Page 43 of Married at Midnight

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The last Saturday of every month, Ellie put her event-planning skills into action for Seattle’s homeless community. Her Birthday Project brought children, their families, and anyone else who wanted to celebrate a child’s birthday to Freeway Park. The park was a green oasis in the heart of the city. She’d chosen the location for accessibility to the many homeless shelters and camps in the city.

The afternoon sky was a mix of sunshine and clouds. Filtered sunlight limned the fall leaves still hanging from the trees in hues of brilliant red and gold. The park’s many water features added a soothing cadence to the hum of I-5 traffic as it flowed below the park through the city.

Connor had come to help her carry all her party supplies from the truck they’d rented. As if thoughts of him had conjured him up, he came around a concrete pillar, carrying several bags. Ellie’s heart swelled at the sight. If she’d thought him sexy last night clad in black, then he was heartbreakingly handsome today dressed in jeans and a green flannel shirt that brought out the color of his eyes.

“Where do you want these gifts?” he asked, looking slightly unsure of himself.

“I’ll take them,” she said, stepping forward to receive the bags. His hands brushed against hers. A shiver of awareness rippled through her before he turned and left, ready to bring back another load of goods.

Ellie made her way over to the party area. Between forty and fifty people joined her each month, including eight to ten kids whose birthdays had passed without much fanfare or notice. Today she would change all that for those born in October with gifts, cake, games, and gift cards for the families who needed extra help.

Thanks to Connor and the $500 he’d given her on the night they married, this celebration would be extra special.

“Where do you want the cake?” he asked, carrying the big sheet cake they’d picked up an hour ago from the Macrina Bakery at the Belltown Café. The bakery had donated the cake, as well as paper plates and utensils.

“Put it on the table under the rental tent,” Ellie directed.

“This cake is huge,” he said, watching her as he had all morning with warmth in his gaze, his mouth poised on the brink of a smile.

“All of it will be gone by the time this event is over.”

He looked around at the empty park. “When will they arrive?”

“Give it ten minutes,” she said, checking her watch, noting the time: 12:45 p.m. “There’ll be a park full of people. In the meantime, can you help me hang this poster with the names of the birthday children on it?”

“No problem,” Connor replied, taking the duct tape she offered and following her to the concrete wall nearest the cake. In no time at all, the decorations were ready.

It warmed her heart every month to see so many local businesses come together to help. Local restaurants donated fruit, coffee for the adults, and milk for the kids. Stores donated either gifts of clothing for the kids or money that would be used to purchase the things they needed.

Each birthday child would receive a new coat and a new pair of shoes. The younger kids would receive a toy, while the older ones would get a refurbished iPod Touch with a gift card, to help them feel they fit in with their peers who had cell phones and all kinds of other electronics that the homeless families lived without.

Ellie had used Connor’s donation for the iPods this month, as well as the bags they’d made up earlier containing tangerines, granola bars, and packets of air-activated hand warmers.

“Why do you do this?” Connor asked as he set the last of the bags out on a rented table. “Is there something in your past I don’t know about?”

She laughed. “I was never homeless, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Then why? It obviously takes a lot of your time and effort to get all these donations from the community.”

Her laughter faded. “Kids like Kevin deserve to feel special. I still remember the look on his face as he sang to himself in that alley near Pike Place Market. It didn’t take much to make his face shine with happiness. Every kid deserves that—one day a year when they’re the star. Even for homeless kids, such a moment helps their self-esteem and gives them hope for a better future.”

“None of it is permanent. They’ll grow out of the clothes, and they might lose their gifts or have them stolen in the shelters.”

“No one can take away their memories. Those will be theirs forever,” Ellie said, her voice breaking with emotion. “The people who come today are hanging on to each other. Despite losing everything, they still have the one thing that matters—a family. That’s all those individual families have at night when they break up to go to different shelters.”

Something close to pain flashed in his eyes before it was gone. Ellie considered that unspoken emotion for a moment. “Did your family celebrate your birthday?”

“My mom left us on my birthday. Every year after that, it was too painful to celebrate.”

Unable to fight her own emotions anymore, tears came to her eyes. “Do you know why she left?”

He looked at her then. “You mean, did she leave a note? No. I always assumed it was because she no longer loved us.”

A deep-rooted sadness reflected in his eyes. She studied him, trying to imagine what he would have been like as a boy. Then her thoughts strayed, and she thought about what he’d be like as a father to his own child.

Her heart fluttered. “Connor, I—”