Chapter 9
Ben could tell something was off with Vanessa the minute they met up at the Perfect Find. She hugged him, maybe a little longer
than last time. But the light in her eyes wasn’t as bright as before. He stayed there with her, in no hurry to get inside
the shop.
“Everything okay?”
Vanessa sighed. “I’m fine. It’s Sadie. She’s just . . . older, I guess. Things between us feel different.” She smiled, even
if it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She told Ben about Sadie no longer wanting to be a teacher and how she’d chosen classes
without Vanessa’s help.
He and Laura had never had children, but he felt for her. “You pray for them to find their way . . . and then when they do,
it can’t be easy.”
“It isn’t.” Vanessa’s laugh sounded heavy. “We’ll be okay. She’s only been home a day. We just need time. And right now she’s
at her friend’s house.”
“You’re right. You need time. That’s all.” Ben opened the door for her and they stepped inside. The place gave Millers’ Antiques a run for its money when it came to Christmas décor. That much was obvious even from the entrance.
Ben noticed an arrow and a sign: Mistletoe Section this way.
He grinned. “Apparently they have a mistletoe section.” He tried not to look at Vanessa too long. Friends. She only wants to be friends.
Even so, they walked to the mistletoe room first. Ben looked around as they entered. “I’ll say this for the owners. They’re
serious about their mistletoe.”
There were mistletoe ornaments and wall hangings and ribbons and dishes. Salt and pepper shakers and socks. Everything mistletoe
including, well, actual mistletoe.
“Hmm.” Vanessa giggled. Already her mood seemed lighter. “You have to wonder, right?”
Ben gave her the flirtiest look he would allow. “I mean . . . I get it.”
She laughed, her cheeks a bit redder.
Their look held. Ben glanced up and sure enough, mistletoe hung overhead. They both laughed this time and moved into the next
section of the store. The kindling of their chemistry had been there from the beginning.
But now it seemed to ignite.
They moved to a Christmassy bookcase. Antiques had a way of stirring Ben’s heart, taking him to the places of poetry in his
soul. He took a fountain pen from one of the shelves. “Who owned it?” He turned his eyes to Vanessa again. “What letters did
that person write? What thoughts poured from his heart?”
“Okay.” Vanessa clearly loved this. “I can play.” She took the pen and turned it over in her hand.
“She was a playwright, longing for her big break. Then one night she wrote a story that would change her life. And that one story caught the eye of a producer, who fell in love with her words. And in turn, he fell in love with her.”
She understood the game. Ben loved that about her. “Perfection.” Ben took the pen again. “Antiques let you hold a piece of
history in your hand.”
“And wonder about the person who held it first.” Vanessa seemed to glance at her wedding ring. “The one no longer here this
Christmas.”
Ben wanted to take her hand, wanted to pull her close. But he waited. Giving her space was the best way he knew to honor Vanessa
and her feelings. Especially after she’d just looked at her wedding ring.
He smiled straight into her eyes. “The trick is knowing when to hold on to the past.” He put the pen back on the bookshelf.
“And when to let it go.”
After they’d scoured the store, Ben bought several items including the fountain pen. It wasn’t a Christmas item, but their
customers were always looking for pens and paper and typewriters. Evidence that the deeper ways of communicating had always
been around.
They stepped outside and Ben’s phone rang. It was his dad.
“Let me get this.” He motioned to Vanessa.
“I’ll pick up the bag of teddy bears from two doors down.” Vanessa motioned to the toy shop. “Let’s meet back here.”
Ben leaned against the old brick wall and watched her go. She exuded life, and the spring in her step made her seem like a girl in her twenties. Just another thing Ben loved about her. He took the call. “Hey, Dad. What’s up?”
“It happened!” His dad was always a happy man, but his tone was at an entirely different level. He was practically giddy and
his words ran together. “I found it, Ben! The diamond in the rough!”
“Dad.” Ben chuckled. He pressed the phone closer to his ear. “Slow down. I can’t understand you.”
“The diamond in the rough! I found it.” His dad exhaled and found a more reasonable pace. “It was this pretty bauble stuck
in a box of a hundred other antiques. I looked past it three times before it jumped out at me.”
“It jumped out at you?” Ben tried to imagine exactly what type of bauble it must be.
