“We Need a Little Christmas” began playing, and Kai hummed to the familiar refrain. She caught Holly watching her with amusement.
“And this one?”
“It’s fromMame, another musical,” Kai explained. She sang along to it.
When that song ended and another began, Kai said, “This is Judy Garland with “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” fromMeet Me in St. Louis. That was one of my long-running parts.”
Holly adjusted an intricate ornament. “You love musical theater the way I love crafting.”
“Stick around Summer Beach long enough, and I’ll cast you as an elf in our community theater.” Kai winked. “You’ve already got the look.”
They were still laughing when a woman spied the display and hurried toward them. “Oh, my goodness, it’s you. Holly from the Phoenix gift show.”
Holly’s eyes lit with recognition. “Beverly, it’s so good to see you. What are you doing here?”
“I live in Summer Beach, and I can’t believe you’re here. I have to tell you something amazing.” The other woman hugged her, emotion catching in her voice. “That ornament I bought from you last year, the one with the woman’s face that looked so much like my mother’s? Mom had passed away a few months earlier, so I hung it on my tree and...well, this might sound odd, but everything in my life changed after that. It was like having a piece of my mother with me. I keep it out all year now. It’s my lucky talisman.”
Beverly leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. “But here’s the incredible part. My sister bought one of your ornaments too, and she just realized that the house painted on it is exactly like the one she bought here three months ago. Shehadn’t even seen the house when she bought the ornament. Isn’t that wild?”
A blush crept across Holly’s cheeks. “I just paint what I see,” she murmured. “From memory, I mean.”
Beverly looked perplexed. “But how could you have known?”
“I have a photographic memory for images,” Holly added quickly. “If I see anything posted on social media, for example. Or in the newspaper. Maybe that’s where I saw your mother’s photo. The house might have been listed in the ad section.”
“Maybe,” Beverly said, inclining her head. “But what’s truly remarkable is the impact your artwork has had on us. I can’t explain it, but I feel such a rush of good feelings every time I touch the ornament.”
A slow smile lifted Holly’s lips. “That must be your mother’s love. It will never leave you. Maybe you’re just more aware of it now.”
“I heard people use objects to focus attention,” Beverly said. “Sort of like meditation.”
Kai watched Holly carefully, Marina’s concerns about her springing to mind.
Across the market, Brooke was arranging her organic produce, unaware of this extraordinary conversation. But this was so personal that Kai was hesitant to share it.
“Would you choose one for me?” Kai asked suddenly, surprising herself.
Holly studied her for a long moment, then reached for a snow globe, shook it, and handed it to Kai. “This one is for you.”
Kai’s fingers trembled as she took it. Crystalline snow swirled in lazy spirals, and when it settled, she gasped.
Inside the globe, a tiny figure in a familiar red dress sat at a piano with miniature sheet music scattered around her feet. A palm tree arched overhead, and an ocean wave curled beside it. But the piano was eerily reminiscent of one she knew.
Kai breathed out. “That piano looks like the one in Ginger’s home. My mother taught me to play on it.”
“Then it’s yours,” Holly said softly. “All my pieces eventually find their owners.”
The snowflakes in the globe settled, but now Kai’s world was shaken.
“How did you know?” she asked, but Holly was already helping Beverly find the right gifts for her daughters.
Kai lowered the snow globe. At once, she felt like she was seeing everything around her with heightened clarity.
The market sparkled with holiday decorations, but Kai suspected Holly could see what most people couldn’t. That might be unnerving to many.
Maybe that’s why Holly made up stories about her gift.
As Kai tucked the snow globe into her bag, she wondered if Holly could see what others hadn’t seenyet.
