Shirley Jump - Miracle On Christmas Eve

She should say no. Be firm with C. J. Hamilton, wish him well and get back to—

To what? She had nothing to occupy her evening. She could go back to the toy shop, put in a few more hours, but she had a capable staff running the operation—a staff that would be surprised to see the boss back right after she’d left for the day.

There was no one waiting for her in the kitchen, no one expecting a dinner, a conversation by the fireplace. Nothing but an empty house, a dog whose affections were easily swayed and a packed suitcase.

And here was a child, a motherless child, who needed help.

Jessica bent down to Sarah’s level. The little girl’s face was tearstained, her eyes red rimmed. Whatever temper tantrums Sarah might have pitched in the toy store before were forgotten, as Jessica’s heart opened up to this near-orphaned girl who just wanted to get to a party, see her friends and pretend her upside-down life was normal.

That Jessica could understand. And was powerless to close her door against. “Why don’t you come in,” she said, to Sarah and then to C.J. “And we’ll see what we can do about getting you ready for Cassidy’s party.”

Fifteen minutes later, Jessica had managed to corral Sarah’s curly locks into two neat ponytails, then straighten the bow on her dress. “Thank you,” Sarah said, spinning on the kitchen floor, admiring what she could see of her sash from over her shoulder. “I was starting to get a little worried, there.”

“You were?” Jessica said, biting back laughter at the nearly adult tone in Sarah’s voice. “Why?”

Sarah paused in her twirling and leaned to whisper in Jessica’s ear. “Because he—” at that, she thumbed toward C.J. “—doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

Jessica bit back another laugh, and saw C.J. doing the same. “I think he’ll figure it out as you two go along, don’t you?”

Sarah shrugged. “Maybe.” She grabbed her present off the table and clutched it to her chest, like a shield, as if she was trying to keep her distance. To keep from warming up to this stranger who was her father. “Can I go to my party now?”

“Sure, sure,” C.J. said. “Cassidy’s house, right?” He fished his keys out of his pocket but stayed where he was in the kitchen, another lost, blank look on his face.

A second wave of sympathy ran through Jessica. At this rate, she’d be writing greeting cards for the man. She needed to quit being such a softie. “Do you know where Cassidy lives?”

“I didn’t think to ask,” C.J. said. “I guess I thought…”

“A six-year-old could give you directions?”

“I know where Cassidy lives,” Sarah put in. “She’s got a big green house and a small blue car and she has a flag in her yard. And a dog named Boo and a cat named Wink. And her street is really pretty, and it has this big yellow house next door that looks kinda scary but isn’t ’cuz I trick-or-treated there one time and the lady was nice and gave me a Snickers. A big one, too. Not those baby candies.”

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