Chapter 23 Danny
DANNY
The stage lights are a little too red, but the crowd doesn’t care.
The hot chocolate stand ran out of whipped cream half an hour ago, a toddler is using a pinecone like a football, and I’ve just went off-script on three separate announcements.
“Up next, the ballet recital, unless the sugarplums have stage fright, then it’s just me awkwardly reenacting The Nutcracker,” I say into the mic, and the crowd laughs.
The garland’s crooked. The music cues are off. A kid just ran across the stage mid-song, yelling about needing to pee. But the crowd is happy. The kids are radiant. And Sadie?
And any other day, I would have been completely sure Sadie was about to melt down.
But instead, Sadie is glowing.
She’s walking through the chaos with her clipboard still in hand, but she’s not clinging to it like a lifeline. Her shoulders are relaxed, her eyes are bright, and instead of freaking out, she laughs along with everyone else in the room.
I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.
The final act wraps up, and the kids take a bow while the audience claps and whistles enthusiastically. I’m already grinning when I see her step onto the stage, heels clicking against the wood, her dress hugging every curve that I can’t wait to get a hold of later tonight.
“Thank you all for being here tonight,” she says, voice steady. “It means the world to see this town come together, whether for National Wine Day or a Christmas gala that somehow included three different versions of ‘Jingle Bells.’”
Laughter ripples through the room. Sadie continues, and I know from the shift in her voice, this part’s not on the clipboard.
“We spent weeks planning this event and making schedules. We rehearse every moment until we think we’ve gotten it perfect.
” Her eyes sweep across the crowd. I don’t know if she’s looking for me, but I feel it anyway, the pull of her attention.
“But sometimes…the most important parts aren’t planned at all. ”
My heart kicks against my ribs. I straighten, hands in my pockets. She’s looking at me now. And I can’t look away.
“I need to say something,” she says softly. “To someone who’s been a part of this from the start. Mr. Love…”
The crowd murmurs, and some turn in their seats, looking around the room, trying to find me.
“As I’m sure the kids may have told you parents, I’m a planner.
Like, a strict, organized, everything has a color and a place and a time kind of planner.
I planned every detail of this night. Every light cue, every minute of rehearsal, every backup generator.
For weeks, I’ve been sleeping with this clipboard.
” She raises it, shaking it slightly as the crowd chuckles with her.
“Mr. Love helped me do all this, and without realizing it at the time, he was making the planning fun. But I didn’t plan the one thing that mattered most.”
I bite my bottom lip, and my hands clench in my pockets. I hear gasps throughout the crowd.
“Mr. Love is amazing at surprises, isn’t he, kids?
” They cheer for me, and I laugh along with them.
“You always knew how to surprise me, even when it was the last thing I wanted. But you made me step away from myself and leap into the moment. You’ve taught me that maybe it’s time I stop trying to prepare for everything and start believing that not everything has to follow a schedule.
Especially love.” Her smile is soft as she says, “I planned everything except falling in love with you, Danny.”
I almost drop to one knee right there. The crowd inhales loudly at her words. Then, the lights dim slowly, and then the projector kicks on. I glance toward the back, and Matt gives me a thumbs-up behind the tech board.
Photos begin to flicker across the screen.
Pictures of the kids laughing in rehearsal, of them covering me in tinsel.
There’s pictures of the kids and me wearing Santa beards and elf hats.
Pictures cut to Sadie watching us with a smile on her face, and slowly morphing into showing her having the same fun.
Red bows in her hair and a garland wrapped around her waist like a belt.
The crowd claps softly, awwwing like they’re watching the end of a Hallmark movie.
And Sadie turns, looking right at me and then she walks straight toward me. The crowd parts without being told, like even they know this is the moment. And above us? Mistletoe. Because of course Kylie would rig that up.
Someone starts chanting. “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”
She leans in first, and I swear the entire world disappears in that second. We play it safe, since we’re in front of the kids, but I say, “You leapt first.”
“Are you surprised? I thought you always liked me a little unhinged?” She chuckles, her eyes shiny. “If I thought the sticky notes were amazing, your slideshow takes the cake.”
Before I can say more, Kylie swoops in with a mic. “Okay! Impromptu performance time! Matt, Liam, you ready?”
The soft strum of the guitar starts, and the crowd claps. Sadie grabs my hand and pulls me to the middle of the floor. We dance off-beat and unrehearsed because I’m unsure how to dance to Jingle Bell Rock played slowly on a guitar, but she’s still smiling.
That real kind of smile I used to beg and tease her for. The kind she used to save for late nights and early mornings. For when it was just me and her and the world hadn’t yet woken up to ruin anything. But tonight? She’s letting it all show.
I lean in close. “You know, this night was technically a disaster.”
She hums. “Mhmm.”
“Crooked decorations. Missing whipped cream. Rogue mistletoe sabotage.”
“Don’t remind me.” She rolls her eyes and says, “But still perfect.”
She glances at the crowd as they begin to join us on the makeshift dance floor.
She whispers, “All the chaos in the world, and I have one person to thank for that.”
I raise a brow. “I hope it’s me.”
“It’s you,” she says.
And just like that, I know. We’re no longer two people trying to work around chaos and schedule. We’re planning it together.