Under the Christmas Star

by Amanda Tru

  No big deal. Right. If it was no big deal, why was his heart lodged in his throat?

  The sound of a familiar bark and scrambling toenails on the floor brought him out of his thoughts. Henry bounded through the door with Joy holding him on a leash, looking like his old rambunctious self.

  “Hey, buddy.” He knelt down to give him a hug and accept some dog kisses. When he stood, his hand brushed against Joy’s as he took the leash from her, sending something that felt like a jolt of electricity up his arm.

  Had she felt it too? By the way she hurried back to her desk, he couldn’t quite tell.

  “He’s been a very good boy.” She grabbed some papers from the printer, then set them on the counter next to the jar of dog biscuits. “I just need you to sign his release. Keep an eye on him for the next few days. If he bothers his stitches, he’ll have to be sentenced to the cone of shame.”

  Kyle feigned a shudder. “Hear that, Hen? You can’t say you haven’t been warned.”

  “Oh, and we’ll have to schedule a follow-up. Dr. Collins wants to see him in about ten days.” She sat again, consulting her computer screen. “How’s a week from Wednesday at three o’clock?”

  “Great.

  The pretty smile she flashed before writing out the appointment card gave him enough courage to make his move. He lifted his hand with the bag in it.

  “I have something—”

  “—actually, I have something—”

  They both stopped, pausing in an awkward conversational impasse which they broke with a mutual chuckle.

  Tucking the journal under his arm, he lifted his hand in a you first gesture.

  She smiled, then reached for her desk drawer. “I have something for you.” She straightened, holding out a small white bag which she then set on the counter. “It’s just a little thing. I was out shopping with my sister…”

  Her sister. He thought again of the photo on her desk.

  “…and I happened to see this.” She gave the bag a small nudge with her fingers. “It made me think of Henry.”

  His curiosity piqued, he took the bag and looked inside. He glanced up at her again then reached in and drew out something that looked like, what? A Christmas tree ornament? A dog that looked exactly like Henry, right down to his uniquely-colored nose.

  It was a gift. But what did it mean? She had been out shopping and saw it and thought of him. Well, she’d thought of Henry, but still. He honestly didn’t know what to say, so all he managed was a lame, “Wow.”

  “I just thought it was such a coincidence, you know? That I happened to see this right after meeting you. I mean…” She waved a hand in Henry’s direction. “…him. After meeting Henry. And we talked about his color and his nose and everything.”

  “I love it. Thank you. I guess that means I should actually get a tree this year.”

  “Ooh.” Her face crinkled in a cute little wince. “No tree?”

  “Well, I’m not home much right now. I’m starting a business. But if I’m too busy to take time to enjoy Christmas, I guess I need to slow down.”

  “That’s a good point.” Her face eased back into that sweet smile. “I’m glad you like it.”

  “I love it.” He gripped the bag with the journal in it. “I really wanted to thank you for helping me through that rough time on Friday. And for reminding me how important it is to pray, so…” He handed her the bag.

  One corner of her mouth lifted and her cheeks turned a little pink as she took it. “You know you really didn’t have to…” She opened it, her brow creasing. “It’s a journal.”

  “A prayer journal. People say it helps to get your thoughts out.”

  She nodded, but said nothing.

  He tried to read her reaction. “You probably already have one, right?”

  “Oh…no. I don’t. I love it. Really. Thank you.”

  He fumbled in his mind, trying to recall what he had intended to say next. Something about coffee?

  Before he could speak, the door from the back flung open, and the other vet’s assistant stepped through the doorway and called out, “Mrs. Silverton?”

  As the woman in the waiting area stood and picked up her cat carrier, the assistant greeted Kyle. “We’ve enjoyed having Henry here. He’s such a polite guest.”

  Kyle gave Henry’s head a pat as he patiently waited for the assistant to take her next patient to the exam room so he could ask Joy to coffee before he lost his nerve.

