Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
" M erry Christmas, guys," Jack said, smiling as the children at the Children's Hospital held their candy canes, the wrapping ripped open and most of them already sucking on the sweet confections. The nurses smiled, and parents beamed at children who lifted sticky, smiling faces.
His eyes landed on Kate, who seemed to be deep in conversation with a little girl who had no hair. Lilly stuck close to her side, her eyes wide, obviously hanging on every word Kate said.
Lilly loved Kate so much. And Kate had been working diligently with her for more than two weeks, and Jack could be wrong, but he was pretty sure that Lilly had been making progress, albeit slow.
"Thank you so much for coming, Mr. Henderson. The kids always enjoy it." The director of activities at the hospital, Dr. James Martin, shook Jack's hand.
"I wouldn't miss it. I think it does more good to my heart than it does to anyone else. It definitely reminds me of the reason for the season and why I do what I do."
"These children could teach a lot of people lessons, if we just took the time to learn them."
Jack nodded, and Dr. Martin moved on.
"I'm so glad you asked me to come. This was an inspiring experience," Kate said, at his elbow, and he turned to face her.
She glowed—there was no other way to say it—and he felt his heart turn over.
He wanted to reach out, to touch her cheek, to share the connection with a physical gesture, but he fisted his hand close to his side and nodded.
Then his eyes dropped to Lilly, who was glowing almost as much as Kate.
With their light eyes and delicate bone structure, Kate and Lilly could be mother and daughter. He had never thought that Kate looked very much like his late wife at all, with her dark hair and more slender build, but Lilly definitely had similarities that could make them pass for relatives.
"I think you had a good time too, didn't you, kiddo?" he asked, playfully ruffling her hair as she nodded.
"Let's get home. It's going to be almost bedtime by the time we get there," he paused as he saw Lilly's downturned mouth. "But you can spend a little bit of time with Miss Kate if you want to before bed."
That immediately made Lilly smile, and he was glad he had guessed correctly.
Sometimes having a daughter that didn't speak at all was very frustrating, because he couldn't figure out what she wanted.
He supposed he could just ignore her until she decided to tell him. That might be what people did a few generations ago, but... he just couldn't bring himself to do that. Maybe if he had no other choice, but as long as he was able, he would allow her time to heal.
The ride home was fun, as they talked about the kids and their smiling faces and the reactions as they opened the candy canes.
Jack really couldn't afford to give anything away, but at the same time, he believed he couldn't afford not to.
After all, a person reaped what they sowed, and he couldn't expect God to give to him if he didn't give to others first. It was a test of faith, since that was the one thing that God specifically commanded his people to prove Him by.
Not to mention, it truly was more blessed to give than to receive. He didn't want to be irresponsible, giving when he owed money or anything like that, but he didn't want to be so selfish that he kept more for himself than what he truly needed.
By the time they pulled into the shop, it was only a half an hour until bedtime.
"Do you mind if we spend a little bit of time together?" Kate asked, pulling her bottom lip in and worrying it with her teeth.
"Thirty minutes is fine. I do have a big order I need to get filled, but... Lilly so looks forward to this time with you, and I do believe it's been very beneficial to her."
"I was afraid you would tell me that I needed to stop when there was no discernible progress."
"I think there is progress."
"I mean, with her not talking," Kate said, watching Lilly disappear into the front of the store, hurrying inside to get her crayons and paper out before Kate came in, so that they would have as much time to draw as possible.
"She's definitely got her mother's artistic flair."
"I'd like to hear more about her mother at some point," Kate said, and then she shook her head. "But I don't want to pry or anything."
He didn't say anything. He'd like to tell her more about Lauren, about the fact that he was not pining away for his late wife, but in fact felt like he might be falling in love with his daughter's therapist.
But he couldn't say those things. He didn't want to blur the line between employer and employee, renter and rent-ee, therapist and parent. He didn't want Kate to get in trouble either—not with the school—and he didn't want to throw any wrenches in her newfound relationship with the town.
