One Golden Christmas

Leandra Flanagan didn't know how her life could have changed so completely in just a few days. One day, she'd been a top advertising executive at a major Houston firm, making more money than she'd ever dreamed possible, and the next day, she was back in her hometown of Marshall, Texas, applying for the job of Christmas Pageant Coordinator for the city of Marshall. She'd come full circle. And she wasn't too happy about it. "Ah, now, honey, don't look so glum," her mother, Colleen, told her, a hand on her arm. That gentle hand was dusted with flour and cinnamon from the batch of Thanksgiving cookies Colleen was making for the church. That gentle hand brought some measure of comfort to Leandra, in spite of her own misgivings. "Sorry, I was just thinking about the strange turn of events in my life," Leandra said, pivoting away from the kitchen window to help her mother with the leaf and turkey shaped cookies. "I'm just worried, Mama. I never thought I'd wind up back here in Marshall. I still can't believe I let you talk me into coming home." ""The Lord will give grace and glory," Colleen quoted, her smile giving enough grace and glory to make any gloomy soul feel better. "Mama, I appreciate that, but what I need along with any grace or glory is a good job. I had a good job and I guess I messed up, big time." Colleen huffed a breath, causing her gray-tinged bob of hair to flutter around her face. "Sounds like you made the right decision to me, a decision based on your own values and not what your boss at that fancy advertising firm expected you to do." In spite of the pride shining in her mother's eyes, Leandra didn't feel as if she'd made the right choice. But in the end, it had been the only choice she could make. She'd quit a week ago, and at her mother's insistence, had come home for an extended holiday, hoping to work through her turmoil before going back to Houston after the new year. And now, her mother had gone and gotten the idea that Leandra could "fill in" down at city hall, just for a few short weeks. "Well, no sense in worrying about it now," she said, spinning away from the long counter where her mother had baked so many batches of cookies over the years. "I guess I'll just go and see what this pageant job is all about, at least earn some money through the holidays and keep myself busy." "That's my girl," Colleen said, a bright smile centered on her round, rosy face. "Then come on back for lunch. Your brothers will be here and they're all anxious to see you." "I suppose they are, at that," Leandra replied, grabbing her wool coat and her purse. "They probably can't wait to rub it in--about how I had to come home with my head down--"" "I'll hear none of that kind of talk," Colleen retorted, her words gentle as always, but firm all the same. "Your brothers are proud of you, and glad to have you home, where you belong." "Oh, all right," Leandra said. "I'll try to pretend that I planned it this way." Colleen beamed another motherly smile at her. "Maybe youdidn't,but maybe Goddid."" As she drove the few blocks to city hall, Leandra had to wonder what her mother had meant by that remark. Why would God in all of His wisdom bring her back to the small-town life she'd always wanted to get away from? Why would God want Leandra Flanagan to wind up back in Marshall? Her mother would tell her to wait for the answer, that it would come soon enough. But Leandra was impatient. She didn't want to wait. "I can't wait for you to get started on this," Chet Reynolds told her an hour later as he shoved a stack of folders in her arms and directed her to a small, cluttered office in the corner of the building. "And first thing, ride out to Nathan Welby's place--it's the big Victorian-style house just out on Highway 80--and hire him on to build the set. He's the best carpenter in town--a single father of three. He works full-time in construcWorth, Lenora is the author of 'One Golden Christmas', published 2006 under ISBN 9780373360932 and ISBN 0373360932.