Now that he’d invited her on a dinner and dancing date, the snapping attraction between them was so blatantly obvious that she couldn’t believe she’d been unsure of it for so long.
Kim swung the door wide. “Hello! Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas,” Maddie and Leo replied.
“Heavens to Betsy!” Kim waved them in. “This is so exciting. The girls are playing at a friend’s house because I wanted them to be surprised when they come home and find Christmas gifts under the tree.”
“Excellent strategy,” Maddie said.
“Did you bring your little boy?” Kim asked Leo.
“No, I dropped him off with his grandmother earlier this morning. Unloading and organizing aren’t his specialties.” A smile settled across his lips. “His grandmother has a lunch date scheduled at 11:30, so she’s planning to drop him off here on her way.”
“Wonderful.”
They set the first round of deliveries on Kim’s dining room table.
“Oh!” Kim said, taking a package from one of the bags. “You’ve wrapped some of the gifts. How thoughtful.”
“We wrapped all of the gifts,” Maddie answered. “We also attached gift tags to each. If you want to unwrap some of them and set them out instead, go right ahead, of course. We just wanted to save you time and effort if we could.”
Kim’s appreciative gaze moved from Maddie to Leo, then back to Maddie. “Thank you. I really love the wrapping paper you chose.”
Kim was a Southern belle. Maddie had guessed that she’d like a traditional Christmas decorating scheme with just a little bit of fancy thrown in. They’d bought wrapping paper in complementing patterns of red, green, and white, plus lots of wide, shimmery ribbon.
All three of them made multiple trips to the driveway to bring everything in. Imperishable groceries they’d shopped for days ago and the perishable groceries that Maddie had picked up just this morning. Gifts upon gifts. They helped Kim put everything where she wanted it, then cleaned up after themselves.
When they were done, a wide ring of presents encircled the tree that Leo and Maddie had purchased for Kim weeks before. Maddie stood next to Leo, so close that their upper arms brushed, as they admired the final result of their efforts.
Joy, the sort of joy that Christmas is truly about—the kind that springs from hope and from putting the needs of others before your own—expanded within Maddie until it permeated every point of her body. In God’s upside-down economy, He’d made sure that the person who served another would somehow become the one most richly blessed.
“Good job, Maddie.”
“Good job, Leo. We did it. Together.”
Kim returned from the back of the house and presented each of them with a gift that had clearly been wrapped by a child. “Victoria, Samantha, and I wanted to do a little something for you, to thank you. It’s small and certainly not in any way big enough to acknowledge the magnitude of what you’ve done for us. But I want you to know that we really are grateful.”
“This is so kind of you.” Maddie tore open the wrapping paper to reveal a flat, wooden Christmas tree approximately six inches tall. She glanced over and saw that Leo had received the same.
“The girls just love Mod Podge,” Kim explained. “You know that sticky craft glue? Anyway, they go crazy for it. They had a blast making these for y’all.”
It appeared that the girls had cut out Christmas motifs from magazines and created a collage of them over the surface of the tree. Not a millimeter of the wood showed through the charming plaster of pictures of candles, ornaments, snow, sleds, and hot chocolate. There were also angels, Mary and Joseph, the cross, and a graphic of Jesus’s manger, with golden rays shooting out from it. “I’ll treasure it,” Maddie said.
“Thank you,” Leo told Kim.
“Thankyou,” Kim replied. “Both of you. Thank you so, so much.” She hugged Leo. “I can’t tell you how much this means to us.”
She moved to Maddie and gave her a hug. When Kim pulled back, her eyes were wet, and she had to dash her fingers underneath her lashes. “These things that you’ve brought are more than material things. They’re a reminder that I’m not on my own. God is still with me and God still provides. He always makes a way, amen?” She sniffed and smiled tremulously.
“He always makes a way,” Maddie agreed.
“I’m looking forward to seeing you in the office at Abbott once the spring semester begins,” Leo said to Kim.
“Me too! Me too.” She gestured toward herself. “Come back over here for one more hug, Leo.”
After Leo had spoken with Human Resources at Abbott, Kim had been called in for an interview. A week ago, she’d been offered an admissions assistant position while the current admissions assistant was on maternity leave.
If Kim ended up impressing the administrators at Abbott as much as she’d impressed Maddie, then, who knows, her temporary job might become a stepping-stone to something more permanent at Abbott. Regardless, it addressed Kim’s most urgent need: income for the near future.
