“So, can I stay, Sissy?” Gabby asked excitedly.
“Yes, you can, as long as you promise to be good for Gigi.”
“I promise, Sissy,” she vowed and turned her adorable eyes to me. “I promise, Gigi.”
With that settled, we said our goodbyes, to Jacob and Keegan, as well as the rest of the Blackwings that had come up to help.
“Be sure to let us know when you’re ready to open. We’d love to bring the little ones up,” Phoenix said.
“I certainly will. Thank you again. We couldn’t have done it without your help.”
Jacob chuckled. “Okay, Mom, you’ve thanked everyone at least three times this morning. We need to get on the road before you try to get us to stay for lunch.”
I hugged my son and his beautiful wife. “I love you. Both of you. Be safe and I’ll see you in a few days for Thanksgiving.”
We stood on the front steps and watched the two clubs ride away from the house with practiced ease. One right after the other, they fell into a formation as if it was second nature, and I supposed it was for them.
Once they were out of sight, I clapped my hands together and turned to Gabby. “Well, little miss, let’s make a list of what we need to do today and get to work.”
“Okay, Gigi. I’ll get my notebook,” she said and took off up the stairs.
I sat down at the kitchen table and looked to Ronan. “I think we might actually pull this off.”
Leaning against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest, he looked like he could take on the world and win. “But?”
I sighed. “But, I need help running the village. And I don’t know where I’m going to find enough people to do that in just a few days.”
Ronan’s face lit up with a smile. “I do. How many people do you think you’ll need?”
“Hmm…I’m thinking one for each village house that has an activity, a few to monitor the ice-skating rink, and—” I gasped and slapped my hand over my mouth. “And we need ice skates to rent!”
“We have time to get those,” he said calmly, confidently, which settled some of my own panic. “What else is on your to-do list?”
“We need to finalize the activities for each village house and order the supplies for each one,” I said and went down the list. “We have candy canes at the candy cane cottage, gingerbread cookies at the gingerbread house, a mixed variety of small toys at the toy factory, non-breakable ornaments at the ornament shop, small teddy bears at the teddy bear house, bottled water at the penguin cottage, and one for the ice skate rentals. That leaves three houses that need something.”
“What do you think about using one shed for clothing donations and another for toy donations?” Ronan asked.
“That’s perfect! What would I ever do without you?”
He closed the distance between us and cupped my cheek. “I hope you’ll never have to find out,” he said softly.
I placed my hand over his and leaned into his palm. “Ronan,” I whispered.
“I’m ready, Gigi!” Gabby exclaimed.
Ronan chuckled lightly and shook his head. “One day…” he murmured, causing tingles to shoot through my body. I’m not sure what changed or when it did, but somewhere along the way, I subconsciously decided to stop fighting my feelings for the man I’d spent every day with since long before my husband passed away.
I turned my attention to Gabby. “Okay, sweetie, here’s what we have so far,” I said and went over the list with her. “What do you think?”
Her little forehead wrinkled and her lips pursed while she thought. After a few minutes, she said, “We need a place for Santa.”
Her statement caught me completely off guard. I hadn’t even considered having a Santa at the village, and quite frankly, I wasn’t sure if it was even feasible. “That’s a good idea, Gabby, but we’ll have to see if Santa has time to stop by our village once or twice.”
Gabby looked at me like I had lost my mind. “Not the real Santa, Gigi. One of his helpers.”
“Oh, well, um,” I stammered. “I’m not sure how that works, but I’ll check into getting one of his helpers.”
She nodded. “Okay. Then, we’ll need a chair for him to sit in. And a Christmas tree, and a rug, and, um, oh, a camera.”
