The Most Wonderful Time

by Fern Michaels

  “Dad, what are you gonna ask Santa to bring you for Christmas?”

  He chuckled. He’d just spent a small fortune on their new home. He thought that enough, but knew this wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear. “I think I need a new wallet.” He told her, knowing she would tell Nan, and together, they would shop for a new wallet so Lily would have a gift for him come Christmas.

  He’d splurged last night and bought Nan and Phillip a two-week Caribbean cruise for Christmas. They never took vacations like they had when Anna was alive. He knew for a fact the only reason they didn’t was so they would be there for Lily and him. While he’d waited for the real estate agent to send his offer to the homeowner, he’d scoured the Internet, not really looking for anything in particular, just something to kill time while he waited. When he saw the cruise package, he’d decided on the spot this would be his gift to his in-laws. Before he changed his mind, he’d booked the cruise, and now he hoped that they would enjoy themselves.

  The line moved faster than he thought, and it was finally Lily’s turn to crawl up onto Santa’s lap and tell him what she wanted for Christmas. While he watched her, he couldn’t help but grin. She was talking the poor guy’s ear off. Probably telling him about the cat box.

  “Sir, would you like a photo?” a young girl dressed as an elf asked.

  “Absolutely,” he said, and handed her his credit card. As soon as business was taken care of, the photographer posed Lily, and she grinned. Snap—the flash from the camera capturing another moment in time.

  Lily stood next to him as they waited for their picture. The attendant placed her picture in a Christmas frame and placed the frame in a plastic bag.

  “Can we get a cookie?” Lily asked. “They smell sooooo good.”

  “Get me, buy me, take me, I want. Yack yack yack,” Ryan teased, as they headed over to the Cookie Factory. “You are one spoiled little lady, but you already know that, right?”

  “Grandma says I’m spoiled, too, but in a good way. Is she right?”

  “She is. So what did you ask Santa to bring you this year?” Ryan asked.

  “I thought if you tell, it won’t come true, so I can’t tell you.”

  “It’s okay to tell. It’s the birthday wish you’re supposed to keep secret,” Ryan said, as they waited their turn in line.

  “Okay, Dad. I’ll try to remember, but if I don’t, tell me again, okay?” Lily replied. “I asked for a puppy.”

  His daughter brought such joy to his life, all he could do was shake his head and grin. Maybe a pup wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Their house was too quiet at times. A pup would certainly liven things up a bit. He would visit the local shelter as soon as possible.

  “Can I help you?” the barista asked when it was his turn to order.

  “Four sugar cookies and two large cartons of milk.” Ryan dug a twenty-dollar bill from his pocket and handed it to the teen. Feeling charitable, he said, “Keep the change.”

  The big tip brought a smile to the kid’s face. “Thanks,” he said, and handed him four of the largest sugar cookies he’d ever seen.

  They sat at one of the tables in the center of the mall. Ryan watched the people as they raced about with cell phones glued to their ears and shopping bags stuck in their grip.

  The mall was crowded. He didn’t see any of his teachers or students, which was unusual, as it was a small town and he was the principal of the only elementary school in town. Not that he minded. He enjoyed watching the people as they went from store to store.

  He had no more had the thought when he spotted a familiar face. He lit up like a string of bright Christmas lights. His heartbeat increased, and he felt like a kid at Christmas. Ryan was about to stand up and call out to her when she spotted him sitting at the table.

  She waved, and he stood up, motioning for her to come and join them. He wanted her to meet Lily. And he wanted to meet Keira and Matthew, too. She had talked so much about them last night, he felt he knew them a little bit.

  “Brandy, great to see you,” he said, and took her hand in his.

  “Ryan, uh, hi. I didn’t realize you were going to the mall today,” she said, and instantly wished she hadn’t. She sounded like a young girl with a crush.

  “I didn’t either until Lily asked to go this morning.” He looked at his daughter, whose mouth was covered in cookie crumbs and a milk mustache. “This is my daughter, Lily.” Lily smiled and waved.

