Call after call came his way, and he finally found a moment to grab a cup of coffee at a convenience store. He climbed back into his car, only to receive yet another call. By late evening, he was exhausted, but there was no end in sight.
On some level, he was grateful for the hectic pace, since otherwise, he would have been dwelling on his problems. Namely, the fact that Maggie was still unwilling to speak to him.
He’d known her and her son such a short time, but he felt a gaping hole in the fabric of his life. He’d grown attached so quickly, that his heart felt as if it were breaking in two.
He contemplated calling Kim and asking her what she’d said to Maggie, but he had no interest in speaking to her, or giving her the satisfaction of knowing that she’d been successful in her interloping efforts.
When dispatch alerted him to another call, he activated his emergency lights and siren and headed directly to what turned out to be a domestic disturbance. Thankfully, he was able to calm the situation quickly and get on his way.
As he pulled away from the home, he happened a glance at a nearby home. He spotted Gloria on the porch, awaiting a group of people who were exiting their vehicles.
For whatever reason, he pulled in behind one of the cars. He climbed out of the car and gave Gloria a wave. She spotted him at the same moment.
“John! Hello! Can you come in for a minute? We’re having a Christmas Eve, eve, get together!”
He nodded and gestured for her to give him a moment. He leaned back into the car and notified dispatch that he was taking a break from service. After locking the car door, he strode up to the porch, where Gloria waited for him. An older man stood beside her.
“John, this is my husband, Dan. Dan, John.”
The two men shook hands. “Are you hungry, Officer?” Dan asked. “We have a pretty good spread in the kitchen.”
John smiled his gratitude. “I could probably eat something,” he said. “Thank you for the invitation.”
He followed the couple into the house, which was decked out in holiday decorations. Gloria quickly introduced him to a crowd of family members and friends. He smiled a greeting, and soon found himself at a table in the kitchen, with a huge plate of delectable foods in front of him. He was actually grateful he hadn’t had a chance to eat much earlier, since this spread looked far more appetizing.
Dan and Gloria joined him at the table, and the group visited for a while, until Dan was called away by one of his grandchildren.
“So… How’ve you been, John?” Gloria asked, giving him a speculative look.
He met her gaze and gave a humorless laugh. “You want the truth?”
She nodded.
“I’m…” He sighed. “Not so good. I, uh…”
“You’re wondering what went wrong between you and Maggie,” she interjected.
He nodded and laid down his fork. His sincere eyes bore into hers. “Gloria, I don’t know… I mean, I met Maggie and it was like…” He perked up and smiled at the memory. “It was as if I met the woman of my dreams.” He gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I know I sound like a nut, but it was as if I was supposed to meet her and Rickey.”
Gloria nodded and smiled. “I think you’re exactly right. I think the same is true of Maggie—that the two of you were supposed to meet.”
“But something went wrong,” he said. “Well, I know what went wrong, or have some idea, anyway. I got a call from my ex, and she told me she had spoken to Maggie. I can only imagine the things she might have said.”
“She wants you back.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Yeah, I guess so. And for the life of me, I can’t imagine why. She left me for someone else. And I have to be honest, she hurt me, and for several months there, I would have taken her back. But…”
“Meeting Maggie changed that,” Gloria supplied.
He nodded. “Seeing Maggie—how she lives her life—how she loves her son—” He smiled sheepishly. “It was as if I saw the world through different eyes. I saw clearly what I wanted and had wanted all along—a woman who would be a partner in every sense of the word.”
Gloria’s face glowed with satisfaction. She’d known all along that John cared deeply for Maggie. That he, in fact, loved her.
“Tell her,” she urged.
“I want to. I intended to. But she won’t speak to me. We were supposed to spend both Christmas Eve and Christmas day together, but she cancelled.”
“She’s scared,” Gloria mused, and grimaced when she realized she’d spoken the words aloud. “Look, John, Maggie is a very private person, and I know I shouldn’t be discussing this with you. It’s not my place. I can tell you, though, that I know she cares about you too.”
He smiled with relief. “I thought she might. But I also know she’s had reservations from the beginning. Understandable,” he added. “She has a little boy to think about, and he’s been through a lot, losing his father. I understand Maggie needs time, and I’m good with that. I just wish she’d let me tell her.” He made a worried face. “I also hope she’ll let me address anything Kim might have said that isn’t true.”
Gloria grappled with whether to tell him what she knew, but opted to plunge ahead and just say it. “John, your ex told Maggie, among other things, that you have a son. Do you?”
His eyes widened in disbelief, but then he remembered, Kim had seen him with Rickey in the home improvement store and later, at the nursery, and had jumped to all sorts of conclusions. “Oh, wow,” he said. “No, I don’t have a child.”
Gloria nodded, her eyes flooding with relief. “I wonder why your ex would say such a thing…”
“I think I know…” he began, but was interrupted by a telephone ringing nearby.
Gloria smiled apologetically as she turned in her chair to check the caller ID on the phone behind her. Her eyes widened. It was Maggie.
“It’s Maggie now,” she mouthed.
