Gingerbread Wishes

by Linda Carroll-Bradd

  * * *

  Tora hurried along the sidewalk where only a few people walked. Oh, she must be late. The cool night air chilled her cheeks but a quick glance at the sky showed no clouds. Krissy’s text said they had seats on the right side halfway up the bleachers that lined Main Street which was closed for tonight’s event. Tinkling of a piano scale and the low thrum of a bow pulled across strings filtered through the air, and she dashed along the sidewalk and up the far stairs.

  Her name was called and she lifted a hand in greeting, hoping the person would understand her need to rush. “Hi, gotta find my seat.” This time when she heard her name, the so-familiar tone stopped her on the third step. Mama? She spun and her gaze scanned the crowd.

  There, on the bottom row at the right corner. Mama and Gram waved, their faces split with wide smiles.

  Tora bit back a sob, dashed down the stairs, and over to where they sat with a plain blanket tossed over their shoulders. “What? Why?”

  Raina stood and enveloped her in a bear hug. “We couldn’t stay away.” She leaned back and ran a hand over Tora’s hair, tucking a strand behind her ear.

  Blinking away a wash of hot tears, Tora untucked the strand and felt Gram’s hand slip into hers. “But Gram’s health. That was the whole reason—“

  “The doctor there gave me some new pills and I promised to visit the beach house more often.” She grinned and shrugged. “I missed home.”

  Tora lifted her Gram’s hand and brushed a kiss across the soft, wrinkled skin. She stripped off her gloves and held them out. “Here, share this for now. You two obviously are not dressed for a December night out.”

  Raina let out a laugh. “We’re back for a couple hours and you’re bossing us around. We wanted to surprise you and Krissy said you’d be here.” She cupped her hands around Tora’s cheeks. “You sounded so lonely on the phone, and Gram has been missing the hustle of the bakery. Beside, the holidays are for family. We might be only three, but we Hammond women are a family and we need to be together.”

  Tora bit her lower lip and could only nod. The lump in her throat was too big to speak around.

  “Let’s enjoy the holidays together.” Mama’s eyes sparkled and shone under the Klieg lights set up for the performance. “We’ll figure out how to run the bakery and let you spread your wings.”

  The musical sounds increased in volume.

  “Thanks, Mama. You two coming home means the world to me.” Tora gave her mom one last hug, and dabbed the hem of her scarf under her eyes. “Krissy is saving me a seat.”

  “Shoo, honey. Have fun.” With a wave of her hands, Raina sat and snuggled under the blanket.

  Happiness welled in her chest. Now, the time truly felt like Christmas. Tora gave her mom and Gram one last grateful smile and then scanned the crowd for her best friend.

  “Over here.” Krissy stood and waved her multi-colored scarf.

  Tora clomped up the stairs and scooted past knees to reach the few inches of empty blue plaid blanket. “Excuse me, sorry.” Then she plopped down and let out a big sigh before turning to her friend. “Thank you for saving this.”

  Krissy squinted and leaned close. “You’ve been crying. I knew your voice on the phone sounded strange.”

  Can’t hide much from someone who tossed sand in my face in the preschool sandbox. She waved a hand toward the lower bleachers. “Did you see Mama and Gram in the front row? They came back because we’re supposed to be together for the holidays.”

  “Yes, I knew they were coming. But you were upset earlier.”

  Now was not the time to share her feelings about Jordan. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine…now.”

  “Good, now you’re ready to hear my news.” Krissy’s mouth split into a wide grin and she nodded. “We are.”

  “You are?” Heart pounding with happiness, Tora sucked in a breath. “Really?” She wrapped her arms around Krissy and glanced at Tim.

  He nodded, his smile almost as wide as his wife’s.

  “You’ll be a godmother by the end of July.”

  Godmother. Her throat scratched. But if she followed through with her plans, she wouldn’t be in Dorado to see Krissy go through the stages of pregnancy or watch the infant growing older. Sporadic and undoubtedly rushed visits at holiday times wouldn’t be the same.

  “Ladies and gentleman,” an amplified voice announced.

  She grabbed Krissy’s hand and squeezed, resting it on her leg as her gaze scanned the group of children lining up on the wooden stage. For some reason, Jenna’s blonde hair sparkled brighter than the other blonde-headed kids, and Tora could only stare. Introductory bars of the song sounded in the air followed by sweet quavery voices. She swore she could pick out the high-pitched voice that belonged to little Jenna. Then she spotted the little girl stare at the bleachers to her right, grin, and wiggle her fingers in that direction.

  Must be waving at her dad. She didn’t care to find Jordan and held her gaze focused straight ahead so she wasn’t tempted to scan the crowd. Instead, she was here to fulfill her promise to Jenna. As the presentation progressed, she spotted so many familiar faces that had visited her family’s shop over the years and was glad to hear them perform. She listened to lyrics of love, laughter, sacrifice, and all sorts of magical things.

  Krissy’s hand squeezed hers—a sign of remembering when they had stood on that stage, performing year after year. In a few years, Krissy and Tim’s child would be old enough to perform. If she came to Dorado only for holiday visits, would her godchild even recognize her face in the crowd? Is that the kind of godmother I want to be?

