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“One more and then we can hug our girl.”
He nods again, but he doesn’t seem any more relaxed now that Evie has come through without a hitch. Something has him stressed. I’ll get it out of him once I’ve put Evie to bed.
When the curtain opens for the final encore, I stop clapping, surprised to see only Evie there instead of the rest of the cast. That’s weird.
She waves at the audience, takes another bow, then makes the “settle down” gesture with her hands. I look up and down the row, thinking I’ll meet someone’s eyes in shared confusion, but no one makes eye contact with me.
“What’s going on?” I ask Henry, as we take our seats.
He shrugs. “I don’t know, but no one is giving her the hook, so it must be planned.”
“Probably a Christmas Town announcement,” I say.
Evie clasps her hands behind her and assumes a stance like she’s about to recite the Constitution or something equally grand.
“Thank you for coming to the final night of our production ofA Christmas Carolthis evening,” she says in her slightly too loud “projecting” voice. “Tonight, we have a special encore. May I present Mr. Henry Hill!”
My head whips toward Henry, more confused than ever, but he doesn’t look at all surprised. He rises and walks to the edge of the stage before he turns to face the audience, still standing on the floor, where the spotlight finds him. His eyes, however, are fixed on me.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you a reformed Scrooge.”
It’s his engaging lecture voice. I’ve sneaked into his class a few times to listen to him, and I love it.
“I forgot the joy of early Christmases when a tragedy erased them, and I spent years loathing the holiday and everything associated with it. That all changed when Tiny Tim, disguised as a moppet named Evie, moved in next door to me with her mother, Paige.” He smiles at Evie then over at me. “You may know her as the finest window and set decorator in Creekville.”
This earns some cheers and whistles, but I barely notice, because I can think of only one reason Henry would do this, and my stomach flutters like I’ve got a partridge in a pear tree in there.
“These two Redmond women made a point of winning me over to Christmas last year, and they did sneaky things like leave me thoughtful gifts and delicious treats.” Evie beams and jumps down to stand beside him, then gives me a huge wink. She slides her hand into Henry’s, something she’s done easily almost since the night he confessed he loved me and we’d won him over to Christmas. Two turtledoves and three French hens join the partridge in the fluttering.
“It made my Christmas Present as happy as I could ever imagine being,” Henry continues, “but lately I’ve been wondering about Christmas Future. How could it ever top any of this?” He stops and clears his throat, looks down at Evie, and nods.
She reaches into the pocket of her Victorian knee breeches and produces a small velvet ring box. The audience buzzes.
I press my hands to my stomach. The whole flock is here. I’ve got calling birds and geese and swans a-swimming in there.
Henry turns back to me. “I realize the only way that Christmas Future could ever be bright was if these Redmond women were in every one of them. Paige, could you come here?”
I stand and walk toward them, tears already trembling on bottom lashes, threatening to fall, but I sniff them back.Keep it together, Paige.
When I reach him, Henry draws Evie around to stand next to me, then drops to one knee, and there’s another cheer from the audience.
“Paige and Evie Redmond,” he says, “one of my favorite rituals in every culture is marriage.”
This pulls a laugh from me, because it’s so Henry, but it’s a purely happy laugh, no threatening panic beneath it. That hasn’t happened in months and months.
He opens the ring box to reveal a simple golden ring. It’s exactly what I would have picked for myself. “Would you two do me the great honor of becoming my family and permanent Christmas Future?”
Evie clearly had not expected a proposal for herself, and she looks up at me with wide eyes.
“What do you think, Evie?” I ask.
She nods hard enough to give herself whiplash.
“Good call,” I say. I look back to Henry, love shining up from his warm brown eyes.
I reach down and cup his face in my hands, loving the soft scrape of the stubble he keeps for me. “Very well, Henry Hill. But I’ll see your Christmas Future and raise you a forever.”
“That means yes, right?” Tabitha demands from the front row.
“It means yes!” Evie shouts, and I barely register our standing ovation as Henry surges to his feet and seals the best Christmas ever with a kiss.
For a bonus scene in Paige and Henry's future, please visit Melanie's website.
