21. Lily

21

LILY

L ily paced back and forth in the lobby of the Children’s Wing of the county hospital, wondering where in the world Levi could be.

Sun reflected on the snow outside, filling the space with warm light through the massive windows that overlooked a tiny, snow-covered garden between the lobby and the parking lot.

It was just after one and the kids were starting to get restless. One of the nurses had them playing twenty questions, but all their eyes were on the windows.

Even the director of the Children’s Wing was glancing at her watch now. Reggie Webb was there too somehow, chatting up one of the nurses.

When he’d arrived and told Lily his schedule had loosened up, she’d had to tell him that she didn’t have the suit anymore, because Levi was going to be Santa now.

He’d nodded thoughtfully and then disappeared into a group of nurses before she could ask him why he wasn’t needed in town after all and why he hadn’t let her know in time.

But she couldn’t stay annoyed for long. The kids were so adorable that she couldn’t take her eyes off them. Lily wondered if she had been half this cute during her stays here. Another donor had come by this morning with hospital gowns for each child made from pretty Christmas fabric. Now the kids were all wearing gowns with gingerbread and candy canes in the beautifully decorated lobby, which boasted three Christmas trees, two of which had been brought in by parents.

But Lily knew that the visit from Santa was what all the children really wanted on Christmas Eve. She only prayed that Levi turned up in time to talk with each of them.

He had always been so dependable, but maybe she really had pushed him away too hard. She grabbed her phone to check it one more time when she heard a couple of the kids squealing. Looking up, she spotted an extremely unlikely sight.

Santa Claus galloped across the parking lot on the back of a beautiful brown horse. A laughing baby was strapped to his chest, and his pants were so short on him they were nearly up to his knees. But his white beard flowed out behind him, and he used one hand to secure his red hat to his head.

The kids were all celebrating and clapping for Santa, but Lily couldn’t even take it in. She only had eyes for the big man outside, who now appeared to be asking the hospital security guard to look after his horse. When the guard nodded to him and stroked the big mare’s back, Santa turned to the automatic doors and stepped forward.

“Santa Claus,” a tiny girl in a gingerbread man gown cried out, running into his arms. “You have a cute baby, and a horse .”

He crouched just in time to catch her, and Lily’s heart melted at the expression on his face as he hugged the little girl so gently, baby Flora between them, her legs kicking up and down with joy.

“ Ho ho ho ,” he cried out as he straightened up, with the little girl still holding his hand. “I brought some presents by last night so they would be ready for you all today. Does anyone want an early Christmas present?”

The lobby erupted in cheers and the nurses all smiled to each other. Levi met Lily’s eyes and she moved quickly to him and took baby Flora as soon as she was unstrapped from the carrier.

“ Mah, ” Flora yelled, grabbing Lily’s face.

She knew it was just baby nonsense, but hearing that syllable tugged at her heart, and it felt so good to have the little one back in her arms that Lily thought she might start crying.

There was no time for questions about why he was late or why he had arrived on a horse. Beth immediately led Levi over to a big chair and bent to murmur something to him. Lily knew she was warning him that not every child would be able to sit on his lap.

It was easy to forget, when they all had color on their cheeks and excitement in their eyes, that these children needed so much healing.

Levi nodded, and when Beth moved away to grab the red velvet sack of stuffed animals, his eyes went to Lily.

She couldn’t manage to look away fast enough, and in a way she didn’t want to. After all, she was going to bump into him in town from time to time, surely she should be able to at least look him in the eye.

The expression of love and longing on his face sent a bolt of lightning through her.

He knows now, but he still looks at me that way…

Before she could really take it in, the first child was brought up to talk with Levi. As she explained to him exactly what she wanted for Christmas, the automatic doors opened again and there were Ashton and Lucy with little Kaylee.

They slipped past the seating area and came to stand beside Lily and Flora to watch the children.

“Merry Christmas,” Lucy said, winking at Lily.

“What are you guys doing here?” Lily asked. “I thought you had to man the fire station, Ashton.”

Reggie Webb came to stand on the other side of her, his eyes dancing with mischief.

“What is going on?” she demanded as quietly as she could.