  When the senior chorale presented their version of a wonderful medieval ballad, she wasn’t the only one with tears in her eyes. She jumped to her feet and joined in the standing ovation as she nodded and smiled at Krissy. Such a feeling of community pride swept through her, blocking off her words. Dorado had always been her home, and she doubted she’d ever feel about another town in quite the same way.

  When the evening’s program ended, people gathered their blankets and exchanged holiday wishes with those standing nearby, waiting for a path down the bleacher steps to clear.

  “You’re sure you won’t come over tomorrow?” Krissy leaned back against Tim’s chest, her arms lying over his that wrapped around her waist.

  Already, they were the perfect image of a family. “This is your first Christmas together, and with this great news, it’s even more special. Plus now, Mama and Gram are back in town. They will be shocked at the state of the undecorated apartment.” She couldn’t resist giving Krissy another hug. Happiness welled inside her chest. “I’ll call in a couple days.” She dashed down the stairs, intent on saying a quick hello to Jenna, and then getting home to think over this new wrinkle in her life.

  At the exit to the street, Jordan leaned on the metal rail, arms crossed over his chest. “Wait, Tora.”

  Her feet skidded. She looked over at him and then approached where he stood. Might as well get this over with. His face was set as hard as a block of chocolate. “Wasn’t that a great performance? I saw Jenna wave to you.”

  His lips loosened into a smile. “The kids sounded sweet, didn’t they?” He stretched to wrap a hand around her elbow and tug her out of the jostling pedestrian path. “Are you going over to Jenna to say hi?”

  How should I act around him? She glanced into his dark eyes and saw no censure for her outburst earlier that day. “Of course, I promised. You know, I should apol—”

  “Don’t.” He reached for her hand and held tight. “No apology. I pushed too hard and for that I’m sorry. I had no idea of your plans.” He drew their joined hands up against his chest and ran a thumb across the ridge of her knuckles. “Being forceful in business can produce great results, but the same trait isn’t all that helpful in relationships.”

  Relationships? Her heart beat faster. “Yes, your “Save Our Bakery” flyer thing kind of snowballed.” She was aware of people watching as they walked past. Won’t the
gossips love speculating about this incident?

  “But you have no idea about my background and my wishes.” This wasn’t the time and place. Tora tugged to pull away but her hand remained trapped in his tight grip. “Jordan, we should go to Jenna.”

  “We will, in a minute.” He raised a finger and tapped it once. “You say you want to see the world. With stores in Arlington, Lubbock, New Braunfels, Waco, and Harlingen, I’ve got the great state of Texas pretty much covered. And those are just the existing ones. Who knows where I’ll expand from there? That takes care of travel.” He raised a second finger. “You want to go to college. I can figure a way to restructure the bakery workload to allow that. Do it. Part-time or online, the choice is yours.”

  Wow, he’s really thought this through. Tora held her breath at what he seemed to be leading up to. On her way to the performance this evening, she’d gone downstairs, intending to remove the “For Sale” sign from the window. While she’d pondered the action, she noticed someone had moved the newspaper stand and the case had been blocking the greater portion of the sign. When that move had occurred, she had no clue. Probably, based on what Jordan’s campaign had revealed about the community’s sentiment, her original plan had been sabotaged from the very start.

  “But what I hope you’ll decide is that you want to stay in Dorado for a while. So we can get acquainted.” He brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek. “You intrigue me, and I want to know you better.”

  The exact words I’ve been hoping for. Her stomach gave a nervous jump. She leaned into his warm touch, excitement making a crazy riot of her thoughts. “I think staying here could prove very exciting.” Jordan’s plan covered everything she thought she’d have to leave Dorado to find. Her gaze clung to his for several seconds before dropping to his smiling lips.

  Jordan dipped his head and pressed his mouth to hers, suckling her bottom lip, and then leaned his forehead against hers. “Very exciting, indeed.”

  Tora sucked in a breath and barely resisted the urge to lick her lips for more of his taste. Her heart pounded so hard she could hear its beat in her ears.

  “Daddy, Miss Tora, did you hear me sing?”

  Mrs. Turner stepped close, holding tight to Jenna’s hand. “Sorry to interrupt, but she was the last one left. And I could see you…” She transferred Jenna’s hand to her father’s and then turned to give Tora a big wink and smile.

  “Did you, Miss Tora?” Jenna tugged on the hem of her coat.

  A laugh escaped from deep in her throat, and she scooped up the little girl to rub cold noses together. “Yes, sweetie, I saw you and heard you sing. I think the only thing that would have made your voice sweeter was if it had…”

  “Sprinkles.” Eyes sparkling, Jenna clapped her mittened hands together.

  Jordan grinned and rested a hand on his daughter’s head but stared into Tora’s eyes. “Did I get an answer here?”

  Tora swung Jenna in a big circle and stopped to lean against Jordan’s chest. “I think, Jordan Dawson, that staying in town and learning all there is to know about you could be the biggest adventure of my life. Maybe wishes really do come true.” Gram always did label her specially decorated gingerbread cookies as matchmakers.

  Do I really possess the mysterious knack of granting gingerbread wishes?

  With a wide smile, Jordan wrapped his arms around them both. “And today isn’t even Christmas. Wonder what wishes will come true tomorrow.”