She shoved against the car door. “I can come back for the last couple of boxes,” she said. “I have until Monday morning to clear everything out of the building.” A piece of hair fell into her face, and she wiped her brow and moved the strand of hair out of her light blue eyes.
“When will the moving company come?” he asked her. The draw to this passionate woman who cared about this service project was too great to leave just yet.
“Hopefully tonight. I don’t want to miss them. Maybe I’ll wait around for a little longer.”
Curiosity struck him. “They just took everything else out of the building and moved, leaving you to do the rest by yourself?”
She shrugged, her shoulder lifting against her dark, curly hair. “I have a feeling they’re all just as heartbroken about not putting on the Forest Festival. My aunt did a lot of good with it, but I can’t tell if they really couldn’t pull it off in the time frame or if without my aunt, they’re really unsure what to do. At any rate, they’re going in a different direction. The wrecking ball comes Monday.”
He glanced back at the building. The structure was old, but not old enough to be considered classic or historical. It was an outdated structure. He held a box in his arms. “I can put this in my car and follow you home.”
“I know we’ve had a good time loading up these boxes, but I’m not about to take you home with me.” Her eyes sparkled.
Troy’s jaw slacked. That was not what he’d meant. “I’m just trying to be helpful,” he said. What he wanted to do was win a bet, that’s why he’d come.
She tilted her head at him. “Aren’t you a little old to be a Boy Scout?”
He smiled, enjoying the banter. He could play along. “There is no age limit. I’ll be working on my knot tying and bird house building merit badges next week.”
She grinned. “Impressive.”
“What can I say? I’m an impressive guy.”
She rolled her eyes. “Cocky much?”
“Not usually. It must be the cold air; I forgot my coat.”
“Some Boy Scout,” she smirked.
“Ha! Touché!”
Wind picked up, bringing a chill in the air as the sun continued to sink toward the horizon.
“If the movers come today, I can always have them bring the extra boxes to my aunt’s house.” She looked around the stacks surrounding them at the front of the building, though they were still not finished emptying the storage room. “Now I feel bad that I thought you were the moving company,”
He waved a hand in the air. “Don’t feel bad. Boy scout, remember? Happy to help.” He wasn’t in his suit. It was fine to be mistaken for normal. Actually, it was quite refreshing.
She laughed at the joke. “I’ll call Edna again and see if I can get a time on the movers,” she said.
He nodded, watching as she paced on the leaf-covered sidewalk, twisting a lock of brown hair as she left a message. It gave him a brief moment to collect his thoughts. Hailey was intriguing and beautiful. The way her eyes lit up during their banter, and when she’d showed him the letters had captured him. There was a spark there. The wind picked up and she hugged her arms around her when she walked back to where he’d been standing.
“We could wait inside while they come,” he said, his pulse racing more as her blue eyes gazed at him. Her eyes were a light, captivating blue.
“You don’t have to wait. You’ve already done plenty,” she said.
He weighed his plans for the evening. Originally he thought he’d spend most of the evening brainstorming about how to help and be involved with the charity event, but now, it was either stay and get to know Hailey, or head to his hotel that was down the street, and search for another opportunity.
“I don’t have anything pressing,” he said. “Why don’t we move a few more boxes and you can tell me about your aunt and the Forest Festival.”
He opened the door for her, and they headed back to the storage room for another box of ornaments.
She nodded. “My aunt started it. Her nephew was really sick at the time, it was before I was born. He’d been in and out of hospitals for months. Each time they were moved to a new city to run more tests, his parents would stay at hotels or with friends if they knew someone close. It was a lot of strain on them financially. When they came to Red Oaks, they stayed with my aunt Helena, but their costs had been so high that my aunt wanted to raise money for them and others like them that had drained their bank accounts while their kids were in hospitals.” She paused.
Troy watched as her features scrunched together and smoothed out, like she was trying to think of the right words. Normally he would have asked a question, or made a comment, but he felt more than anything that silence would be the best thing in the moment. They balanced a large box between them. The box didn’t weigh much, but the size and shape made it awkward to carry it alone.
Once they put the box down, Hailey cleared her throat, and they moved back to the storage room for the next. “It was nearing Christmas, and my aunt decided to work with the Children’s Hospital here to see if she could raise awareness and money at the same time. They agreed to help. She went from business to business asking for donations. She didn’t have a place to hold the charity event, but she knew the owner of the tree farm. They held it just after Thanksgiving that first year, at the tree farm lot. To make it a little more festive, my aunt brought a bunch of decorations for the trees. During the event they ended up auctioning off the trees as a last-minute idea and the idea has stuck ever since. After that first year they moved the event indoors, but they kept the idea of auctioning off decorated Christmas trees since then.” She inhaled a deep breath, like what she’d said had removed all of the oxygen from her.
Troy walked next to her, trying to read the look on her profile. “It sounds like a worthy cause—an amazing event.” Was this how Kyle felt when he worked with his charity, Happy Moments? His heart tugged at the idea. Something like the Forest Festival would create Christmas in a whole new way.