  “Hi, you want some of my cookies? They’re way too big, and Daddy made pancakes for breakfast this morning, so I am very full. I asked Santa Claus to bring me a puppy for Christmas.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lily. Your dad has told me a lot about you.” Keira and Matthew lingered in the background, each laden with bags from their favorite store. She suddenly remembered they were there. “This is Keira and Matthew.”

  “I’m Ryan, and this is my daughter, Lily,” Ryan said, and held his hand out for them to shake.

  “Aren’t you the principal at Pelican Elementary?” Matthew asked. “I think I remember you from when I was a student there,” he said.

  “I am, and you look a little familiar to me, too, though I have to be honest, I see hundreds of kids who used to go to school there. Some I really remember because they spent most of their time in my office. I don’t recall ever seeing you there.”

  Keira laughed with Matthew. “He was the perfect little student,” she explained. “Me, on the other hand, well, I might’ve been in the office a time or two, but you weren’t the principal when I attended Pelican.”

  Ryan looked at Brandy. “Why don’t you all have a seat? I can get you something to drink. A cookie?” He looked at Keira and Matthew when he invited them to join him and Lily.

  Lily had been quiet for almost a full minute. She motioned for Keira to take the seat next to her. Keira grinned and sat down. Matthew sat beside Brandy, who sat next to Ryan.

  “Would any of you like something to drink or eat?” Ryan asked. “These cookies are pure bliss.”

  “I’ll have one,” Matthew said, surprising Brandy. His sullenness had lifted like a rain cloud. His former shyness was now nonexistent.

  Ryan looked to Keira, then at Brandy. “No, thank you,” Keira said.

  Again, Brandy was stunned by the total and complete about-face her kids had made. After all the crying, pouting, and shouting from days ago, their change was still a bit of a surprise. Sure that Linnie had had a hand in this, she would ask her, but later. Now all she wanted to do was soak up the holiday atmosphere and get to know Ryan and Lily, and she could only hope that they wanted to get to know her family, too.

  “So you have a boyfriend?” Lily asked Keira.

  Everyone laughed.

  “Lily, remember what I told you about asking personal questions?” Ryan said, a bit too seriously. He didn’t want Keira to feel embarrassed. He knew how teenagers were.

  “No. I forgot,” she answered, and again, they all laughed.

  “It’s okay, Ryan. I don’t mind. Lily, I do not have a boyfriend, but I am always on the lookout for one.” She ruffled the little girl’s hair. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

  “No, but Cara does. She’s my best friend. She likes Tyler Banfield. He picks his nose. Cara isn’t in Mrs. Pellegrino’s class, so she doesn’t see him. It’s so gross. I don’t like boys,” she said firmly.

  “Lily! Where are your manners!” Ryan softly admonished.

  “Sorry, but he does pick his nose, ask Lisa,” she insisted, refusing to back down.

  “Matthew, let’s leave these girls alone and get some more cookies. Something tells me Lily will keep your mother and sister entertained.”

  Matthew laughed. “She’s a cute kid.” He followed Ryan back to the Cookie Factory.

  “Mom, tell me how you know Ryan. When in the world did you meet him? He’s a total hunk,” Keira asked.

  Brandy’s face turned beet red. “Keira!” She directed her gaze to Lily, wh
o was listening to their conversation.

  “I know what a hunk is. All the teachers at school say Daddy’s a hunk. He is sad sometimes at night. I hear him.”

  “Oh, sweetie,” Brandy said. “Of course he’s sad. He lost your mother.” She knew it was okay to say this because over coffee last night Ryan told her Lily really had no memory of her mother other than photos and what he told her.

  “I know, but that’s not why he’s sad. Grandma told me that he needed to find someone to love again, so he wouldn’t be so lonely.”

  Brandy’s heart skipped a beat. So there was hope after all.

  “My mom does, too,” Keira added. “She needs to find someone, too.” Her daughter never took her eyes off her while she said this. Was this her way of telling her it was okay to meet someone? To possibly fall in love again?

  She didn’t have a chance to question her about it because Ryan and Matthew returned with a pile of cookies, cups of hot coffee, and cartons of chocolate milk.

