Before he could answer, the bells on the door heralded a new arrival. A young man rushed in, clearly in a hurry. He was good-looking in a clean-cut way but not at all in the same league as Ryan Caldwell.
Happiness also beamed out of him so brightly it probably could power all the Christmas lights in town.
“Hi. I’m Austin Harris. I’m here to pick up a bouquet for my wife. She just had a baby this morning.”
He brimmed with excitement and pride, as if no other couple on earth had ever been clever enough to bring a child into the world.
“I ordered it about an hour ago and the person I spoke with said it would be ready at three p.m.”
Holly quickly turned away from Ryan, switching back into business mode. “Congratulations to both of you,” she said warmly. “Is this your first?”
“Yes. That is, she had a miscarriage around this time last year, so technically our second.”
His words and the hint of sorrow on his expression made her like him that much more, though she couldn’t help but remember her own miscarriage, the year after Lydia was born. That dark time had been the beginning of the end of her marriage.
Her now-ex-husband hadn’t been at all thrilled to find out she was unexpectedly pregnant, as if she had found herself in that condition all by herself. When she lost the baby at ten weeks, Troy hadn’t bothered to hide his relief and Holly had never been able to forgive him for it.
Of course, now he and Brittany, the woman he had married only two months after their divorce was final, had a child together. Hudson was a healthy, adorable baby boy, and the man who had claimed he didn’t want more children couldn’t be more thrilled.
She pushed away the lingering hint of bitterness she had no right to. She did not regret their divorce at all. She had accepted the inevitability of it a long time ago and knew both she and Lydia were much happier now.
When she presented the arrangement to Austin Harris, his already bright face lit up even more. “It’s perfect! Gorgeous.”
As she processed the order, he went on gushing about how brave his wife had been, how thrilled they both were at the healthy delivery, how adorably perfect their baby girl was.
His sheer delight made Holly smile as she handed him the receipt to sign.
He was still beaming as he grabbed the bouquet and hurried out of the store. Before the door closed behind him, Holly saw a light snow had begun to fall.
“I’ve got to run too,” Hannah said, gathering up her coat, hat and scarf. “I’m meeting with Reverend Ashford to go over the final music selections for the Christmas Eve service.”
“Thank you for lunch. I wouldn’t have had time to grab anything if you hadn’t taken pity on me and picked up a sandwich,” Holly said.
“What are twins for?” Hannah said, then turned a flirtatious look on the other man in the shop, who had been standing to the side, waiting for her to finish the interaction with the new father.
“Nice to meet you, Ryan. I hope you enjoy your stay in Shelter Springs.”
“Thanks,” he said.
After she left, he glanced at the sleek watch on his wrist. “What time do you expect Audrey and your daughter?”
“It should be any minute, though sometimes Lydia likes to dawdle,” she admitted.
The words were barely out when the door burst open andher beautiful girl rushed through as if she were chasing a pack of wild puppies.
“Mommy! Mommy!”
She dropped her backpack just inside the door and lunged for Holly’s outstretched arms.
“There’s my girl.” She hugged her close. “Hi Lydi-bug. Did you have a good day?”
Lydia nodded. “We drew pictures and heard a story and played at the sand table and sang songs. And we had pizza for lunch. I love pizza.”
“I know you do.”
Holly was deeply grateful for the teacher and aides at her child’s special education kindergarten class, as well as the regular ed teacher where Lydia was mainstreamed for half of her day.
They were all angels, as far as Holly was concerned.