“It really was. I rarely missed a year of coming to the festival.” She moved toward a box, grabbing one end, and he quickly took the other. “The aroma of the cinnamon from the cinnamon rolls is the first thing to hit you as you walk through the doors. The smell of the cinnamon and the fresh pine trees smell like Christmas. Over in one corner groups of carolers would take turns singing songs for the patrons. Some come dressed up in old-fashioned coats, scarves, and top hats, like they’re straight out of a Dicken’s novel.”
They put the box down, repeating the process of walking back to the storage room. “Tell me more,” he said.
“Rows and rows of Christmas trees through the entire events center makes the room feel like a forest—like wandering through the wonder of Narnia. Every tree is unique, but the entire things works together. I’d always pick out the tree that I would bid on if I had the money, and I would always guess which one would go for the highest bid. Santa is in the North Pole, greeting children. Performers dance and sing. It’s noisy and crowded with people, and it’s one of the best moments walking through the aisles amid the bustle.”
Her eyes lit up as she talked about her memories. Troy had seen the boxes of letters from the town, the volunteers, and others who had come to the festival, but this festival mattered to Hailey in a deeply personal way.
“I wish I could see it,” he said. The way she’d described it was beautiful.
“I suppose there’s always new traditions to make. I just wish …” She shook her head, looking away from him.
They moved in silence down the hall, but Troy couldn’t resist breaking the silence this time. He had to know what her wish would be. He didn’t know why it was important, but he knew it was. “What do you wish?” he asked softly.
“I wish I could talk the foundation into one more year of the Forest Festival. Just one more time …”
“Why not try?” he asked.
She shook her head. “It’s October. The event is held the second week i
n December. That’s why Edna let me go through the closet, and take out anything I found sentimental from my aunt. Without my aunt, this doesn’t run.”
“But what if it could work?” he asked.
She bit her lip. “It would take a miracle.”
“Isn’t that what Christmas is all about?” he asked.
She smiled, a gesture that lit up her entire face again. He could practically hear the wheels turning in her head.
* * *
The more Troy heard of the Forest Festival, the more he was convinced that he wanted to do this, more than any other charitable work he’d researched for this Christmas. Kyle and his buddies may have interested him with winning a bet, and he was determined to make the most of what he could do. But the idea of this project excited him. Troy could see the dream of him helping quickly slipping away. Would other towns or cities do the same thing? And would it be the same without the passion Hailey described the Forest Festival with?
A car drove up. The headlights peered through the large glass doors they sat in front of. It was definitely not a moving truck.
“Edna’s back,” Hailey said. “She was one of my aunt’s friends.”
Edna came through the door, looked at Troy with some surprise and then turned back to Hailey. “I’m so sorry, I just got your message and was close enough in the area I thought I’d come over and see how things are going. Still no sign of the moving company?”
Hailey smiled, though Troy noticed it wasn’t the vibrant smile she’d given him earlier. “Just about done. I’ll have the moving crew bring out the rest of the trees, but I don’t have any place to move them to.”
“I hope it was still worth it for you to come here,” Edna said, looking at their mounds of boxes.
Hailey nodded, a spark in her eye. “I’m not going to lie, I’m really going to miss the Forest Festival.”
Edna patted her arm. “We all are, dear. But as I said before, we’re moving in a different direction.”
Hailey bounced on her toes. “You’ve got to let me do this.”
“Do what?” Edna asked.
Hailey’s gaze didn’t leave Edna. “I want to put on the Forest Festival this year.”
Edna looked at her, eyes wide. “There’s too much to do to get everything ready. Helena would spend almost the entire year getting ready for the event.”
Hailey pursed her lips. “My whole life is event planning. I work on tight deadlines.”
Edna shook her head. “Event planning is one thing, but there is a whole list of things to do. The foundation can’t—”
“I’m not asking for the foundation resources. Surely my aunt already started making preparations before she passed away for this coming Christmas, right?”
Edna gave a small nod. “She did. She had her list of repeat donors, so I suppose in that some of it was routine.”
Hailey’s eyes widened. “So that’s a start.”
Edna sniffed. “That’s barely a start. All donations have yet to be confirmed.”
“I have a little money to get started. My aunt’s donation. I want to use it for this.”
“All of our resources are being used elsewhere.”
Hailey blinked, and Troy could see the determination in her eyes. Hailey wasn’t backing down. “Like I said, I do this for a living, I can handle this.”
Edna narrowed her eyes. “Our volunteer staff alone takes over a hundred people to run this event on the day of, and that doesn’t include the weeks leading up to it. It would be more than a full-time job from now until mid-December to make it work.”
“I can work from Red Oaks full-time for the next eight weeks to make this happen,” Hailey said, confidence in her voice.
“By yourself?” Edna asked, her voice concerned.
“I’ll help her,” Troy said. Both women turned to him, one pair of eyes looked full of hope and the other seemed to be filled with incredulity.
