“Movie,” he said, and she hit Play.
• • •
Two nights later, Connor returned to the house from his studio and overheard his mom on the phone.
“I have so much to be thankful for, Patsy,” she was saying to the sister just a year and a half behind her in age. “So much.”
He paused in the hallway. By the direction of the sound, he could tell Mom was sitting in her favorite living room chair.
“The only thing that would further ease my mind before I go is to see Connor . . . settled.”
He winced.
Quiet. No doubt, she was listening to Patsy’s reply.
“Yes,” Mom said, “but she’s as independent as they come. Her job’s the most important thing to her and she’ll likely be very happy going through life without a significant other.” She had to be referring to his younger sister. “I’m fine with that. For her. Not for Connor.”
Another stretch of silence.
Connor walked into the living room. Sure enough, she sat on the expected chair. Behind her, the Christmas lights he’d mounted on the edge of the roof weeks ago cast a glow against their dark front yard.
She eyeballed him and he gave her a look like, You’re busted.
Her face turned instantly guilty. “Patsy? I’ll have to call you back.”
Murmurs from the phone, then Mom disconnected and set the phone facedown on the arm of her chair. “Well?” she said defensively. “I would like to see you settled.”
“I’m as independent as my sisters.”
“Of course you are, but you’re also a different case.”
“Because?”
“Because you’re in love with Shay.”
He froze.
She regarded him with compassion. “I may have ALS but I’m still as observant as ever. You’ve always loved Shay.”
His thoughts reeled. All his life his mom had shown him that she understood the things he never said and even tried to hide. Yet, every time, it surprised him.
He nodded because, yes. He loved Shay.
“When are you going to tell her?” she asked.
“Tomorrow.”
Her face brightened. “Really?”
“Yes. But she might not be interested in me.”
She outstretched her hand. He took hold, gripping firmly. Their journey together over the past two years raced through his memory. All the appointments, medicines, therapies. “If she’s not interested in you,” she said, “she’s crazy.”
“She’s not crazy.”
“Then she’ll be interested in you.”
“I don’t want you to hang your sense of peace on my dating life.”
“Okay, okay. I hear you. It’s just . . . I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“You’ve made me very proud of the son I raised. I don’t want much . . . other than a cheeseburger,” she added dryly. “But I do want you to be happy.”
“I am happy.”
“You could be happier,” she said. “God is good. His plan is best. But I don’t mind telling you, I’m going to pray tonight—and pray hard—that Shay sees in you what I see.”
• • •
Low-level anxiety had been circling within Connor all day. The nativity was scheduled to start in thirty minutes, and the anxiety was still there.
Everything outdoors was ready, so the volunteers had gathered in the barn at Sugar Maple Farm, which Sam had cleared out in preparation for tonight. When the time came, they’d all move to their places outside. At the moment, a few of the character actors were still putting on the last pieces of their costumes and receiving hair or makeup touch-ups. The rest of them were standing around, talking.
Shay sat in a folding chair on the far side of the barn, as one of the volunteer stylists from the salon added waves to her hair. Connor pulled his attention from her, letting it rove over the space full of people, animals, and activity. In the corner, a gray donkey that looked much too old to carry a pregnant woman from Nazareth to Bethlehem blinked sleepily in its enclosure. The alpaca stared at the donkey nervously. The miniature cow appeared bored.
A group of shepherds discussed their golf swings. Two women with clipboards trailed his mother—who glowed tonight—as she leaned on her cane to slowly make her rounds. The older couple who’d brought the sheep to the site stood in front of the snack table, deciding between chips, pretzels, and Goldfish.
Leah, who’d dressed as one of the kings, stood next to Connor. As did Leah’s boyfriend, Dr. Sebastian Grant, also dressed as a king.
Sebastian was one of the best heart surgeons in the country. A former foster kid, he’d climbed the ranks through sheer determination. Because Connor and Sebastian had Ben as a mutual friend, Connor had interacted with Sebastian a few times in the past. His initial impression of Sebastian? That he was incredibly confident and intelligent, but also closed-off. Despite trying, Connor hadn’t been able to connect with him at all.
However, Leah seemed to have transformed the blunt, unapologetic doctor. Sebastian couldn’t take his eyes off his girlfriend. He smiled at her easily and there was almost always a physical link between them. Either her hand rested on his forearm, or their fingers interlaced, or he was freeing a piece of hair from her eyelashes, or she was whispering something in his ear.
No wonder Ben had stepped aside to make a way for these two. Clearly, they were a perfect match.
Ben and his family had other plans tonight, so he wouldn’t be present. But Shay would be pleased because three of the Miracle Five were here. In addition to Sebastian, Natasha was present. She was playing the part of a shepherd. Even now, he heard her interrupt the talk about golf swings to explain how she was finishing up a year of living C.S. Lewisly. Strangely, she was also wearing terribly knitted mittens, which one of the costumers would definitely swap out for a style of gloves they’d approved.
Genevieve was also present, not surprising seeing as how she lived in the cottage on this property and was engaged to be married to the farm’s owner, Sam.
“The crown suits you,” Sebastian said to Leah. “Don’t you agree Connor?”
“I do.”
“It doesn’t suit me,” Sebastian stated, looking toward his forehead, where a huge fake gold crown rested on his dark hair.
Leah rolled her eyes. “No one’s buying your false humility, darling.”
“Did it ring false?” Sebastian asked.
“Humility from doctors always rings false,” she teased. “Connor and I and the rest of the people in America know how arrogant you all are.”
“Want to know something that I’m very arrogant about?”
“Inspiring the crushes of young female nurses and saving the lives of infants?”
“The fact that I won you over,” he said smugly. “In fact, I think I should announce to all these people how proud I am of that.” He straightened, cupped a hand around his mouth, and angled toward the center of the barn.
Laughing, Leah clapped her palm over his mouth. “The fact that you’ve already arrogantly announced to Connor and me how proud you are of that will suffice.”
“I’m not sure that it will.”
“It will.” She drew Sebastian’s hand down and linked their pinky fingers. “Right, Connor?”