Her eyes swept the crowd, until she saw Roland standing with his mother, still waiting to talk to Mrs. Tucker.
He had been looking at her, and when their gazes met, he smiled.
There was no bitterness or anger on his face, and she knew that he had completely forgiven Mrs. Tucker. Especially after what they had agreed to do for her.
After tonight, Mrs. Tucker would find out that all of her debt had been paid, and if her son still moved in, the money he paid in rent would be extra income for her to supplement her small Social Security check.
The thought made Nelly smile wider, as Roland stepped up, and wrapped his arms around the older woman.
Maybe it was Nelly's imagination, but it seemed like Mrs. Tucker gave him an extra big hug.
"Congratulations on such a wonderful program. I believe that's the best Christmas program I've ever had the privilege of attending," Kelsey Trainer broke into Nelly's musings.
And before she knew it, she had a line of people waiting to talk to her and congratulate her. She made sure that she told each of them that Roland had done just as much if not more than she had, because she could not take credit for the Christmas program herself. Roland had definitely made a difference.
It was another hour until the sanctuary cleared out, with the last person speaking to her being Pastor, who had thanked her for taking the program on along with Roland.
He didn't realize how difficult that had been for her to begin with, and she was grateful that she had made the decision to say yes anyway.
Her life had changed over this Christmas season, and Roland was the reason.
As Pastor walked away, she realized that Roland had been standing to the side, although she didn't know for how long.
"You put on a good program," he said softly, as he strode to her, the candlelight still glittering in the windows and the sound of the congregation enjoying the refreshments downstairs drifting up as a muted, cheerful background noise.
"That's what everybody's been saying, and I keep saying the same thing: I couldn't have done it without you. You had just as much to do with it as I did, if not more."
"I don't know about that, but I'll definitely share in the credit."
She laughed at how he said it.
"But that's not really what I wanted to talk to you about," he said, as he finished closing the distance between them, and stopped in front of her.
As she had been talking to all the other people, she'd been slowly putting costumes and props away, as had he, and now, they stood at the front of the church, done for the evening, as she blinked.
"What did you want to talk to me about? Some Secret Saint activity we need to do tonight yet?" she asked, glancing around the sanctuary to make sure that they were alone. If they were going to betalking about the Secret Saint, she didn't want anyone overhearing them.
"No. I wanted to talk about how I feel about you." He grinned a bit, and tilted his head. "I'm not used to saying things like that. Or talking about how I feel."
"Okay," she said carefully. Was he saying what she thought he might be saying? Because she knew exactly how she felt about him, and she'd been thinking about telling him for a while.
Could he feel the same? Or maybe he just wanted to tell her what a great friend she was. The idea was a little discouraging. She didn't want to be a great friend. Although, that wasn't true. She did want to be a great friend. She just wanted to be more. So much more.
"I guess I could start at the very beginning, which is actually before that Valentine's Day when I said those things I didn't really mean, and started the whole thing."
"It was my fault. I didn't have to take it so badly, and hold onto it for so long."
"I'm trying to talk here," he said, grinning, humor in his tone.
"I'm sorry," she said, laughing.
"No. I was teasing you. Because this is hard, harder than it really should be. I just wanted you to know that I think I'm falling in love with you. I've enjoyed working with you, and... I didn't mean all of those things I said back then either. I had a huge crush on you at the time, and I think that it's only gotten stronger."
She held her breath. He seemed to be wanting to say one more thing.
"Nelly, I love you. I understand if you don't feel the same?—"
"I do. I love you too! Everyone I talk to says that they thought our antagonism and competition was just that, me masking my feelings because I was secretly attracted to you. And maybe it was. I know for sure that I've never worked with anyone I've gotten along better with, and not only do I love you, but I admire you, and how you handled things with Mrs. Tucker just confirmed everything Ithought about you."