Hailey’s eyes widened. “You’re going to help me?”
Troy nodded.
Hailey turned to Edna. “He’s going to help me. If I worked on this full-time from Red Oaks, could I ask for help and resources from the other volunteers, without putting the foundation out?”
Edna raised one thinly penciled eyebrow, then blew out a breath. “I can’t guarantee anything.”
“We’ll figure the volunteer piece out,” Troy said.
“You’ll let me try?” Hailey asked, excitement bubbling up in the question.
Edna glanced around the empty building, dimly lit with mismatched lightbulbs. The place had seen better days. “I know you’re still grieving your aunt. We all are. But trying to bring back this dream won’t bring her back.”
“I know that,” Hailey whispered. “But it’s all I can do right now.”
Edna nodded, then turned to Troy. “What are your qualifications? Have you ever been involved in putting on a charitable event of this size?”
Troy knew he couldn’t reveal who he was, it was part of the bet. The charities that he and his friends chose to help shouldn’t know that they were billionaires with limitless resources. That wasn’t the point. Throwing around their money wasn’t the goal of this. Kyle wanted them to help in ways that couldn’t be measured with the bottom line. He still wasn’t exactly sure that that meant he was qualified to help. Without his assistant, without his money, except for the $10,000 he was allowed to use, he felt as naked as the undecorated Christmas trees they’d dragged out of storage.
His internal thoughts must have taken too long because Edna continued, as if his silence had been all the answer she’d expected. She turned to Hailey. “We all miss your aunt. And in some ways maybe that’s the real reason for letting this tradition go. It’s not the same without her here running every aspect. Like I mentioned before, your aunt was talented in almost every aspect of her life and she did a lot of good with this event, but that doesn’t mean that we will keep this tradition long term.”
Hailey nodded. “I understand, but I have to try. One more year.”
Troy didn’t know Hailey more than talking with her the last couple of hours, but he didn’t think that Hailey was the type to give up so easily. Something inside of him sparked. His $10,000 might not get them as far as they needed, but it was certainly a start. He couldn’t have his assistant do work for him, but he could certainly pick her brain for ideas, right?
He liked being at the office, because he liked seeing business run, but if he took off for a few weeks, his empire would still run smoothly. He had people in place to do that. He did have the ability to delegate and let others run the show. He was content to hire the people it took to make his business successful. Maybe that ability and the way he’d helped streamline his own business over the last couple of years would be skills he could offer in this situation.
Edna turned to the front door. “If the moving crew doesn’t show up in thirty minutes, you’ll likely have to come back tomorrow and finish the rest then.”
Hailey nodded. “Thanks for all of your help, Edna. I’m grateful for all the letters that were sent to my aunt. Thanks for letting me go through everything before the wrecking ball came. So I have your blessing to put on the Forest Festival?”
“I don’t know,” Edna said slowly.
“Give us a week,” Troy said, before he could think the better of it.
Both sets of eyes looked at him again. “A week for what?” Edna asked.
“I’ll show you the traction I can make in one week,” Hailey said.
“You realize that normally we hold the Forest Festival mid-December. It starts off the Twelve Days before Christmas. That’s barely eight weeks away.”
Eight weeks was exactly the schedule he needed to keep to. “If a significant amount gets done in a week, maybe there’s still a chance that we can put this on,” he said, looking to Hailey for support.
Edna looked at both of them appraisingly. “I’m intrigued. I’ll evaluate what you’ve done after a week. If there is enough progress and sp
onsors are still on board for this Festival, then you’ll have my backing for putting it on.”
Hailey’s eyes widened. “Thank you so much!”
Edna nodded. “But you’re running this. Our resources are spread thin as it is.”
“That works for me. What information can you give me that will help? And what about advertising?”
Edna seemed ponderous. “I have photos from the last several years. They’re on the website. There’s also a list of donors from the previous years, though, like I said, I haven’t contacted any of them this year. Your aunt’s files on the Forest Festival are all in the boxes. She never kept anything electronic.”
“So, just to clarify, if I spend the next week working on this, you’ll agree to host it again?”
“I want to see your progress on this first, and see where we get to. If you’re serious, I’d have to see a lot of movement in the next week to be able to start advertising.”
Hope shone in Hailey’s light blue eyes, and Troy was captivated by them. Edna said goodnight, and exited the building.
Once Edna had driven away, Hailey spun in a circle. “Eek!” she squealed and then jumped into Troy’s arms, giving him a huge bear hug. “We’ve got this! Thank you!”
Troy hugged her back, feeling the loss of her touch when she pulled away.
She breathed deeply. “I’m so happy.”
He nodded, enjoying the moment with her. The same enthusiasm that had filled her was taking hold of him too. “Okay, where do we start?”
“We?”
“Yes, we. I said I was going to help you,” he said.
“Do you even live here?”
The Billionaire’s Christmas Miracle: The Billionaires’ Christmas Gifts Romance Page 3