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“Me?”
“If you want to, I mean,” I added quickly. “I just thought since you worked so hard on the display, you should get to do it. Anyway, I was thinking one night it would just be you and then one night it would be you and me, but I would stand off to the side as Joseph. Instead of putting the plastic wise men out on Christmas Eve, we ask Mason, Shep … wait, not Shep. It’s too dangerous in the cold with his asthma. Maybe Mason, Ellis, and Gabe. We could do it Christmas Eve when everyone drives through the neighborhood after the park event.”
“Great idea,” she agreed, clapping her hands. “If we did the living nativity for two nights leading up to it, people would keep coming back.”
I turned and took her shoulders. “Do you really think we should do it? Do you think it’s something my mom would have liked?”
Her hand slid up my face and she rubbed her thumb over my temple. “Your mom will be watching from somewhere near the Christmas star with a giant smile on her face. Going the extra mile to make her vision something truly special for everyone in Bells Pass would thrill her, Lance.”
I nodded, biting back the tears threatening to fall over my lashes. She was right and that was comforting and heartbreaking at the same time. I cleared my throat before I spoke. “Do you think we should ask about the three wise men? It would be tough for Ellis since he’s always Santa at the park event.”
She tapped her chin as she thought about it. “That’s true. Maybe we could ask some of the kids from the tree farm and the bakery.”
I slapped my hands on my thighs and a grin tore across my face. “Brilliant! Can you imagine Stephan if we asked him to be a wise man? He’d literally do a fist pump in the air.”
We both started laughing hysterically at the image because if there was one thing Stephan was as the manager of Evergreen Acres, it was enthusiastic.
She waved her hand in the air and took a breath. “It would be the best living nativity of the year. We could ask Brittany? What say you, can a woman be a wise man?”
“In my world, one hundred percent of the time,” I agreed with a head nod.
“Then I say we do it!”
I turned back to the creche. “Now to figure out what’s missing. I know Mom wanted a spotlight on Mary alone, but that feels too pointed, if that makes sense.” I tapped my chin as I stared at the rest of the lights and statues around the yard. “Maybe there will be enough ambient light from the rest of the lights to give her the soft back glow that we’re looking for. The small set of lights we have inside her will give off more of a background glow than make her stand out.”
“I might have the missing piece,” she said, and I noticed her wipe her hands on her pants nervously.
“Here?”
“Yep, in the garage,” she said after clearing her voice. “I wasn’t sure if I should mention it.”
“Why not? You know I want the yard to stand out this year.”
Her nod was immediate, but so was her grimace. “I do know, but I don’t want to upset you, so I’ve been on the fence. The girls said I should give it to you and let you decide, so I guess that’s what I’ll do.”
I took her hand and turned, walking back to the garage while she followed behind me. I had no doubt if I hadn’t been holding her hand, she would have stayed in the middle of the yard. I had to practically drag her into the garage where I released her hand and motioned with my arms. “Show me.”
Her nose turned up in an adorable scrunch and once again, I wanted to kiss her until she relaxed. “Let’s not. Let’s sleep on it.”
I stuck my hands in my pockets and sighed. “If I promise not to get upset, will you show me now?”
“You can promise, but Lance, I already know you will even if you don’t plan to.”
I held my finger up and opened my mouth, then closed it again. I scrunched my lips up and finally grabbed her shoulders. “Why did you buy it if you knew it was going to upset me? That’s where I’m confused.”
“Fair question,” she agreed. “I guess because it’s what we need to bring everything together, but also—”
I put my finger to her lips to quiet her. “No also. Show me. Now.”
She bit her lip while she walked to the back of the garage and lifted a black garbage sack up off the floor. She carried it to the steps and lowered it to the landing. Rather than speak, she just motioned at the bag for me to open. I untied the bag and lifted it to take out the box inside. My fingers froze and my breath hitched. She slapped her hand down over the bag immediately. “I’ll take it back tomorrow.”
I lifted her hand off the bag and pulled the box out to rest on the stair. Staring back at me was the Christmas star from Mrs. Beesweasel’s. On closer inspection, it was nearly two feet long and was lit with LED lights. I stared at it, waiting to have the same reaction I had the first time I saw it, but it didn’t come.
“Are you going to say anything?” she asked, her voice gentle.
“It’s perfect,” I answered, my gaze still focused on the gold star. “It’s exactly what the creche is missing. If we put it at the peak, it will light Mary the way I can picture it in my mind while keeping the display classy.”
“Yeah,” she said on a breath. “That’s what I was thinking after I saw the creche the other day too.”