“Not literally, son. But almost. Something about it made me want to get it appraised. Just in case. So I did, right after
we talked earlier.”
Ben smiled. “An appraisal is a good way to know.” This was why he loved working with his dad. His enthusiasm knew no limits.
“And?”
“Ben!” His father paused. “It appraised for twenty-five thousand dollars!”
Shock, like the December wind in southern Georgia that week, washed over Ben. “Dad . . . is this a Christmas joke?”
“No joke, son. This is real. As real as that appraisal.”
Ben walked the length of the store and back again. “What are you going to do with it?”
“Sell it!” He laughed. “Ben, I have a buyer all lined up. She’ll be here the twenty-third.” His dad let out a shout. “Merry Christmas to us both, my boy!”
The reality was settling in. “Looks like we’ll be taking that trip to Italy after all.”
“Better believe it!” His dad hooted once more. “Gary hasn’t stood up since I told him. We’re all in shock.”
Ben saw Vanessa approach with two large bags. With every step she struggled to keep them off the ground for more than a few
seconds.
“Hey, Dad. I have to go. Amazing news. I still can’t believe it.”
The call ended and Ben hurried to take the bags from Vanessa. She must have noticed something different about him. “You look
happy.”
“My dad found a valuable antique. He had it appraised.” The wonder of it all came over Ben again.
Vanessa walked beside Ben now. “Worth a lot?”
“Yeah.” Ben looked at her and their eyes held. For a moment he stopped and it was just him and Vanessa. “The find of a lifetime.”
She clearly understood what he meant. He could tell by the way her eyes sparkled.
They were about to head across the street for coffee when Vanessa’s phone rang. The call was quick but Vanessa looked concerned.
When she hung up, she turned to Ben.
“Two volunteers dropped out of the Gingerbread House Contest. I need to reach out to a few people and get it covered.”
Ben set the bags down and held out both arms. “Didn’t I tell you? I love gingerbread houses! Let’s do this.”
“Really?” Vanessa laughed. “You amaze me.”
They put the bags in her car and headed for the church. The contest was set up outside, apparently same as last year. As he
and Vanessa walked up, the event was in full happy Christmassy chaos.
For the next hour, Ben worked alongside Vanessa helping kids frost their houses and find the right candy decorations.
When it was time for cleanup, Ben had an idea. He spoke so only Vanessa could hear him. “What if I read to the kids while
you all clean up?”
A tenderness filled Vanessa’s eyes. “They’d love that.”
So Ben grabbed a Bible from inside the church and gathered the kids on the front steps. “My grandfather used to read this
to me every Christmas.”
He opened the Bible to Luke Two and began to read. The kids were quiet, holding onto every word. “But the angel said to them,
‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior
has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and
lying in a manger. Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory
to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.’”
A little boy stood up and smiled. “That’s what Christmas is all about!”
The kids giggled, and just then Ben looked across the cleanup crew and saw Vanessa watching him. They both smiled and Ben
felt a thrill of hope. Like Christmas itself.
Because her smile was far more than that of a friend.
Later Ben helped the team fold up the cleaned tables. One man and a little girl, maybe eight years old, were still there,
talking off to one side of the parking lot. He was clearly remarking about her gingerbread house.
Vanessa saw him watching the two. “That’s Lexi. She lost her mom overseas three months ago. Her dad told me this is the first
time he’s seen her smile since.”
Ben felt his heart sink. The price for freedom was never free. Lexi and her father were proof.
He watched Vanessa folding up chairs a few feet away. She took this sort of thing in stride. This town was familiar with the
very greatest loss, but they pushed through all the same. They stood by each other and believed in the job their family members
signed up for.
And something about that made Ben care even more for Vanessa Mayfield.
Vanessa fell for him a little more every time they were together. And today most of all. After finishing with the gingerbread
house competition, they went to Harvest, the best coffee shop in Columbus. When they had their drinks, they took a table near
the window. From there they could see the Christmas displays that lined the center of Old Town.
Ben leaned back in his chair. “So tell me more about Columbus Cares.”
She realized again how much he cared about her, about the things she loved.
They weren’t in a hurry. The coffee shop would be open another two hours, so she took her time.
She told him how Alan had always wanted to do something to help the local military families.
“After he died, I had to do something. It just made sense to start Columbus Cares. By then I’d met Maria and Leigh. ”