Candy found it delightful that Chris laughed at the hardships he seemed to have faced instead of jumping into a deep pool of self-pity. The man seemed determined to take whatever punches life gave him with a smile. “I didn't have the best of fathers, either,” she told Chris. “In the end, we talked on the phone for about half an hour. Two days later he died.”
“Did he go to church regularly?” Chris asked.
“I’m not sure.” Candy confessed.
“Well, the woman Chris divorced didn’t go to church either. I'll say that much,” Betty insisted in a voice that turned a bit sour. “I don't like talking bad about any soul, but some people are just dead spiders in my book. That awful woman ruined your career.”
“Aunt Betty, I've already forgiven Eva and her family for what they did to me.” Chris spoke in a gentle voice that held no bitterness. “I divorced Eva because she was unfaithful. I have forgiven her for what she did...for everything she did. It's water under the bridge. Life is too short to allow someone to steal your joy. Besides, I could have easily relocated to another state and found work as an architect. I decided to move back to North Point and hang low for a while.”
“Lick your wounds is more like it,” Betty pointed out.
Chris laughed again. “Well, perhaps. But when I moved back home...well, it felt nice being back on the old farm. I thought it would be good for me if I stayed on the farm. Before long, I found myself writing again. I would still be on the farm if you hadn’t called me.”
“I needed a gifted mind,” Betty told her nephew. “You are the most gifted architect I've ever seen.”
“How much were you paid to say that?” Chris teased.
“Oh...silly.” Betty reached out and touched Chris' arm with a loving hand. “I mean it. I have always been so proud of you. When I learned of your divorce and that you moved back to North Point, I decided not to bother you. I hesitated to call you when I did. I'm so happy you agreed to help.”
“How could I not?” Chris looked at Betty with eyes that glowed with love. “I've missed you, Aunt Betty. I know Dad drove a wedge between you two...and through the years it was hard to stay in touch. But all that is behind us now...and I think...I'm ready to start working again. I mean...if this isn't a sign from God, what is?” Chris finished with a gentle laugh. “After everything you've told me...this has to be from God.”
“I agree,” Candy spoke up from the backseat. “The chances of me winning the lottery the way I did...the way Mr. Vance died...Betty, your cousin...the way that poor man simply signed over his island was—”
“Was God at work,” Betty finished for Candy. “My cousin never gave anything to anyone, let alone an island.”
“He said he wanted to make right all the wrongs he did in his life,” Candy spoke in an understanding voice. “I think his heart is sincere in offering true repentance.”
“You always try to see the good in people, dear. That's a tender gift I have always loved seeing in you.” Betty smiled. “You treated my cousin with respect, love, and understanding. When my cousin left, he told me you were an angel in his eyes.”
“I'm not an angel.”
“You're as close to an angel as they come,” Betty insisted. Candy blushed some. “And speaking of angels,” Betty continued, “I sent Bob's ashes to the woman he was seeing behind my back. She can do whatever she wants with them. Why am I saying this? Because I want to make it very clear that from this point forward, I don't want anyone to mention Bob's name to me. I've made my peace with his death, and now I'm moving on. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Aunt Betty.”
“Yes, Betty,” Candy promised. Candy understood Betty's position. The woman wasn't going to spend her remaining years grieving over a man who betrayed their marriage. “So, how much longer to the island?”
“About twenty minutes...according to the GPS.” Betty glanced at a glowing screen sitting above the radio. “We're about ten minutes from the land we now own. This road ends at a stop sign and will split off north and south. We'll turn north, drive for about a mile, and then turn west onto our property. I just hope I remember the code to the gate...I think it's 949516. I think I have the code written down just in case...I hope.”
Candy grinned. Betty wasn't the type of woman who would admit that getting older created a few memory lapses. Betty was an angel, that much was true, but she was also a very stubborn woman at times. A sixty-eight-year-old woman wasn't a spring chicken. Candy had the code memorized, but she wasn't going to tell Betty that. Betty liked to feel in charge, and Candy had no problem with that. “I'm sure you have the code remembered correctly.”
“I hope so, dear. Chris might have to hike onto the island and get the snowplow for us if this snow keeps falling like this. We don't need to get ourselves stranded.”
Chris turned and looked at Candy. “Forgive me for saying this, Candy, but for a woman who has just won the biggest lottery in the country, you seem more excited about toys than going on a shopping spree. I can't think of a single woman in your position who would want to spend her time turning a remote island into the North Pole. As you can see...we're in a very remote location. I visited the island a few times when I was younger. There's not much to it.”
“We're going to change all that,” Betty promised.
“I think so, yes, but still...” Chris studied Candy's beautiful face with curious eyes. When Betty had told him that Candy resembled the future wife of Santa Claus, she wasn't kidding. Candy could win everyMiss Christmas Pageantin the world. The woman was beautiful—yes. However, there was more to Candy than just her beauty. The woman possessed a heart that Chris would have written into one of his female main characters: a Christmas heart. It was as if Candy truly belonged at the North Pole, living in a Christmas toy village, baking cookies and cakes, singing to reindeer, and helping Santa Claus read a million letters written by dreaming children. “Well, I don't mean to pry. Your business is personal.”
“No, it's okay. I understand,” Candy assured Chris. “Everyone in Pine Snow expects me to buy a twenty-million-dollar yacht and start sailing around the world. My main concern was saving the toys. As it turns out...I didn't even need to win the lottery to save the toys. But, I do intend to take my money and turn the island we're driving to into the greatestChristmas Toy Islandin the world.”
Chris smiled. “I believe you will...I believe you will,” he told Candy and then turned back around. “Okay, Aunt Betty, let's battle the snow. We have an island to get to.”
“I'm going as fast as I can,” Betty promised. She turned and looked at her nephew with smiling eyes. “You better get your imagination working because Candy and I are going to build an island for our toys!”
Candy smiled and closed her eyes. Inside of her heart she could see a beautiful Christmas island glowing with Christmas lights, wonder, snow, Christmas trees, presents, a Christmas castle and most of all...a home for toys that would live forever.
Chapter 6