"I thought the meeting last night went really well," he said as he opened the door for her to step in.
"I'm so glad Marjorie was able to be there. I still took copious notes, because I didn't want her to miss anything, but having her at the front was a really good idea. Gilbert made sure her water glass was filled up, and I noticed her kids pampering her every chance they got."
Kate sounded almost wistful, and it made him take a double take at her as he moved to go toward his candy counter.
"I can't figure out if you want children, or if you want to pamper your parents. But there was a longing in there somewhere."
Kate laughed but didn't answer him. She just lifted her shoulder and then turned to Lilly and sat down at the desk.
Interesting. He didn't just want to share about his life; he wanted Kate to tell him about hers.
He had a longing to know everything he could about her.
He didn't think too much more about it, though, as he tried to lose himself in the order that needed to be filled. He thought about bills and about whether or not he was even going to be able to keep the shop open, and about the conversation that he had with his brother over the weekend.
His brother had definitely been interested in purchasing his half of the farm, but he needed to get with his bankers and see if he was going to be able to swing that large of a purchase, and Jack couldn't do anything but tell him to take his time and get all of his ducks in a row.
He didn't want Bryan to lose the farm because he was trying to bite off more than he could chew.
But having Bryan purchase his share of the farm would give him the capital he needed in order to expand the candy shop and make it profitable for him, and something that he could pass on to Lilly if she was interested in it.
When that time came.
"Jack! Jack!" Kate's voice interrupted his thoughts, and it took him about a half a second to realize that something major had happened.
"Jack, oh my goodness, Jack, you've got to see this!"
Kate nodded at Lilly, and Lilly went running over to him, waving the paper beside her.
"What's this?" he asked, and then he saw it. Lilly had written a sentence at the bottom of the picture. That was new and exciting. The breakthrough they'd been waiting for.
As she held the paper out to him, he almost fell over when she said, "Look, Daddy."
He blinked, blinked again, and his mouth fell open.
"What is it, baby?" he asked, his words coming out through his constricted throat. His daughter had spoken the first words since her mother's funeral. He wanted to grab her, hug her, tell her how happy and proud he was, but instead, he looked where she pointed and saw what she had written.
Mommy is happy in heaven.
Reading the words hit him again, and he struggled to breathe.
"Oh my goodness, Jack," Kate said, from beside him, her hand at her throat, looking like she was about to faint.
He met her eyes, his own sharing his excitement, before he bent down and put his arm around Lilly, lifting her up, and in his excitement, he put his other arm around Kate and drew them together in a hug.
"I can't believe it. You spoke!" He pulled back, looking into Lilly's eyes, which shone with happiness.
She nodded, smiling.
"Mommy is happy in heaven," he repeated.
She nodded again, and then he pulled her and Kate even tighter against him. "You did it. She spoke." He looked down into Kate's eyes, his own he knew were glistening with tears. "You're amazing." Then he looked back at his daughter. "I love you. I'm so, so happy you spoke to me."
"I'm not sad anymore," Lilly said, smiling. And then she looked at Kate. "I love Miss Kate."
It was on the tip of his tongue to say "me too," but he stopped himself in time. Did he love her? It wasn't a question he was going to consider right now. Right now, his daughter had spoken for the first time in years, and he wanted to savor this moment.
"She's been so good to us and has spent so much time with you." He wanted to go on, but he knew he was babbling.
Lilly smiled. "God brought Miss Kate to me. I asked Him."
"You did?"
"I told him if I couldn't have my mommy back, I wanted a new mommy."
Jack's mouth dropped. It could have been uncomfortable, but Kate stepped in at that moment.
"Of course He's going to bring you a new mommy. God gives us every good gift. I'm so happy you're not sad anymore. We need to celebrate!" Kate said, her eyes sparkling.
"Yes, we need to celebrate." It was way past her bedtime, so he said, “You can stay up a little later tonight after your bath and we can talk about what fun things we want to do to celebrate.”
Jack paused, and then he said, "I should take Miss Kate out for dinner to celebrate, if she'll let me." He turned questioning eyes to her.