He nodded, and felt his pulse begin to race. He wanted desperately to speak to her—to make her understand that his ex hadn’t been honest with her. It pained him to think she’d portrayed him as a liar. He never wanted Maggie to think he didn’t care deeply about her.
“What do you mean, he’s missing?” Gloria asked, as she rose from the chair. “Rickey is missing?” She clutched her chest.
John felt as if he’d sustained a physical blow. Rickey was missing?
He pushed back from the table and watched Gloria’s face, his shocked features registering abject horror. “Gloria, can I talk to her?”
She thrust the phone at him. “I’m going to look for him!”
She made as if to leave, but John gently grasped her arm. “Hold up, Gloria,” he said softly, and then spoke into the phone. “Maggie, it’s John. Tell me, what’s happening?”
When she began speaking, he heard the terror in her voice. She could barely manage to speak. “I … I went to check on him… He went to bed about an … hour ago. But when I went into his room … he wasn’t … there.”
“Maggie, take a deep breath.” He paused briefly. “Okay, good. Could he be hiding? You know, playing around?”
He listened intently, and then resumed speaking. “Okay. You’re sure he’s not in the house…” Suddenly, it hit him. He suspected he knew where Rickey might be. “Maggie, listen. I think Rickey may have gone to the nativity scene.”
He was silent for several seconds, listening. “Something tells me he’s there.” … “No, no. Let me go.” … He gave a resigned sigh. “Okay, give me a five minute head start, and head over there. I don’t want you there alone.”
He hung up and stared at the receiver in his hand. Gloria took it from him. “You’re going to the nativity scene then?”
He nodded.
“Please call me the instant you know something.”
As John hurried out of the house, he heard the older woman praying for the safety of the little boy. He found himself doing the same. “Oh, please God, let him be all right,” he implored. “Pleas
e return him safely to his mother—and to me.”
***
Maggie ran to the garage and jumped into her car. She nearly forgot to open the garage door, but remembered just before she plowed into it.
She gave an impatient sigh, and waited with bated breath for the antiquated door to rise. It did so with a groan. She backed rapidly down the driveway, promptly shifting into drive when the car hit the asphalt. She sped away, toward the field where the nativity scene was on display.
She arrived a few seconds before John screeched to a halt at the curb. He practically flew out of the car and met her as she dashed along the sidewalk adjoining the open field. She didn’t speak, even when he grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the grazing animals.
He slowed when they reached the manger. He hadn’t had a chance to see the life nativity close-up at nighttime, and came to a stop. The manger appeared just as he envisioned it from the accounts in the Bible.
The camel, currently standing right of the scene, lifted its head and gazed directly into his eyes. The donkey, left of the camel, also watched him, as if sizing him up.
John turned to Maggie. “I don’t see him” he whispered.
“Rickey!” she called.
“Rickey!” John shouted.
“John?” His little voice came from behind the manger.
John bolted around the left side of it, barely missing colliding with a sheep. “Rickey!”
“I’m here.”
John rounded the structure and came to an abrupt stop. Rickey was sitting on the hard, damp ground, holding the little lamb in his arms.
“Thank God,” John muttered. “Son, are you all right?” he demanded, his voice rife with relieved emotion.
“I’m … okay,” he answered, his voice faltering slightly.
“Maggie, he’s okay,” he called.
“Thank you, God,” she breathed. She took a step toward her son.
He glanced up at her through accusing, tear-filled eyes. “I want John.”
“Honey, we need to go home. We’ll talk there.”
“I want to talk to John,” he said, and began crying.
“May I talk to him?” John whispered. He laid a gentle hand on her arm. “Please.”
She nodded, though she felt apprehensive. She wanted her son safely back in her arms.
John knelt down beside the little boy. “What’s going on, Rickey?” he asked softly.
“Do you miss the animals? Is that why you came here—because they didn’t come to your house tonight?”
He dropped his head and shook it from side to side. “No. I mean, I miss them, but that’s not why I came.”
John reached out and stroked his back. “Then why did you come here, son?”
Rickey glanced up. “Because you didn’t come tonight.” He began crying, but bit back a sob. “You were supposed to come, just like you did the other Friday nights.”
“Oh, Rickey,” he said, as he sat down beside him. “You’re upset that I didn’t stop by?”
He nodded. “You see, I prayed to God to send me a daddy. And he sent me a camel.” He sniffled. “But I prayed to God again, and I probably wasn’t as nice to him as I should have been.”
“What do you mean?”
“I said to him, ‘God, I asked for a daddy and you sent me a camel.’”
John bit back a smile. “Go on.”
“And then, the next Friday night, a donkey showed up…”
“And so did I,” John said, beginning to understand.
“Yeah, and then the lamb came, and you came, and then I figured it out.”
“Figured out what, honey?” Maggie asked, taking a step closer.
He glanced up and met his mother’s eyes. “I tried to tell you. God sent John to us. He’s supposed to be my daddy.”
Maggie gasped, but John only smiled. He felt his throat constrict with emotion, and he struggled to keep his voice even. He reached out and stroked the lamb, and then eased the little creature off of Rickey’s lap. He picked up the little boy and gathered him against him. “Any man would be proud to be your daddy.”
