Chapter 2

As Christian crossed the parking lot, Joy admired his swagger, then shivered, not from the wind, but from the warmth Christian seemed to take with him. Shaking her head, Joy climbed into her Buick Enclave. “That was the oddest encounter I’ve ever had with a stranger.”

Looking into her rearview mirror, Joy grinned as she spied an opening Christian had left for her to see to back up. Christian Andersen was amazingly handsome—tall; a deep, rich brown skin tone; and a well-trimmed mustache. He looked comfortable in his jeans, turtleneck and jacket. Joy smirked. As he checked her ring finger, she couldn’t believe she did the same to him. Why? She wasn’t interested, neither had time to entertain romantic thoughts.

The man didn’t blink when she mentioned four children. Was he deaf? What man wouldn’t? She wouldn’t trade any of them for the world. Joy didn’t need a man to keep her warm at night. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t out of the ordinary for her to wake to find one or two kids sprawled across her bed. Motherhood had never been so fulfilling…and heartbreaking.

Five minutes later, she turned into the grocery store’s parking lot. Joy reached for her purse and got out, hurrying into Schnucks—a local chain of family-owned grocers. On a mission, she marched down the produce and fruit aisles, then cereal, meats, and food for Bethani’s lunch. A few times, she looked over her shoulder, hoping to see Christian again. After three peeps she gave up, disappointed.

It took Joy less than thirty minutes before she was ready to check out. What if she didn’t have enough money again? Would Christian come to her rescue a third time in one day? Joy wasn’t about to chance it by getting something that wasn’t on her list. Once she was at her SUV, Joy wasn’t as meticulous as Christian, stuffing the bags in the seats, on the floor and even putting one in her lap.

Fifteen minutes later, Joy pulled into the driveway of her two-story four-bedroom home. As soon as the garage door went up, Bethani stuck her head out the kitchen door and waved.

Waving back, Joy smiled and parked. Bethani headed her way. “Hi, Auntie!”

Accepting her niece’s hug, she kissed the top of Bethani’s head. “Hey, sweetie. I have a lot of bags, some groceries, and…” She paused and looked over Bethani’s shoulder. “I picked up some small toys for the little ones from Santa Claus.”

“Aunt Joy, there’s no such thing as Santa Claus.”

She wished the ten-year-old would enjoy being a child instead of trying to be a grownup. “Yeah…right.”

More than anything, Joy wanted her niece to have a happy childhood, despite this being the second Christmas without Bethani’s mother and Joy’s older sister. At only thirty-two, Regina Starr had died of breast cancer, leaving behind two grieving daughters, a baby boy, a devastated sister, her only niece and an uncaring husband.

A faithful Christian until the end, Regina had instilled in Bethani that the purpose of Christmas was to celebrate God’s greatest gift: salvation. Joy, along with the majority of the people in the world, viewed Christmas as a holiday for children—period—and nothing more.

The pair unloaded the car quickly before Bethani’s two siblings, four-year-old Darla and two-year-old Shane came storming through the house, along with Joy’s only child, Jada, who had just turned three. At times, Joy thought she was running a daycare, because they all lived with her.

While Regina lay dying, her husband, Langston, spent more time away, stating he couldn’t watch her die. Neither could she, but as Regina’s only sibling, Joy was determined to be there until her sister took her last breath, and she was. It wasn’t long after Regina was buried, that Langston had remarried. His children weren’t part of his life’s restructuring plan, so Joy had filed to become the children’s legal guardian before her brother-in-law returned from his honeymoon.

Her widowed neighbor had been a godsend when Joy took on the added responsibility as the children’s caregiver. Mrs. Thomas was there at a moment’s notice when Joy needed her just as Christian had stepped in earlier. She pushed that encounter aside.

“Yay. Strawberry ice cream,” Bethani said, pulling it out the bag. She hugged the carton as if it were the pair of ballerina slippers she wanted, then frowned. “It’s not the end of the month.”

She didn’t want her niece to have to keep track of her financial woes. Bethani understood Joy’s budget only allowed for treats at the end of the month when she received her bonuses. Although Joy earned a comfortable salary as a top sales rep at a radio station, feeding four children seemed to put her under the poverty level.

The children’s father had practically cut off all communication thanks to his new wife. Joyce tried to reason with him to do the right thing, to no avail. Then she had to contend with her ex, Steven, who never uttered a word about marriage or expressed a desire to be a father to Jada.

With no additional source of income, Joy wondered if this might be the year she would become a regular fixture at the food pantries.

“Consider it a gift from a kind stranger who made sure I had the money to buy it.” Christian’s handsome face flashed in Joy’s mind—again.

Bethani’s eyes widened. “He was probably an angel,” she said excitedly.

“Sweetie, he was a flesh-and-blood man,” she said, amused. A cute one at that. “Believe me, he was no angel.”

“You never know, Auntie. The Bible says we entertain strangers unaware.”