  For the next half hour, they munched on the cookies and talked about the upcoming holiday. “Lily and I were going to search for a live tree today. If you don’t have any plans, why don’t the three of you join us?”

  “I have to go to band practice this afternoon,” Matthew said.

  “I’m meeting some friends at Starbucks,” Keira offered.

  “I wanna go with you, too, but only if Brandy comes? Will you go with us? Please, please please!”

  If Brandy didn’t know better, she would think she was being fixed up by an eight-year-old.

  Ryan looked at her, and in the sweetest voice he said, “Please?”

  At that moment, the ice surrounding her heart began to melt.

  Epilogue

  December 20

  It was going to be the most amazing day this year, yet the strangest. For the past three weeks, she and Ryan had spent as much time together as possible. Their kids were thrilled, and they were, too.

  She thought she might be falling a little bit in love, but how could she when such a short time had passed, and she’d been in full-blown-grief mode when they had met.

  Almost.

  Tonight, she, Keira, and Matthew would celebrate Jeff ’s life. With Ryan and Lily. They’d made plans to go to one of Jeff’s favorite restaurants for dinner, and afterward planned to go to the beach for a short ceremony in Jeff’s honor.

  When that was over, they were all going back to Ryan’s new home, which just so happened to be two blocks from hers. He said he wanted her to meet Lily’s grandparents, who she knew were Anna’s parents, but he’d assured her they weren’t uncomfortable at all. Since it was to be a celebration of sorts, she’d asked if she could invite Linda and Dylan. He agreed.

  She’d told him of her friendship, how much Linnie meant to her, and how she’d changed her kids’ life in one night. Brandy had begged Linda to tell her what magic she’d performed that night when she’d taken Keira and Matthew to dinner, but she’d promised them that she wouldn’t discuss it, and Brandy knew for a fact that Linda always kept her promises. Someday, maybe Keira or Matthew would tell her, but it really didn’t matter. They were the best kids in the world, and Lily, too. She and her kids had fallen in love with the spirited little girl the past few weeks.

  They met at Sakura’s, Jeff’s favorite Japanese steak house.

  Brandy wore a new dress she’d purchased last week. Dark green and clingy in all the right places without being too obvious that she was showing off her figure. She’d asked Keira to do her hair and makeup. When she looked in the mirror, she realized she didn’t look like the woman of a few weeks ago. Her eyes were brighter, her cheeks glistened, and her attitude was totally changed. She reeked positivity. Even her coworkers at the library had commented on the change.

  “You look ten years younger, Mom,” Keira said as she applied her own lipstick.

  “And you are the most gorgeous girl in the world,” Brandy said, giving her a hug.

  “And Lily, too,” Keira added. “I’ve become quite attached to that little minx. I’ve always wanted a little sister.”

  “Really? I never knew.” Brandy was thrilled with this information. She loved Lily, and knew as time passed, she would come to love her as much as she loved her own children. She looked at her watch. “If we’re going to make our seven o’clock reservation, we’d better get a move on.”

  Keira dropped her lipstick in her purse. “Then let’s get out of here.”

  Matthew was waiting in the living room. He wore khakis and one of his father’s shirts. Brandy enjoyed seeing him like this. She was sorry that she hadn’t allowed him access to his father’s things sooner. Two days ago, she’d cleared all of Jeff’s clothes, books, and belongings out of her room. She’d donated some and kept things that would hold a special memory for the kids. She had put all of Jeff’s clothing in a giant tote in Matthew’s room. He could keep what he wanted, and after the holidays, they all agreed they would donate the rest of his possessions.

  Thirty minutes later, the five of them were seated at the hibachi grill, where their chef delighted in entertaining them while he prepared their dinners.

  He made a giant heart with a mound of rice, then slid a metal spatula beneath it, then slowly made it rise so that it looked like a beating heart.

  In a heavily accented voice, he told Lily, “This is good for you.”

  She smiled. Someone, presumably Nan, had fixed her long, brown hair into a French braid, securing it with a bright pink ribbon. She wore pink leggings with sparkles, and a silver shirt with little pink hearts on it. Brandy’s heart melted when she saw her.

