A Forever Christmas. Missy Tippens

      Work boots and two pairs of tennis shoes clomped and squeaked down the long hallway. When they reached the door, he held his finger in front of his mouth to quiet them. Then he stuck his head in the door to see how badly they were interrupting.

       Sarah—handing out papers?

      “Come on in, Gregory,” Pastor Eddie said. “Sarah was just telling us about the Christmas pageant.”

      She stood motionless as if shocked to see him, then all of a sudden jerked into motion and continued distributing papers.

      He walked in with Hunter and Chase in tow. “I’m sorry I didn’t think to get a babysitter.”

      “It’s okay. Come on in, boys,” Pastor Eddie said. “There’s a box of crayons and some paper over there on that table.”

      Gregory smiled his thanks. And thanked God for crayons.

      He ducked into a chair as he watched the boys get settled across the room. Sarah started to place a sheet of paper on the table in front of him, but it slipped off, and they both reached for it. Their hands touched, and it was like a shockwave streaked from his hand to his heart.

      She looked into his eyes for a split second and appeared alarmed. “Oops. I’m sorry,” she said as she handed him the paper and moved on.

      She was still in his space, though. Smelling as good as she always had. In fact, she might wear the exact same perfume she did in high school. Clean, fresh…classy.

      His mind made a lightning flash trip back to high school. Sarah in his arms…Sarah in his car, scooted up beside him…

      Sarah dumping him.

      Yeah, that was the sticking point. She’d said she wanted to break up because he didn’t understand her goals. But he knew the real reason was because she’d let her parents get to her. And that because he wanted to stay in Magnolia and start his own business, he wasn’t good enough for her.

      She continued with her presentation about the pageant. But he barely heard a word until she moved away from him.

      Once she reached the other side of the room, he came back to his senses and noticed her smile at his sons.

      Hunter dropped a crayon.

      Sarah picked it up without missing a beat. Just kept talking about sets and lights. Like any good kindergarten teacher could do.

      “Miss Sawah, I’m hungwy,” Chase said as he continued to scribble on the page, forgetting where he was and seeming to think he was in her classroom.

      She looked over at Gregory, expecting him to produce a snack.

      “I’m sorry, son. We’ll get you something as soon as we’re through.”

      Sarah quickly finished up and asked for any questions.

      “We really appreciate you taking over for Donna Rae,” Pastor Eddie said. “Especially during your vacation.”

      “I’m sure I’ll enjoy working with the children.”

      “Well, let’s move on to the next item on our agenda. Sarah, there’s no need to keep you. You’re free to go.”

      Hunter raised his hand like he would do at school. “Can I leave, too?”

      All the adults around the table chuckled.

      Gregory’s dad raised his brows and looked a little concerned that the boys were starting to get vocal. Not a good sign.

      “Maybe I should go,” Gregory said.

      “No, stay,” Sarah said. “I don’t mind taking them to the kitchen and seeing if we can find a snack.”

      Before he could say no thanks, Pastor Eddie said, “That’s a nice offer. We won’t be much longer. And I’m sure it would help Gregory.”

      He didn’t want to look at her. He nodded his gratitude as he wondered what she thought of him bringing children to a meeting with empty stomachs.

      She gathered a bundle of crayons and stack of paper and placed them in her leather bag. Then she reached out a hand for each of the boys. Chase hurried to take her up on the offer. He grabbed her hand and grinned up at her. It hurt Gregory to see his eagerness.

      Hunter, on the other hand, didn’t get up. He heaved a sigh and looked at Gregory as if he’d let him down once again. Gregory nodded his head toward Sarah, so Hunter followed her obediently. But he rejected her hand and shoved his into his pockets. Chase’s chatter faded as they squeaked down the hallway toward the church kitchen.

      

      Assuming the boys already had dinner, Sarah searched through the cabinets until she found two unopened boxes of cookies. “Chocolate chip or oatmeal and raisin?”

      “Chocolate chip!” Chase answered as he danced around the kitchen, hopping from one foot to the other.

      Hunter, who’d been dragging along behind her, seemed to perk up. “Cool. We get cookies for dinner?”

      Dinner? “You haven’t eaten yet?”

      “No. Dad was late picking us up again.” He sighed, and it occurred to her that he seemed to sigh a lot more than a typical child.

      She couldn’t help wondering what was going on. Could it all stem from Lindsay’s absence?

      She pointed to a table in the fellowship hall. “Come on. Cookies will be your appetizer tonight. And if your dad doesn’t like it, we’ll tell him it was my fault.”

      Chase giggled.

      Hunter looked at her as if he didn’t know what to make of her.

      She settled them at the table and gave them each two cookies. Enough to hold them over, but hopefully not enough to spoil their appetites. She couldn’t find any drinks other than expired juice, so she got them each a cup of water.

      How could Gregory not plan better? They wouldn’t get dinner until after eight o’clock.

      Once they’d started on their second cookies, she sat beside Chase. “So, Hunter, are you in kindergarten?”

      He nodded.

      “Do you like it?”

      “Yes, ma’am.”

      “Chase, where do you go while your daddy works?”

      “Day care,” he said, blowing crumbs out of his mouth. “And Hunter comes, too.”

      “After school,” big brother added.

      “I see.” She watched as they finished eating. Then the silence became awkward. For her, anyway. “Guess what my job is.”

      Hunter shrugged.

      “Ummm…teacher!” Chase hollered.

      “How did you guess?”

      He climbed into her lap and knelt so that he was face-to-face with her. “Because you’re nice like my teacher.”

      Sarah’s bruised heart gave a quick stutter. Then she couldn’t help brushing a piece of cookie off his cheek. “You’re absolutely right.” She looked around Chase to catch Hunter’s eye. “I teach kindergarten.”

      “Cool,” he said without much enthusiasm. “When will Dad be here?”

      Her heart sank. For some reason, she wanted badly to connect with him. “Well, I don’t know. Soon, I’m sure.”

      Chase settled into a sitting position in her lap. His carrot-colored curls brushed her chin, tickling, so she smoothed his hair.

      “Here, I brought the crayons.” She pulled the supplies out of her bag and divided them between the boys.

      Chase jumped right in and started to color. Hunter simply stared toward the door, waiting.

      A