Twenty- Nine | Brody
Twenty- Nine
Brody
S he wasn’t lying. That parade felt magical. It wasn’t just the children singing Christmas songs at the top of their lungs that made it feel special. It was the way everyone was smiling and seemed genuinely happy like they wanted to be there.
After it was over, I got the reindeer settled in the pen outside that Jasmin had set up for the kids to come see them and then went inside the mall to find Jasmin. I knew she would be working the rest of the day, but I wanted to help however I could. Even if that meant I had to put on one of the ridiculous elf costumes and guide the sugar-crazed kids in line to see Santa.
I headed into the breakroom where she told me she would be and was surprised by how many people were already in there. There were so many little elves running around that I was convinced we had to be at the North Pole.
“Alright, little elves, you’re done for the day. Grab some lunch and your parents will be in to get you shortly. Junior elves, you have about fifteen minutes before you need to head out to your assigned station. Most of the vendors are fine, but work your way through the different booths to see if they need anything. Those working at the Santa station have an hour before you start. Have lunch and take a break. Catie will be in here for the rest of the day so go to her with any questions if you can’t find me.”
There were a bunch of mumbled responses as I made my way around the children and caught up with Jasmin.
“Hey,” she said, leaning in to hug me. “What did you think of the parade?”
“Pure magic.”
“I knew I could make you love Christmas,” she teased, kissing me softly on the lips.
“You didn’t make me love Christmas, Princess. You made me love you.”
“So you still don’t love Christmas?”
I shrugged, not wanting to disappoint her.
“It hasn’t even happened yet, so there’s still time.”
She pouted, but I could tell it was just an act.
“Where are you headed now?” I asked, lacing my fingers in hers as we walked out of the breakroom and into the mall.
“The giving tree. Santa and Mrs. Claus are heading there shortly.”
“Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all. This is my favorite part, so I would love for you to be here to experience it, too.”
“I thought the reindeer were your favorite part?” I teased, lowering my brows at her. “Were you just saying that to get me to give them to you?”
Her jaw dropped open as a blush crossed her face.
“No! I love them too! This is just different. I love both, but not the same.”
“I’m just giving you a hard time.”
“Well, maybe you can give me a real hard time later,” she whispered, trying not to move her mouth as we approached the crowd that was already waiting.
“I’m going to say hi to a few people, then I need to go up and give a quick speech. After that, I’ll come join you. Okay?”
I nodded and smiled as she rushed off.
I stood to the side, making sure we had a good spot to watch everything without being in the way. I felt someone tug on my arm and moved to the side to get out of their way.
“Brody Truman,” an old, gruff voice said, startling me.
I looked beside me to see an older man with silver hair and a checkered cardigan wrapped around his frail body.
“Hi,” I replied, a little uncertainty in my voice. “Do I know you?”
He shook his head and stood beside me. His eyes stayed locked on the tree in front of us as he rested his hands on the cane he was using to walk.
“I’ve been waiting to see you,” he commented, still not looking at me. “At my age, tracking people down gets to be too much work. But I trusted that I would run into you when the time was right.”
“Okay...” I didn’t want to be rude, but I had no idea who he was or what he was talking about.
“Eighteen years ago, a distraught woman walked into my pawn shop,” he started, and my heart sank. I lowered my head, not sure that I was ready to hear the story. “She was crying, telling me how she needed to sell something to be able to put food on the table because her husband had died.”
My jaw tightened as I continued to listen.
“I already knew who she was, just like I knew she wasn’t using the money I gave her to buy food. Her dad, your grandpa, and I were best friends. I knew all about Tabitha’s drinking problem and that she was going to use the money to feed her addiction.”
I looked at him, tears forming in my eyes no matter how hard I tried to hold them back.
“Then why did you give her the money?” I asked. “If you knew she was just going to use it to buy more alcohol, why did you enable her?”
“I didn’t.” He turned and looked at me, sadness washing over his face. “I talked to your grandpa, and his heart sank when I told him what I’d done. I wasn’t proud of it, Son. But I’ve waited eighteen years to tell you why I did it.”
“Okay,” I said with a shaky breath. “Why did you do it?”
“Because I was given an opportunity to save a piece of your dad for you. I never had any intention of selling that baseball glove and ball. It never even went into the store. I gave her the money for it so I could make sure it stayed safe until I could give it to you. I knew that if I didn’t give her the money for it, she would find someone who would. I couldn’t stand the thought of that. To have the last gift your dad gave you get thrown away like it meant nothing broke my heart the way it did yours. So, I gave her the money, and I’ve been holding onto it ever since.”
“Why didn’t my grandfather ever tell me?”
He shrugged and looked down at his cane.
“I think he was torn on what to do. He knew that it would be hard for you to come back and see your mother. He didn’t want you to come back until you were ready to, and as the years passed, it seemed like that would never be the case. We both forgot about it after some time. It wasn’t until I started cleaning stuff out after I closed the pawn shop that I found it. I didn’t know you were back in town, and the thought of handing it over to the gift shop instead of finding you nearly killed me. But my health isn’t the best, Son. I didn’t have much choice.”
I nodded, my throat too tight to speak.
“Hadley told me about Jasmin taking it, so I came here today to talk to her about who the rightful owner is. But then I saw you two together and realized that fate had already worked everything out. I’m glad it’s back where it belongs.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, still overwhelmed with emotion.
He smiled and gave me a nod before walking off, carefully moving his cane through the crowd to keep from falling.