She finds Dalton, Heddy, and Stacy hauling boxes to cafeteria tables where they unload them. There are candles and candlesticks, gourmet foods, boxed handmade candies, picture frames and glassware, an apron and cookware, various books, small clocks, vases, figurines, and more. Lauren is overwhelmed looking at it all, but Heddy has a plan and is already organizing the items in front of baskets. Dalton pulls out a cardboard box from under the table and begins to pull out the wooden keepsake box that Cassondra gave Gloria. “Don’t put that out,” Heddy says.
Dalton looks inside the box. “Why not? I thought Gloria wanted us to fill it with stationery and other stuff.”
“Heddy thinks it needs to be sanded and stained,” Gloria says, behind them.
“It’s beautiful!” Heddy says. “It just needs a little TLC to bring out the full beauty!”
Gloria looks at Lauren and her eyes brighten. “After we’re through here, babe, would you mind dropping this off at Larry Maccabee’s house?” She reaches for the cardboard box from Dalton and places two small, wooden bowls inside on top of the wooden box before handing it to Lauren. “He said that he would get these things looking brand-new again.”
Lauren takes the cardboard box from her and sets it beneath the table. “Sure. Just let me know where he lives.”
“He’s not too far from here. I would drop it off myself but I have a meeting right after this and he said he would like them today.” She looks over the tables, piled high with the generosity of the people of Grandon, and claps her hands together. “Just awesome! Weave your magic, Heddy!”
“I will if you’d get out of the way,” Heddy says, raising her eyebrows at Gloria.
“I’ve always known when I’m not needed, so I’ll leave you to it and make some calls to see how the baking is going for the fund-raiser.”
Lauren, Dalton, and Stacy begin work on the basket that Heddy puts in front of each of them. “I’ve never put a basket together like this in my life,” Lauren says. “What if it’s ugly?”
Stacy picks up the decorative paper, ribbons, bows, and colored cellophane. “All of this makes the ugly beautiful.”
Lauren’s cell phone rings and she pulls it out of her pocket, looking at the number. She doesn’t recognize it but answers anyway. “Hello.”
“Lauren? It’s Maria with the chamber of commerce.” Lauren feels that pit in her stomach again and steps away from the table. “I spoke with the president and she is not crazy about the idea of giving up the gazebo on the day of the parade. I had thought vendors would be there, but actually Santa is supposed to set up inside.” Lauren is disappointed and feels her palms sweating again. “But we both feel that the children singing in the gazebo can only add to the enjoyment of the parade.” Lauren feels hopeful and finds herself holding her breath. “And I did pull, ‘But what about the kids? They have their hearts set on this!’ out of my hat.”
“And it worked?”
“It worked. Have you mentioned this to Miss Glory since we spoke?”
Lauren looks at the others, who are busy putting together the baskets. “No.”
“Then it will be our secret!”
“But what about Santa?”
“He’s going to set up residence at the North Pole, which is on the ground floor of Wilson’s.”
Lauren smiles. “You have been so great! Thank you so much!”
“A friend of Cassondra’s is a friend of mine, and since we’re all part of the Glory’s Place family then we need to stick together!”
Lauren hangs up, feeling relief and excitement, and joins Dalton and Stacy to assemble baskets, trying her best to make rectangle and square picture frames fit alongside a vase, figurines, a pewter clock, and boxed chocolates inside a round basket. As she works she says, “Do any of you know Mary Richards?”
Stacy looks up at her, thinking. “No, I don’t believe I do.”
“Sounds familiar,” Dalton says.
“She works at WJM,” Heddy says, sorting through the mass of gift cards in her hands.
“WJM?” Stacy says. “Where’s that?”
“Minneapolis.” She smiles, looking up over her reading glasses. “Mary Richards was the associate producer for the six o’clock news.”
“Mary Tyler Moore!” Dalton says. “I knew that name rang a bell.”
“Have you been watching The Mary Tyler Moore Show?” Stacy asks.
Lauren shakes her head. “No, I’ve never heard of it.”
“Never heard of The Mary Tyler Moore Show?” Dalton asks. “I’m feeling like a dinosaur again.”
“A woman named Mary Richards said she lives here in Grandon.”
“Maybe she does,” Stacy says. “Gloria might know her. Why?”
Reaching for some gold tissue paper Lauren feels embarrassed that she brought it up. She’s not sure how Stacy, Dalton, and Heddy would react to her listing for a family on Craigslist. “I saw that she lived in Grandon and … was selling … her car,” she says.
“Are you looking for a car?” Stacy asks.
“No. My roommate.” She sprinkles some gold and silver stars over the items in her basket, and before anyone can ask more questions says, “How does this look?”
“Perfect!” Heddy says. “Now we’ll wrap cellophane around it and tie it up with a huge bow and call it the Classic Home basket.”
Lauren cuts some gold-tinted cellophane and works at wrapping it around the basket, creating a nice, long neck. Stacy moves beside her to tie it shut. “By the way, the guy who hit me has officially been charged with hit-and-run, possession of drugs, and breaking and entering. They thought he was the guy who broke into the jewelry store and it turns out that he probably was.”
“He sure stays busy,” Dalton says.
“He’d still be busy if Lauren hadn’t ID’d him as the guy who hit me.”
“And you were just driving through that day, right?” he asks.
“Yeah. Bad day at work and I ended up driving away the demons, I guess.”
Heddy puts a gift card among the goods for Lauren’s next basket. “How long have you lived in Whitall?”
“I was born there,” Lauren says, sorting through some of the ornate premade bows.
“That’s so strange,” Stacy says.
“What’s strange?”
Stacy organizes the items in her basket and shrugs. “I don’t know. It just feels like you’ve always lived here.” She smiles at Lauren. “You know, ‘I ran into Lauren today at Wilson’s. She was looking at the dresses.’”
“She was not looking at dresses,” Lauren says, laughing. “Trust me!”
Dalton wads up some tissue paper and stuffs it in the bottom of his basket, playing along. “Lauren was on the all-star team. Did you see her make that basket at the buzzer?”
“Lauren finally got her braces off but I thought she was beautiful when her teeth were crooked!” Heddy says, grinning.
“Lauren never had braces,” Lauren says, feeling self-conscious at all the attention.
“I wish there was a way we could keep you in Grandon,” Stacy says. “But your family and friends in Whitall probably wouldn’t like that.”
Lauren’s smile is sheepish as she finishes her basket. This building, this work, the kids who will run through here in the next few hours, these people … all of this, this is the beauty of Christmas that Ben hoped she would see.