“I delayed my flight,” Chloe said with a grin. “Your grandma cooked this up.”
“She called us over too,” Adelie added, grinning at her.
Ella moved in a slow circle, taking everything in. There didn’t seem to be an inch of her apartment they hadn’t cleaned. A tear trickled down her cheek, and she hurried to dab it away.
“I can’t believe you guys. And whatever that is, it smells amazing.”
“That’s not all we’ve been up to,” Chloe said, exchanging a look with Grandma Larsen.
Grammy smeared her hands on her apron. “You want to show her, or shall I?”
Chloe released a squeak and dashed down the hall and into her room, returning with something long and flowing. She held it aloft, displaying it on its hanger as though she worked in a clothing store.
“Check it out!” she squealed.
Ella’s knees buckled. While it wasn’t her dress Chloe cradled in the long, gray bag, this gown was equally exquisite. Pink, beaded lace, scalloped shoulder line, Ella reached a hand to stroke the visible ruched waistband that seemed to be made of satin through the bag’s plastic.
She sank against the counter, completely speechless. “You bought me a dress?”
Chloe draped the gown on the cleared table, which was usually covered in material and at least two sewing machines.
Grandma Larsen strolled over and plucked the zipper. Slowly, she guided it down, giving Ella a glimpse of the light peppering off the beads within the pink lace.
“I stopped by after our last phone call,” Grammy said. “Your roommate was still here, and we decided you needed a Christmas miracle. But Ella girl, your notes were a mess. That was one complicated pattern, and I didn’t have time to figure it out. I found one as similar to yours as I could.”
“Grammy,” Ella said, still staring at the gown. “This must have cost a fortune.”
“Good thing I’ve been working extra hours,” Grandma said with a wink. Ella opened her mouth to protest when Grammy patted her cheek. “It was nothing, my girl. Someplace called Circle of Elegance was having a big, holiday sale, and I snatched this gown the minute I saw it.”
The tears were streaming now. Ella didn’t bother holding them back any longer. All the weariness, the stress, the heartache, gushed down her cheeks in a waterfall of gratitude and disbelief.
“You’re the reason my fabric went missing,” Ella turned to Chloe, wiping her cheeks.
“Guilty,” Chloe said. “But don’t worry. It’s folded nicely and waiting for you to finish it when you have more time.”
“Th—thank you. I know it’s not enough, but I can’t say it any other way.”
Chloe laughed. She tossed her arms around Ella, then made way for Grandma, Adelie, and Suzie to all throw their arms around her until, somehow, they’d each managed to shuffle and converge into one group hug.
Ella held her breath. Warmth streamed into her chest, along with comfort so strong she’d forgotten what it felt like. She floated, as though a heavy load that had been making her stumble had just been removed. An utter sense of calm emitted from her grandma, her friend, and her cousins, and Ella basked in it, not bothering to keep the tears at bay any longer.
She longed to submerge herself in this feeling, this safety, this sense of wholeness that had been so fleeting for so long.
This was what it meant to be loved. She’d forgotten. A reassuring peace rendered her joints suppler than melted chocolate. Everything was all right. It would be okay because she had these people in her life.
“I—I can’t believe you did this,” Ella said once they’d all pulled away and settled themselves around her table. She couldn’t manage to move, so she remained where she was in a total daze, wiping her cheeks with a tissue one of them had handed to her. “Thank you.”
“It’s Christmas Eve,” Grammy argued. “Miracles happen on Christmas Eve, don’t you know.”
Ella swiped a hand at her eyes. For some reason, that comment reignited the tears all over again. It brought up an ache so penetrating it gave her physical pain in her chest.
“I don’t, actually. From the way things have been lately, all the miracles so far are ones I’ve had to make myself.” An optimist could state the facts, after all.
“Look at all those pillowcases you sewed. You got them to the kids, didn’t you?”
“I—yeah, I did.” For a minute, she’d forgotten she’d told Grammy about them.
“Those kids won’t ever have any clue how hard you worked on all those, but the pillowcases are miracles,” Grammy said. “Made with love. Miracles don’t have to come at random. Sometimes they’re on purpose, and those are the best ones.”
Ella shuffled over and collapsed into the vacant chair situated between her fridge and her dining table. “You didn’t have to do this for me,” she said. She couldn’t stop staring. At her clean apartment. At her dress. It was all too much to take in.
“Yes, we did,” Adelie said. “You do so much for others. And your dad and stepmom not inviting you home? Talk about pathetic.”
“We wanted you to know you’re important,” Chloe added, scooting forward in her chair.
Ella’s lower lip trembled amid her racing pulse. One by one, she made her way around the table, hugging each of them while sunlight shot a single ray straight to her.
Her mother was in those words. In each of her cousins’, grandma’s, and Chloe’s hugs. They hadn’t just brought Christmas into her home. They’d returned it to her heart.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Hawk stood before the mirror in his office, snapped the black suspenders over his white pleated tux shirt, and donned the coordinating white jacket. He couldn’t pinpoint the last time he’d been this nervous. The last time he’d been so anxious to make a good impression.
Maybe it’d been during his college exams. The fate of his career had depended on their outcome. Although that had been years ago, this moment—tonight—felt similarly life-altering.
He wasn’t sure why, but in some way, the direction of his life hung