  But instead of going back through the door, she moved into position behind the counter and spoke to Joy. “Would you take Mrs. Silverton and Bruno to room two? And then the delivery guy is at the back door with our order.” She handed her a clipboard with several sheets of paper on it. “Would you mind checking everything off our list?”

  Joy stood. “Oh…sure.” She flashed what looked like an apologetic grimace at Kyle, then disappeared into the back.

  That was it? He stood there, wondering if he should wait or just admit that he’d have to put his plan on hold until a week from Wednesday at three o’clock. That seemed so far away. He couldn’t just stand there for no apparent reason, so he picked up a brochure with a picture of a dog in a Santa hat on it.

  “Oh, are you going to our fundraiser?” the assistant asked, nodding at the brochure in his hand.

  “Fundraiser?”

  “It’s a carnival that our office is participating in this Saturday. We’re raising money for a no-kill animal shelter we partner with.”

  “A carnival, huh? I haven’t been to one of those since I was a kid.”

  “Actually, the carnival part is for the kids. But we’ll have all kinds of vendor booths with some great gift ideas for pets and pet owners. You could shop for Henry.”

  “Sounds like a good idea.” Patting Henry’s head again, he glanced at the door to the back, as if he could will Joy to walk through it. From the looks of the list her co-worker had handed her, it was going to be a while.

  “We’ll have a booth there,” she continued as she sat down and started typing. “Those of us who don’t normally work on Saturdays will be taking turns manning it.”

  “Oh?” Hadn’t Joy mentioned that she didn’t normally work on Saturdays? So maybe he would have another chance to talk to her. Away from the distractions of the office.

  He smiled as he led Henry to the door. If things were meant to work out…

  The next morning, Joy sat in the passenger seat of Victoria’s car on their way to look at the wedding venue. While she had downplayed the significance of the gift exchange as she relayed the story to her sister, she couldn’t help but feel a hint of nervous anticipation. Kyle had actually thought about her after he’d left the other day. What did that mean?

  “So tell me the rest.” Victoria’s eyes had lit up like Christmas lights when Joy admitted to giving Kyle the ornament. “What did he say after he gave you the journal?”

  “Nothing. I had to go check in a big order of supplies, and when I came back out, he was gone.”

  “Oh.” Victoria’s face fell. “When will you see him again?”

  “His dog has a follow-up appointment next week.” The thought sent her brain into a tailspin. What would she say when she saw him? What would he say? And as much as she knew she had to stick to her guns on the no-dating thing, she had to admit that she’d be really disappointed if he acted like there was nothing special going on between them.

  “Joy, this is fantastic. You followed my advice—good job on that, by the way—and it paid off. And the best part is that now you know you’re both on the same page.”

  “But are we? He gave me a prayer journal, Vic. A prayer journal.”

  “Uh-huh. So?”

  “Think about it. Praying and journaling. Two things I never do combined into one really confusing gift that I don’t know how to interpret.”

  Victoria gave her the best eye roll she could manage while still keeping her focus on the road. “You know exactly how to interpret it. So, what are you going to do next?�
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  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, one of you needs to make the next move. Ask him out to coffee or something.”

  Joy twisted a narrow glare at her sister. “What part of ‘I’m not dating till the kids are grown’ don’t you understand?”

  “Hmm, let me think…” Victoria made a little show of pretending to consider. “Oh, I know. None of it. You can’t always control the timing of things, Joy. Some things are bigger than you.”

  “Right.”

  Victoria turned into a parking lot that sat adjacent to a harbor filled with bobbing boats—some tiny and some massive—then swerved into a spot marked Visitors Only.

  “Here it is.” The pitch of Victoria’s voice rose along with her shoulders. “I’m so excited for you to see it.”

  By the time Joy had collected her purse and gotten out of the car, she had to scramble to catch up. Victoria had wasted no time heading up the walkway that cut through the center of the lot, connecting it to a stately white building.