  “Brandy, is that stuff really good for me?” she asked her.

  “Yes, it is, but between us, brown rice is much healthier.”

  When Brandy was around, Lily asked her questions all the time. She knew that the little girl was crazy about her, and the feeling was mutual. Keira and Matthew adored her, and recently they’d started referring to her as their adopted little sister. Neither she nor Ryan had objected when they’d heard them explaining their relationship to strangers.

  The chef spent the next half hour flipping shrimp tails through the air, tossing eggs so high, the group caught their breath when they’d disappeared from sight, then landed on the chef’s steel spatula.

  “Jeff loved it here,” she said to Ryan. “Whenever we had a chance to splurge on dinner, this is where we came. Lots of good memories here.”

  Keira and Matthew told Ryan about the time one of the chefs had tossed an egg high in the air only to have it land smack-dab in the inside of their mom’s new purse, one she’d just bought that day.

  The food was fabulous, but the company was out of this world, Brandy thought, as they made their way back to their cars. She had yet to visit Ryan’s new home, and she was excited yet a bit nervous about meeting Anna’s family.

  The trip to the beach was a bit somber. Brandy and the kids wrote Jeff’s name in the sand and then they all stood back and watched as the incoming waves slowly washed it away. But when Jeff ’s name in the sand was slowly smoothed over by the lapping waves, Brandy felt like something in her had been released.

  “Are you two okay?” she asked the kids as they headed back to the car.

  They both nodded, and Keira said, “We’ve been okay for a long time, Mom. You’re the one who wasn’t okay. Until now.” Brandy wrapped her arms around both of her children and realized how blessed she was to have them.

  The spirit of Christmas had taken on a whole new meaning for her. She would never take anything or anyone for granted, ever again. And, now that she had finally admitted her scheme, she would always be grateful to Linda for calling every single member of the Friends of the Library to tell them it was imperative that they cancel. Though Linda hadn’t planned on her meeting Ryan, she knew that Brandy decorating the tree by herself would start her on the road to healing.

  When they pulled into the grand, circular drive on Seahorse Lane, they were somewhat taken aback. The house
was five times the size of their own. Christmas lights in red, green, and white were strung on the gutters; the windows, and the giant palm trees in the front yard were trimmed in white and green lights. Giant tubs of poinsettias flanked the massive doorway.

  Just as she raised her hand to ring the doorbell, the door was opened by an older woman with short, silver hair and a welcoming smile. Lily stood next to her.

  “You must be Brandy; I’m Nan,” she said gracefully before turning to the kids. “And this must be Keira and Matthew, who Lily can’t seem to stop talking about. It’s wonderful to finally meet all of you. Please come inside.”

  “I told you she was pretty, didn’t I?” Lily said to her grandmother.

  “You certainly did, and I agree one hundred percent,” Nan said.

  Nan led her to the living room, where a live tree, at least ten feet tall, stood by the giant glass windows. Ryan hurried across the room to greet them. “So, what do you think?”

  Brandy was overwhelmed, then she saw Linda and Dylan chatting with an older man who she knew had to be Phillip. Linda practically leaped across the room.

  “Well, don’t you look like someone who’s just jumped out of a bandbox.” She kissed Brandy, then hugged the kids.

  “Lily, why don’t you show Keira and Matthew around,” Ryan said. “Excuse me, but I have something I need to take care of. And quickly.”

  Brandy nodded and followed Linda to where Dylan was in deep conversation with Phillip. After the introductions were made, Brandy found herself feeling beyond happy, and it showed.

  “Why are you two here already?” she asked Linda, who handed her a glass of white wine. “I thought you were coming later.”

  “We’ve known Ryan for years. The girls go to school at Pelican, and Dylan and Phillip used to do business together.”

  “And the world keeps getting smaller and smaller,” Brandy said, smiling.

  Ryan came back in the room with a box that seemed to have a mind of its own. “Nan, could you ask Lily, Matthew, and Keira to come inside for a minute, or else I’m not sure about”—he looked at the box—“this.”