“Yes,” she said cautiously. “I used a ruler to make the straight lines, but Sissy said that wasn’t cheating.”
“Oh, no, that’s not cheating, honey,” I assured her. “Gabriella, these are very, very good. Did you show these to your sister?”
She shook her head. “No, I wanted you to see them first. She can see the real thing when we’re finished.”
I glanced at her, slightly confused by her statement, but continued to look through her notebook. Each page had a street with houses or buildings lining it. The amount of attention and detail she put into each structure would have been astonishing if an adult had done it, but a six-year-old. I was blown away by her rare talent, and made a mental note to make sure Keegan and Jacob were aware of it.
The last page of her notebook was a map. Upon closer inspection, I realized she had put together all the streets from the previous pages and formed a town centered around a large ice-skating rink with a Christmas tree in the center.
“Gabby, this is truly amazing. I’m not sure I have everything we need to replicate your drawings, but what we don’t have, we’ll go to the store and get.”
She beamed at me. “Okay, Gigi. Where do we start?”
“Follow me, sweetheart.”
The sitting room was completely empty except for the totes and boxes of village pieces and the tables Ronan and I had set up along the walls the night before.
“We’ll need to rearrange the tables to fit your design, but I think you and I can manage that,” I told her.
Gabby stood in the middle of the room clutching her notebook and looking utterly confused. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”
“How are we going to fit a village in here, Gigi?”
It was at that moment, I realized Gabby and I had only talked about the village. She’d never seen it. “The houses are really small. Come here and I’ll show you.”
I carefully opened removed the lid from a tote and unboxed one of my favorite pieces—the home of Santa and Mrs. Claus. “This is the biggest house in the village. The rest are much smaller.”
She frowned and looked down at the notebook in her hands. My heart broke when a tear dropped onto one of the pages. I pulled her into my arms and cradled the back of her head. “Tell me what’s wrong, baby.”
“I thought it was a real village, Gigi,” she cried against my shoulder.
“A real village? How on earth would I set up a real Christmas village in just a few days?” I asked and had to force myself not to laugh at her misunderstanding. She was truly upset and the last thing I wanted to do was hurt her feelings.
“Because you can do anything, Gigi. And it’s Christmas, when magical things happen,” she said with eyes full of wonder and awe.
I leaned back from her and cupped her cheeks in my hands. “I’m not promising anything, but Gigi has an idea.”
Her frown instantly morphed into a beautiful smile. “I knew you could do it.”
“Uh-uh-uh. Remember, I’m not promising it will work,” I reminded her. “Let’s put on a Christmas movie for you to watch while I see what I can do.”
Once Gabby was settled with her movie, I made a beeline for Ronan’s room and knocked on his door with more urgency than necessary.
He yanked it open and immediately shoved me behind him, shielding me from whatever threat there may be. “Where’s Gabby?”
I dropped my forehead against his back. “Everything’s fine, Ronan. She’s watching a movie in the theater room.”
I felt his body instantly relax before he stepped away and turned to face me. With a comforting hand on my shoulder, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
I clasped my hands and began to fidget nervously. Ronan was a good man and the last thing I wanted to do was take advantage of his kind nature, but I needed his help. I shook off my nerves and began to explain the situation with Gabby. Then, I showed him her drawings.
“Do you think we could do it? Maybe on a smaller scale than what she has planned, at least for this year.”
He left me in limbo for several long minutes before he finally spoke. “Is it doable? Yes. The question is how much are you willing to invest in this project?”
“I’ve been thinking about that aspect of it, too. If we opened the village to the public and donated all proceeds to charity, I would be willing to invest quite a bit. I donate at least one hundred thousand dollars to various charities over the holiday season each year. Why not invest it in something that could raise donations year after year?”
“That is a very good point, but you already knew that, and you knew it was doable. So, what’s the real reason you were beating down my door a few minutes ago?” he asked knowingly.