  “I still can’t believe that...” Joy veered as a seagull swooped down with a loud squawk. “…that Wendy managed to book the Emerald Yacht Club. This place is a Seattle legend.”

  “You have got to give her more credit.” Victoria cut across the U-shaped valet parking driveway. “I told her months ago that this was my number one choice and she got right on it.”

  “It’s not that I don’t trust Wendy…” Well, it was, but she wanted to respect her sister’s request that she be more charitable toward her. “I’m just surprised that they had an opening. I’m sure this place gets really booked this time of year.”

  “See, that’s where it helps to hire a wedding planner who has connections and knows how to make things happen. It’s all going to be perfect, Joy. You’ll see.”

  Joy followed her sister through a set of glass double doors into an elegant foyer.

  “We’ll have the guest book right here and the gift table over there.” Victoria made a sweeping gesture toward an area next to the coat check room. “Then people will be directed this way for the ceremony.” She moved to their right, into a large room with high ceilings and tall windows that looked out over the Puget Sound. “I’m so happy that we’re having the wedding and the reception at the same location.”

  “Oh, Vic. This place is perfect.” A sense of relief filled her. The fact that Wendy had managed to book one of the most popular wedding venues in the city almost made up for everything that she’d flubbed.

  Victoria let out a sigh. “I would have loved to have the wedding at our church, but that sanctuary is huge. Our two hundred guests would have felt lost in that place.”

  “I know. I’ve been to rock concerts in smaller venues. Don’t they ever have weddings in any of the smaller rooms?”

  “Yeah, but they book that place out on weekends. They’re always filling it with conventions and things like that. In fact, our wedding weekend is some kind of missions conference. We couldn’t have used the space even if we’d wanted to.”

  Joy took a couple of steps into the room to get a better look out the windows. “That view is incredible.”

  “Right? And if the weather’s decent, we can get some pictures out there while the rest of the guests move this way for the reception.” As she spoke, Victoria made a tour-guide-like U-turn back out into the foyer.

  Joy hurried to keep up, her shoes clicking on the polished floor.

  “Sorry to rush you through the tour.” Victoria spoke over her shoulder as she headed for another set of doors on the far end of the space. “But Wendy said that when she called to see when we could pop in to look around, the woman told her that Tuesday morning before noon was it. We don’t have a lot of time.”

  “No worries. I need to get back to work soon, anyway.”

  Victoria threw open both doors, and they stepped into a stunning space with the same high ceilings as the smaller room, and windows on two sides. Several glass doors led out to a deck overlooking the water.

  Wendy looked down from where she stood precariously perched on a chair on the platform stage, her carpet bag slung over one shoulder, holding a yellow tape measure over her head.

  “Hello, ladies!” Her cheerful greeting echoed through the room.

  Joy held her breath as Wendy’s weight shifted and she nearly toppled off the chair. Catching herself, she flapped a hand like that kind of near-disaster happened to her all the time.

  As the two of them started toward Wendy, Joy took in the beauty of the room. “I see why you said we wouldn’t need to do a lot of decorating. This place is gorgeous.”

  “We just have to add those extra touches that say ‘Christmas wedding.’”

  Wendy met them at the base of the stage, having managed to get herself safely back to floor level. “I’m so glad you could both make it.” She pulled a clipboard from her bag and handed it to Victoria. “I wanted to run this by you before we set it in stone.”

  Joy glanced at the top page, which had a series of circles printed on it, filled in with pencil scribblings. “What is it?”

  “The seating chart,” Victoria said as she looked from the page to the tables surrounding them.

  “Since you’re not having a head table, I’m putting Brian’s parents over here.” Wendy pointed to an area next to a window. “Would you like me to put your parents with them, or separate the families?”

  Victoria hissed in a breath. “I’m glad you asked, because we’ll need you to separate our parents.”

  “By as much distance as possible,” Joy added.

