Because you weren’t that person then.
Boy, that sounded very much like Meredith. She felt her eyes getting a little moist.
Landry walked up behind her and slid an arm around her waist. “Where’s Howard?” he asked.
“Mel’s taken him to meet the town. What a glorious night, isn’t it?”
“There must be two hundred people in town tonight,” he said. “There’s food in the bar, if you want a little something to eat.”
“Do you have any idea how much my life has changed since I came up here?”
He grinned at her. “Do you have any idea how much my life has changed since you came? Everything is different. I went from being a solitary artist to having trouble spending time in my studio because I’d rather be with you.”
“I think I’m going to have to stay a while longer,” she said. “Mallory should go back to her classroom after Christmas break, where she’s acclimated and comfortable. I can go down to Newport Beach and pick up a few things or we can all go check it out later. In fact, I don’t even know if I’m allowed to take her out of this county. I’m not even an official, certified foster parent. I’m a friend of the family. A neighbor.”
“Don’t worry,” he said. “We have room to grow. We have an abundance of possibilities.”
“I wish my mom could see this,” she said.
“She can see it, honey,” he said, pulling her a little tighter against him.
After all the singing and visiting and snacking, Kaylee and her family headed home for a late spaghetti dinner, which they enjoyed at Landry’s house. Because of Mallory, he had found nice medium-size trees to put up in both houses so there would be one in Landry’s house where they were having their holiday meals and one in Kaylee’s house where Mallory had her room.
By the time they finished eating, it was obvious Mallory was worn out from playing with her friends and there would be no games or movies with Landry and Howard on Christmas Eve. Kaylee took Mallory home while Landry checked on the dogs and made sure Howard was settled in his room.
When Kaylee and Mallory walked up to the house, there were two small packages leaning against the front door. “What’s this?” Kaylee said, reaching for one. “One says ‘Mallory’ and one says ‘Kaylee’ and both say ‘Open on Christmas Eve.’ I guess we should do as we’re told.”
“I guess we should,” Mallory agreed.
They went inside and didn’t wait for Landry. They opened their boxes immediately and discovered matching pajamas, red with white polka dots. They were expensive, classy, grown-up pajamas and they looked to be exactly the right size.
“Oh my gosh, these are so cool,” Mallory said.
Mel, Kaylee thought. She had told Mel about how her mother gave her really nice pajamas every year, the joke being if she was going to work in her pajamas, she ought to have good ones. She couldn’t think of anyone else she had told about their tradition.
They wore their pajamas to bed, and woke up on Christmas morning to presents under the tree and Landry working on breakfast in Kaylee’s kitchen. Kaylee called Howard and told him to come next door for Christmas morning, and he came bearing gifts he’d kept in his trunk.
Kaylee had tried not to go overboard on gifts for Mallory, but she did buy her an iPad and a couple of very expensive books—a leather-bound copy of Harry Potter and one of Watership Down. She got her father a couple of shirts and also some books and for Landry some big picture books of art and dogs.
“I guess books are going to be a way of life from now on,” Landry observed.
Kaylee and Mallory stayed in their pajamas for a long time, playing with Mallory’s new iPad, reading, lounging, talking. For a while in the late morning Kaylee noticed that Mallory became a little quiet and morose. So they talked about her mother, about missing both their mothers, and it was just the two of them remembering and wishing things could have been just a bit different.
But for Kaylee, this Christmas was very special. The Christmas she had hoped would never come was magical and filled with love, filled with people who had never been in her life before. She was in love with a man she could not have even hoped for, he was so wonderful. She had a little girl who depended on her, a little girl she had quickly grown to love and hoped would be with her forever. And there was a prodigal father who had found a way back into her heart.
Mel called. “Merry Christmas! How’s it going?” she asked.
“It’s lovely. And thank you for the pajamas.”
“Pajamas?” Mel asked.
“Mel, it had to be you! Red matching pajamas for me and Mallory? I told you my mother gave me wonderful pajamas every Christmas! There were two boxes leaning up against the door when we got home last night!”
“Kaylee, I was in town. At the tree. I didn’t leave any gifts. I bet it was Landry.”
But he said no when she asked him. He swore he wasn’t lying. “I’m telling the truth. There was a note, wasn’t there?”
“But it was printed,” she said.
“I think you should accept the fact that you have a guardian angel. And she might be walking the earth or maybe not. But there is one thing I noticed that you didn’t.”
“What’s that?”
“You didn’t fall apart at 11:04.”
She hadn’t. She had glided right through the time and when she noticed a while later, it