She nodded immediately; maybe it was only because she was overcome with what had happened with Lilly. But she didn't seem to think twice.
Between them, Lilly smiled, as though that was what she wanted all along, and maybe it was. Maybe that was celebrating to her too.
They stood there for a while, Jack overcome with happiness, but it was getting late, and Lilly needed to go to school in the morning, no matter how exciting that evening had been.
He had a few things he needed to say to Kate, so he said to Lilly, "I think it's time for you to go upstairs and get ready for bed.
I will be up in a few minutes. We definitely have some celebrating to do, don't we? "
Lilly nodded and smiled, and then she leaned in, one arm around Kate, the other arm around Jack, and hugged them both tight, drawing them together.
Jack suddenly was aware of exactly how close he was to Kate, and that his arm had been around her shoulders for a while.
They were small and delicate, but felt warm under his arm.
Her strawberry candy scent drifted up to his nose, and the soft brush of her hair sent tingles on his arm.
Lilly pulled away and went running for the stairs, leaving him feeling a little awkward. How did he drop his arm from her shoulder without being weird about it? Especially when he wanted to leave it there, to draw her tighter, to kiss her.
Really? Was that what he wanted?
Definitely. It was definitely what he wanted, but was it wise?
"Thank you. You've done so much for her, and for us. Your presence here has just been a real blessing this holiday season. Let me take you out to dinner to celebrate?"
He hadn't been planning on asking her out, although if he were being honest, he'd thought about it over and over and over again while he worked in the shop during the day without her, longing for the time when she would walk through the door with Lilly.
She had taken to bringing Lilly home and saving him the trip.
And he looked forward to both of them, equally.
"I'd love to," she said easily.
She didn't seem to hesitate or anything, and he figured he'd better ask the question that had been plaguing him.
"Is this something that's going to get you in trouble with your job?"
"Going out to eat with you to celebrate Lilly's progress?" she asked, sounding truly puzzled.
"Yeah. Are there some kind of rules about dating clients or anything?"
"Well, if I were dating Lilly, it might be an issue, but Lilly's dad.
.. I don't think so. I don't think the school will have any problem with that at all.
In fact, I kind of feel like the community might be happy that you found someone—that you're getting out again, anyway," she added quickly, as though she didn't want to presume that she was the one for him.
He wanted to tell her that she was more "the one" than Lauren had been, but he didn't. Maybe she was just saying yes because she didn't want to ruin the evening by saying no.
Regardless, she started to move away, and he imitated her movement, allowing his hand to slide down, feeling warm skin and a brush of her fingers as he did so, her scent coming with him, and he wished he could bottle it up, hold it with him, use it to remember this moment, and this woman, and the celebration of his daughter finally speaking.
And what words. She had accepted the fact that her mother had died, was happy that she was in heaven, and was ready for a new mom—in fact, believed that God had sent Kate.
What if Kate wasn't the one? What if Kate didn't agree to be her new mom?
Was that something they needed to talk about?
Probably, but maybe not tonight.
"I need to be getting home. I have some paperwork I need to fill out for my job, and some work I need to do on the festival. Are you still okay with me cutting out now?" she asked, and he remembered belatedly that she had said that she needed to leave early tonight.
Disappointment cut through him, but then he remembered that they were going out.
"Is tomorrow okay to go out to eat?"
"I don't want to take you away from your work."
"I think we both could use a break."
"You definitely need a break. Tomorrow is fine."
"Then if it's okay with you, I'll get Mrs. Abernathy to come watch Lilly at seven, and you and I will plan on going out for a nice treat, celebration, and... I guess I have a few things I'd like to talk to you about."
"Really?" She tilted her head, as though she had no idea what he might want to say to her.
He nodded. "Yeah. I do." Maybe she'd forgotten that Lilly had said that she wanted Kate to be her new mom and thought God had done it, or maybe she was just brushing that aside. Or maybe that's what she wanted to do.
Hopefully, he would find out tomorrow.