Page 62 of Falling for Mr. Wright

She maneuvered her wheelchair around. “My husband, Hank, is trying to move some of the bigger trees up front. They sell better in the front row, but it’s really a two-man job, and I’m afraid all he has is me tonight. Our son is off with his friends, and Hank could use a hand.” She pointed down. “Or a good pair of legs and feet.”

He shoved the bag of peanuts in his bag. Apparently, they weren’t free, but, hey, it was Christmas, after all. “Happy to help.”

“Thank you.” She spun her chair. “Hank, my love, you still back there?”

“Yes, Sylvie,” called out a male voice.

“I’ve enlisted a nice young man to help you. Come over here and meet…” She glanced up at Ryan.

“Ryan.”

She smiled. “Come meet Ryan.”

“Sylvie, dear, don’t go badgering our customers. I don’t need help.” The old man stepped from behind the trees.

Ryan’s jaw dropped, recognizing the hat he wore immediately. “I know you.”

“I get that all of the time.” The old man laughed and tugged on his white beard. “Although, it’s usually from people much younger—and much shorter. They think I’m old Saint Nick.”

Ryan laughed. “We’ve never met, but you did the Santa Run last Friday. You were wearing that hat when you passed my car.”

The man adjusted his white Eskimo hat and tugged on the fuzzy pink balls. “It is pretty silly, huh? I’m sure I was quite the sight.” He chuckled and motioned for Ryan to follow him to the back of the lot. “I’ve done the run for the last forty years, and this hat has been to every single one of those runs since I was twenty-five.”

“Really?”

“Yep. It was Sylvie’s. She ran by me wearing it the first night I met her.”

“Oh.” Ryan stared at the man. He didn’t quite know what to say.

“The run started in Brooklyn back then. She was running with a bunch of her sorority sisters.” He grinned over at his wife. “Prettiest girl in the bunch, and easy to spot wearing these.” He tugged again on the furry pink balls and nodded for Ryan to grab the bottom of the tree in front of him. “My heart was a goner the moment I laid eyes on her.”

“I bet it was.” Ryan grabbed the tree’s trunk and helped maneuver the tree to the front and propped it up with all the others.

“You ever experience love at first sight, Ryan?” Hank asked, pulling a rag out of his jacket pocket, wiping his hands, and then giving it to Ryan to do the same thing.

Ryan’s thoughts immediately went to Sarah and the first day she’d walked into the NPH conference room in her black suit, pencil skirt, and black stilettos, her long red hair back in a pretty, sleek ponytail. In that moment, he’d gone right over and took the empty seat next to her because he couldn’tnotsit next to her. He smiled, remembering how he’d offered her a malt ball because she seemed jittery. “You know, I think I have.”

“It’s pretty amazing isn’t it? Not everyone gets to experience it.” He nodded over at his wife. “My sweet Sylvie was in a car accident fifteen years ago. I still run, and wearing her hat is the second best thing to having her running right beside me.”

Ryan’s heart squeezed. “That’s a great story. Sarah’s going to love it when I tell her.”

“Is Sarah your sweetheart?”

“Nah, we’re just friends.” And after his outburst earlier in the elevator, he might have even ruined that.

While Hank assisted a couple in selecting their tree, Ryan walked down the aisle. “Sarah would love this place,” he said out loud, his gaze soaring to the top of a beautiful full tree in front of him. Snowflakes had started to gather on its limbs.

All of a sudden, memories of his time with Sarah swarmed his head: sitting next to her that first time in the conference room, the first lunch they’d had in the cafeteria where he’d split one of his sister’s cupcakes, their first kiss on his high school football field, slipping her red dress off her beautiful body…

His body tightened. They were more than friends. Way more.

Maybe it was time for them to rewrite their story. One where he concentrated on the beginning and didn’t harp so much that the ending could crash and burn around him. He needed to take a chance because Sarah was worth it.

An idea hit him, and he said quick good-byes to Hank and Sylvie and headed uptown.

He finally knew what his Secret Santa gift needed to be.

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