  Wendy flinched. “That bad, huh? I knew they were divorced, but I guess I just assumed that enough time had passed.”

  “No amount of time could pass that would heal that wound.” Victoria gave Joy a quick apologetic look before adding, “Our dad left when we were kids to take up with someone else.”

  “Oh.” Wendy made a face. “Is he still with her?”

  “It didn’t last.” Without looking her way, Victoria reached over and squeezed Joy’s hand. “Those things usually don’t.”

  Joy grabbed the chart. “Why don’t you put our dad over there with our Aunt Eliza’s family. That’s his sister. And you can put our mom at my table.”

  “Oh. Sorry, sis.” Victoria flashed a wicked smile. “Your table’s full.”

  Before Joy could respond, Wendy took Victoria’s arm and directed her toward one of the windowless walls. “We talked about putting the photo booth in this corner, but I’m thinking that’s too close to the buffet line.”

  While the two of them discussed various photo booth placement options, Joy searched for the circle on that chart that had her name on it.

  Oh no. She wouldn’t.

  Her teeth gnashed as she marched over to her sister, holding the clipboard with both hands and resisting the urge to clobber her over the head with it.

  “Of course, the kids will be darting in and out of…” Wendy stopped midsentence, like she’d just remembered something. “I almost forgot. I need to make a note of where all the outlets are around the room. You just never know.”

  As Wendy walked away to count outlets, Joy cleared her throat and tapped her finger on the seating chart. “Is this who I think it is?”

  Feigning innocence, Victoria looked to where Joy was pointing.

  “Mm-hm. Brian’s cousin Lance.”

  “Victoria! The cousin I met at the picnic last summer? The one who thinks he’s God’s gift to women?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “But, why would you—”

  Just then, one of the doors swung open, and a woman in a suit stepped into the room. Glancing up from the phone in her hands, she seemed a little startled, then put on a pleasant expression and veered toward them.

  “Can I help you with anything?”

  Victoria smiled. “Oh no. We’re just having another look around. Discussing some details.”

  The woman’s phone beeped and she glanced down at it, then side-stepped away. “Take yo
ur time and let me know if you have any questions.” Looking a little harried, she tapped on her phone as she made her way out the door to the foyer.

  Joy scowled at her sister, who gave her that innocent look that Joy knew all too well. She opened her mouth to speak, but Wendy cut her off.

  “Victoria! Come over here and tell me if you want to reconsider where we put the cake table.”

  Giving her a shrug of her brows, Victoria darted away, leaving Joy just shaking her head.

  She looked down at the clipboard she still held, wondering how her life had come to this. When she married Mike, she had honestly thought that her days of going stag to important social events were over. Well…she wouldn’t really be going stag. She’d have her kids in tow. But that almost made it tougher. No matter how hard she tried, the single mom mantle wouldn’t fit quite right, but there wasn’t much she could do about that.

  Looking over the rest of the seating plan, her eyes started to well up. She hadn’t seen most of their out-of-town relatives since her own wedding and, until now, it really hadn’t occurred to her that this would be the first time she’d be facing most of her family since the divorce.

  She blinked. This was not the time to worry about that. Her job over the next week and a half was to make sure that everything went exactly the way her sister had planned.

  Even if one of those plans was to seat her next to creepy Lance. She’d just have to be prepared to defend herself.

  After her afternoon of working at warp speed to make up for taking the morning off, Joy had been too exhausted to even think about cooking dinner. So she’d treated the kids—and herself—to take-out burgers from Kidd Valley. Then they’d been so wound up from the excitement, not to mention the sugar boost from the root beer milkshake they’d shared, that it had been a challenge to get them to settle down. But as much as Joy loved spending time with them, she needed her downtime at night now more than ever.

  It had taken three stories and a slightly off-key rendition of “You are my Sunshine,” but Ty was finally settled in his little bed.

  “Mommy?” he said through a yawn.