“He loves you,” Ashton said simply. “He won’t tell me what happened between you, but whatever it is, he’ll make it up to you. I promise you that.”

“Levi,” she breathed, feeling immense gratitude that this time he really had kept her secret.

“We couldn’t think of any other way to get you two together,” Lucy put in.

“So… somehow you made the whole town agree not to play Santa Claus today?” Lily asked, knowing it was impossible the moment she said it.

“Well, Ashton called me as soon as he got off the phone with you,” Reggie said, chuckling. “Seems I have a reputation for spreading the word. I used the phone chain we put together at Carla’s Place to help out all the seniors in town in case of emergency. I told everyone to tell all the other old fellas they’d better say they were tied up if you called, and their sons and grandsons too.”

“Well, it worked,” Lily said, shaking her head in amazement. She had been really worried about making this party happen, but it was impressive that Reggie had sprung into action so quickly. “Wait, did you do all of that before I called you?”

Reggie nodded, smiling like the cat that ate the canary.

“And I used BeeBop,” Ashton admitted. “I blocked you from my account just for today. I’ll unblock you tomorrow.”

“You used an app to tell people not to help sick children on Christmas Eve?” she asked, shaking her head in horror.

“I didn’t exactly say that,” Ashton replied, looking uncomfortable.

“He said that if you called asking for a favor, they should tell you no,” Lucy put in. “And that if everyone stuck together on this, he could have you and Levi back together by Christmas morning.”

Lily gaped at them, thunderstruck.

“Told you we shouldn’t have told her,” Reggie said, his eyes dancing.

“What if Levi had said no?” she asked in horror.

“He would never say no to you,” Ashton told her, his eyes serious. “That was the one thing we all knew for sure.”

“The whole town is rooting for the two of you,” Lucy said with a gentle smile.

“It was a community effort,” Reggie declared. “So if things work out, you’ll have a lot of folks to thank in your wedding toast.”

“Careful, old timer,” Ashton scolded Reggie. “Don’t scare her off.”

Lily smiled. She honestly couldn’t think of anything less scary than the idea of being Levi’s wife.

Over at the big chair, Levi was presenting the adorable hippo toy with a red bow to a delighted little boy who was using a wheelchair. The boy spun his chair around with great skill to show off the toy to his friends and the next child headed up to see a smiling Santa.

If Lily had written a script for how the gift giving would go, it couldn’t have been as perfect as this. She watched, her heart full to overflowing, as Levi spent time with each child, listening to their wishes and hopes, before presenting them with a toy.

As she took in the sight of the big man with his eyes filled with empathy, she began to think about how many times he had called and texted her, and about the way he looked at her today.

Could he really love her anyway, in spite of what he had learned about her?

Flora snuggled into her neck, a thick handful of Lily’s hair secured in her chubby fist, like she was afraid to let go of her.

I feel the same way, baby.

When the last child had enjoyed her time with Santa, one of the nurses led her to the chairs, where she joined her friends to play with their animals.

Levi rose, shifting the pillowy stuffing in his suit, and headed toward Lily, his eyes fixed on hers, as if demanding that she stand her ground and not run away from him again.

But she couldn’t have run now if she’d tried.

“Hi,” she said softly when he joined their little group.

“This is amazing,” he told her quietly. “Thank you for letting me be part of it.”

She realized suddenly that he had no idea that the entire town had participated in a ruse to make her ask him.

“Thank you for doing it,” she said, figuring Ashton could tell him later what he and Reggie had done.

“Can we talk?” Levi asked her.

“Of course,” she said. But as she looked out over all the happy little faces, she realized that maybe her secret wasn’t worth keeping anymore. “But I don’t think I want to hide anything anymore.”

Levi nodded and gave her an encouraging smile.

Gathering her courage about her, she took a deep breath.

“I missed most of kindergarten and first grade because I was here,” she told him, not bothering to whisper. “And the teachers at school were trying so hard to be nice to me that they never discovered that I couldn’t really read.”

“Oh, Lily,” Levi said. “I’m so sorry.”

“I could pretty much pick up on what was going on in elementary school,” she told him. “But in middle school when they mentioned the free literacy tutoring at the library I decided to go. Mr. Gustafsson was amazingly generous to be there for me and for other people who need help.”

