LITMIR.BIZ

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great deal for Julie,” Roy confessed.

      Julie nearly dropped her spoon. As it was, the utensil clattered against the china bowl.

      Roy glanced at her. “Unfortunately, it took me a while to understand what I was doing.”

      “So it seems.” Her father gestured grandly with a piece of bread. “But all’s well that ends well, right?”

      “Right.” He turned to meet Julie’s eyes. “You’re the one who anonymously donated that twenty-five thousand dollars to the Salvation Army, aren’t you?”

      Julie went very still. “Is that why you’re here?”

      “No, but it was a catalyst. The bell—so to speak—that woke me up.”

      “How did you know?” She’d done it anonymously for a reason.

      “You haven’t seen the news, have you?”

      Julie was aghast. “It was on the evening news?”

      “Channel Four.”

      “I watched Channel Four earlier and didn’t see anything about it,” her father said.

      “It was there,” Roy insisted. “They interviewed a man by the name of Gary Wilson, a volunteer stationed at the Alderwood Mall.” He looked at Julie. “It was you who gave that check to the Salvation Army, wasn’t it?”

      For a second, she considered misleading him, then decided against it. “Would it matter?”

      Roy thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No. I don’t care what you did with the money because I know in my heart that you love me.”

      “Those are mighty sweet words,” her father said, grinning from ear to ear.

      “Dad!”

      “Now, Roy, you say you care for Julie. Does that mean you love her?”

      “Dad!” she cried again. She couldn’t believe that her father would ask such a thing, especially with her sitting there.

      “I love her.”

      “Good,” her father said nonchalantly, as if men regularly talked this way at the dining room table.

      Roy chuckled, but Julie spoke before he could say anything else. “Would you two kindly involve me in this conversation?”

      “She’s right,” Roy said.

      “Now I’ll be the one to say those are some mighty sweet words,” Julie muttered. It was the first time she could remember Roy admitting she was right about anything.

      “I should warn you,” her father said, leaning toward him. “She’s got a stubborn streak.”

      “I know all about it,” Roy whispered back.

      Julie rolled her eyes. “Who are you calling stubborn?”

      “Well,” her father said. “Enough squabbling. Now if you two will excuse me, I’ll get ready for church.”

      Julie didn’t stop him although there was at least an hour before they needed to leave. She heard him turn on the radio in his room, presumably to give them greater privacy.

      All of a sudden Julie and Roy were sitting at the dining room table alone. She wanted to remind him of his claim that he wasn’t interested in love—and then remembered her mother’s saying about keeping her ears open and her mouth shut. Good advice, and once again she planned on taking it.

      “You don’t have anything you want to say?” Roy asked, sounding uncharacteristically hesitant.

      “I was about to ask you the same thing.”

      Roy took her hand and clasped it tightly. “This might not make a whole lot of sense, but I feel as though I got specific orders to come here tonight.”

      “Orders from whom? Your mother?”

      “No … I have no idea who sent me, but I know beyond a doubt that I was supposed to be here.”

      Her heart began to beat faster. “Did you want to come?”

      “More than anything, Julie, only I didn’t realize it. I was doing what your mother said—running away from the pain.”

      “Oh, how I wish you’d known her.”

      “I think I already do,” he said. “I know you, Julie, and I know your heart is good and that you have a gift for reaching out to others.”

      She looked away, uncomfortable with his compliments.

      “I know you aren’t influenced by money and that I can trust you with my heart.”

      “Your heart?” she repeated, her voice low and unsteady.

      “I once asked you to move in with me.”

      Her throat started to close again, and she found it almost impossible to speak. “Is that why you’re here?” she managed.

      “No. I can say that was a mistake. I want to make you a permanent part of my life.”

      “Are … are you asking me to marry you?”

      His fingers tightened around hers. “That would be a good place to start.”

      “You mean there’s more?”

      He chuckled. “About fifty years more, I’d say. Longer, if we’re lucky. I’d like to begin our new life soon. Is that all right by you?”

      “Children?”

      He nodded. “A dozen, at least.”

      “Roy, be serious!”

      “Okay, two or three, whatever we decide when the time comes. My mother’s anxious for grandchildren and I wouldn’t dream of disappointing her.”

      This was all happening so fast Julie couldn’t keep up.

      A strangled ringing sound startled her, and she looked around.

      “It’s my cell,” Roy said, removing it from his pocket. He flipped the tiny phone open and glanced at the number. “My mother. I wonder why she’s calling me so late. It’s after eleven in New York.”

      “Answer it,” Julie said. “We have some great news.”

      He looked at her expectantly.

      Julie smiled. “You can tell her I’ve accepted your marriage proposal.”

      Roy’s eyes were warm and loving as he reached for her with one hand, pushing the talk button on his cell phone with the other.

      This was the most wonderful Christmas Eve of her life, and Julie gave silent thanks.

      Was it a coincidence that “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” began to play on the radio at that very moment?

       Twenty-Six

      “Roy! Oh, Roy!” Anne was so excited she could hardly speak. “In a million years you won’t believe what’s happened.”

      “I have some pretty incredible news, too,” he said.

      Despite her preoccupation with her own joy, Anne could hear the happiness in her son’s voice. “Tell me,” she said.

      “Julie has agreed to be my wife.”

      Tears of joy instantly pricked Anne’s eyes. This was much more wonderful than she’d dared dream. “That’s marvelous!”

      “We haven’t set a date, but I know it’ll be soon. I’ve been waiting my entire life for her, Mom. I can’t believe what a fool I was all this time. You must have wanted to throw up your hands.”

      “I prayed that God would send a special woman into your life,” she whispered. Her prayer

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