“But I want you,” he sniffled. He burrowed his face into John’s chest. “God sent you, but you stopped coming…”
Maggie hurried over to him and reached for her son. She held him tightly. “We’ll talk at home,” she whispered. “I promise.”
“I want John,” Rickey cried again.
“Honey, he has to go to work, but…”
John shook his head. “I’m done for the night. I’m calling in.” He accompanied Maggie to her car and helped her to get Rickey inside. He patted the little boy on the cheek, and then stepped back and turned to Maggie. “I’ll see you at your place in just a minute.”
She nodded and climbed into her car and drove off.
John hurried to his patrol car and called in to his sergeant. He explained what had happened and requested to go home early. His sergeant gave him permission, and he drove directly to Maggie’s house.
When he knocked lightly on the door, it took her a moment to answer. When she did, she told him Rickey was already upstairs and sleeping. “He was pretty wiped out.”
He nodded. “He and I both,” he said with a sympathetic smile. “Oh, you need to call Gloria. She’s beside herself with worry.”
Maggie quickly placed the call to her best friend. After she hung up, she turned to John and searched his face. “You were at Gloria’s when I called her…?”
He explained being in the neighborhood for a call, and happening to see her as she awaited her guests on her front porch.
“Oh, okay. Would you like a cup of hot chocolate?” she asked. “It’s late, but I could use one myself.”
“Sure.”
He followed her into the kitchen. He sat down at the kitchen island and watched her begin preparing the hot chocolate. He registered how terrified she’d been about Rickey, when he saw that her hands were still trembling from fear. He wanted to take her in his arms and soothe her, but knew she wouldn’t be receptive to his intervention.
“I’m sorry about tonight,” she said tremulously. “I … I can’t imagine what Rickey was thinking, taking off like that.”
He chuckled lightly. “He was thinking God sent him a daddy.”
Maggie shook her head, and then gave a sigh. “I know how much he misses his father, but…”
“I think he’s right,” John interrupted.
Maggie hesitantly met his gaze. “Wha—?”
He gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Hear me out, Maggie. Think about it. You don’t think it’s a bit coincidental that those animals kept showing up at your house, during my shift? And although the gate wasn’t locked, it was latched. Did you even really ponder how those animals were getting inside? It isn’t as if they can unlatch the gate themselves…”
Maggie shook her head and spread her hands wide. “I don’t know what to think.”
John rose and rounded the kitchen island. He stared intently into her eyes. “Like Rickey, I think we were meant to meet. I wasn’t looking for a relationship, nor were you—yet, those animals appeared in your yard, bringing me into your house, and likewise, you and Rickey into my life.”
“Divine intervention?” Maggie mused, and shook her head. “But I’m not ready for a relationship,” she moaned.
John reached out and pulled her against him. “Maybe your timing isn’t God’s timing.”
“Have you been talking to Gloria?” she asked suspiciously. “And you’re not ready for a relationship either,” she added glumly.
“Hey, I’m more than willing to trust God’s timing,” he said with a wide smile.
She gave a shuddering sigh, and suddenly remembered Kim telling her that John had a child. She abruptly pulled away from him. She needed to keep a cool head, and she simply couldn’t do that in his arms. “Kim told me…”
He groaned this time. “That woman…” He raked a hand through his hair. “I know. Gloria told me, Kim told you, I have a child.”
She nodded. “I mean, she would know, wouldn’t she?”
“No. Look, remember at the home improvement store, when we went to buy the siding to repair the damage from the camel…?”
She nodded again.
“We ran into her there. She saw Rickey with me, noted that he resembles me physically, and jumped to all sorts of conclusions.”
Maggie gasped. “She thought Rickey belonged to you?”
“Yep. He does look a lot like me,” he said, sounding oddly like a proud father.
Maggie began tending to the boiling milk, in order to occupy her mind and hands for a moment. She needed a moment to process.
John sensed she needed time, since he returned to his stool. “Look, Maggie, I know that neither of us were expecting to meet the other, or to have feelings for one another. But, I guess these things aren’t necessarily within our control.”
She shook her head. “And you’re thinking it’s in God’s control.”
“Yes. And I think we should trust Him that we should trust one another enough to see where this goes. I’m not suggesting we rush into anything. But I am suggesting we give a relationship a chance. Maggie, I …” He sought her eyes, and she saw his eyes were liquid bright. “I love you. I hope you can love me too, someday.”
She turned toward him and gave a tremulous smile. “That’s the problem. I think I already do.”
He leapt from the stool and rounded the island a second time. He pulled her into his arms. “That’s not a problem, honey. That’s a solution.” He laughed, a robust, happy sound that was music to Maggie’s ears. “Maggie, you’ve made me a very happy man.”
“And I’m happy too, John,” she said with wonder.
“I’m glad, sweetheart. And it’s a good thing too.”
She gave him a questioning glance.
In answer, he said, “It is, after all, the happiest season of all.”
Epilogue
The Happiest Season Page 16
