she reads the words over and over again. She opens the lid and feels a stream of tears sliding down her cheeks when she sees the letter L scratched into the wood on the underside.
“What’s wrong?” Cassondra asks.
Lauren scoops up the box and kneels in front of Cassondra. “This was my box when I was a little girl.” Her voice begins to tremble. “My aunt gave this to me when I was younger than you. How did you get it?”
Cassondra doesn’t know what to make of what Lauren is saying. “It was in my doctor’s office and he gave it to me.”
“And Cassondra gave it to me for the auction,” Gloria says, looking at the box and then at Lauren. “I knew it had a special purpose for the auction! I
just knew it!” She points to the box. “That verse wasn’t random all those years ago. God has been guiding you and watching over you all along.” Lauren stares at the words, trying to put the pieces together.
“I kept dreams inside of it and I thought it would be perfect for the auction,” Cassondra says. She studies Lauren’s face. “How can it be your box from when you were little?”
Lauren wipes a tear off her face and begins to laugh. “I think it’s one of those Christmas miracles that Miss Glory talks about. But I would never have known about it if you hadn’t donated this box to the auction. You are a huge part of this miracle!” She looks at Gloria. “You both are!” Cassondra beams and throws her arms around Lauren’s neck.
“And just wait until you hear Miriam’s role in this whole thing,” Gloria says, winking. “This box was meant to be here!”
Miracles occur in the most unlikely places and in the most unusual ways. Sometimes, we just need to get out of the way and let them happen.
* * *
If it is cold, no one seems to notice. The sounds of Christmas ring out from the gazebo, echoing off the clock tower of the courthouse to the steeple of the church, from the rooftop of Wilson’s to the doorway of Betty’s Bakery. “Away in a Manger,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Joy to the World,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “The First Noel,” “Silent Night,” and so many other beloved songs and carols fill that magnificent square with the reminder of the joy and promise and peace and miracle that is Christmas.
Lauren holds on to her box, unable to set it down for even a moment, and is surrounded by Gloria and her husband, Marshall; Miriam; Ben and his dad, Jacob, and sister, Lucy; Dalton and Heddy; Cassondra’s mom, Maria, and her dad, Craig; and Travis, who is right next to her as they watch Stacy lead the children of Glory’s Place through one glorious song after another.
And Lauren smiles in the midst of them.
Also by Donna VanLiere
The Christmas Light
Christmas Keepsakes
The Good Dream
The Christmas Note
The Christmas Journey
The Christmas Secret
Finding Grace
The Christmas Promise
The Angels of Morgan Hill
The Christmas Shoes
The Christmas Blessing
The Christmas Hope
About the Author
Donna VanLiere is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Good Dream, Finding Grace, The Angels of Morgan Hill, and eight Christmas books, including the perennial favorites The Christmas Shoes and The Christmas Hope. She travels as a speaker and lives in Franklin, Tennessee, with her husband and three children. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Epigraph
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Also by Donna VanLiere
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE CHRISTMAS TOWN. Copyright © 2016 by Donna VanLiere. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Michael Storrings
Cover photo-illustration by Reginald Polynice
Cover photographs: snow © designelements / Shutterstock; tree in truck © Arina P Habich / Shutterstock; road © Snowshill / Shutterstock; wreath © Kellis / Shutterstock; lampposts © James Hackland / Alamy Stock Photo; town © Cosmo Condina North America / Alamy Stock Photo; gazebo © Danita Delimont / Alamy Stock Photo; truck © Joseph Sohn / Shutterstock
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-01067-4 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-13166-9 (signed edition)
ISBN 978-1-250-01068-1 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781250010681
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
First Edition: October 2016
The Christmas Town Page 15