“It’s so great that you took the initiative to go get help,” Levi said. “That’s a quality I admire in people.”

She blinked at him, realizing that they had only gotten together in the first place for Andrea, someone he clearly respected, who needed their help. And Lily definitely didn’t respect Andrea any less for asking for that help. As a matter of fact, she thought she was very brave.

“And I think Mr. Gustafsson is my new hero,” he added. “I can’t believe I had it wrong all those years as to which of you was the tutor. But it just goes to show that he must have been having fun too, because you were both smiling and laughing.”

Lily smiled at the memory. Mr. Gustafsson really had kept things fun.

She ventured a glance over at Lucy, Ashton, and Reggie, wondering what her friends would think of her now. They all looked a little surprised, but there wasn’t a bit of judgement on any of their faces. Lucy even gave Lily an encouraging smile.

“I might have first noticed you that night, Lily,” Levi said. “But as soon as I started paying attention, I saw so many more things about you that I loved. You were so beautiful and popular, and yet you were always kind to everyone. I would see you staying after school to help younger girls who were going to try out for cheerleading. I saw you helping your teachers carrying things from their cars in the mornings, and even sharing your lunch with your friend the year her dad lost his job. And even now, I see how you are in your shop and how you planned this incredible project…”

He trailed off, looking back at the kids and she tried her best to swallow back the happy tears that wanted to come at having been seen by someone.

“Lily, you are the smartest, kindest person I’ve ever known,” he said, turning back to her. “I want to spend the rest of my life making sure you don’t forget it.”

It was only the ooooohhhhs and giggles she heard from a few of the nurses who were standing nearby that made her realize that half of the lobby was probably looking at them now, and had likely heard at least some of what he was saying.

She felt her cheeks heat and she kept her eyes on Levi, afraid that if she saw everyone staring, she would faint.

He opened his mouth as if he had more to say, but the sound of police sirens filled the air and his eyebrows lifted.

“Santa’s gotta go, kids,” he called out to the children, jogging for the front doors.

“What in the world?” Reggie Webb was saying as Lily ran after him with Flora in her arms.

Outside, a police car pulled up, lights flashing. And the officer got out of the car and headed straight for the guard, whose hand was still on the horse’s withers.

“That was me,” Levi called out. “Not the guard.”

Now that she was closer, Lily could see that it was Sheriff Cal Cassidy who was shaking his head as he looked at Levi.

“Levi Williams,” Cal said. “What were you thinking?”

“I know it doesn’t matter, but I did it for love,” Levi said, glancing over at Lily. “My truck broke down back there, and I didn’t know how else to get to the hospital and play Santa for the kids. I couldn’t let Lily down.”

“I got a call about that,” Cal said, frowning.

“I’m very sorry,” Levi said.

“Well, sorry’s not going to cut it,” Cal said. “It’s still horse theft, and the value of the animal will determine what else it might be.”

He glanced over at the mare, giving her a dubious look.

She snorted at him and returned to snuffling the guard’s pockets.

“I have mints in there,” the guard explained.

“Well, I can’t exactly arrest Santa Claus in front of the kids,” Cal said, glancing back at the lobby where dozens of adorable children had their noses pressed to the glass, as the nurses attempted to get them back to the chairs. “Miss Hathaway, do I have your word that you’ll take him straight to county lock-up if I let you drive him?”

“Of course,” Lily said.

“The owner is on his way here with a trailer to pick her up,” Cal said.

“I’ll keep an eye on her until then,” the guard offered, scratching the mare behind an ear with a fond smile on his face.

“Okay then,” Cal said. “See you at the jail.”

“ Merry Christmas, ” Levi called out loudly enough for the kids to hear. “ The Sheriff is going to escort us to our next stop so we can get all over the world in time .”

The kids all cheered from the lobby and even grumpy Cal Cassidy couldn’t resist waving to them with a crooked smile.

“Come on,” Lily told Levi, heading for her car. “Let’s get you to jail.”

The way he smiled when he followed her sent a thrill down her spine. And his words echoed in her mind.

I did it for love…