Mistletoe Miracle

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“Wait, I don’t understand,” Calloway sputtered. His shock was evident, written plainly across his face and echoing through his strained tone. “How… how is my daughter dating your grandson?”

“Well, as I said earlier, it seems to be one of those cliché moments of being in the wrong place at the right time,” Eleanor reiterated.

Calloway struggled to process the words, but as they finally began to sink in, the pieces of the past week fell into place. His friend’s inexplicable anger suddenly made sense. Serenity had stood up the man he’d set her up with, an act Calloway had initially dismissed as a simple miscommunication. He had been trying to reach her to sort out the matter, but Serenity had remained elusive. She kept insisting she was busy and promised she would eventually get back to him—but now he realized she only said so because she felt she had to.

“I think I know how this happened,” Calloway finally stated, the gears of realization turning.

“Oh? Would you care to enlighten me?” Eleanor requested, her tone bordering on blunt.

“I was trying to set my daughter up on a blind date. She’s not getting any younger, and I want to see her settled down with a decent man—someone capable of taking care of her after I’m gone,” Calloway explained, his voice heavy with a father’s protective instinct.

“And where was she supposed to meet this person?”

“The Meredian Café, on Lexington,” Calloway answered. He frowned. “Why?”

“Lexington and where?” Eleanor pressed.

“There’s only one Meredian Café on Lexington, Mrs. Sterling.”

“Actually, there are two. One is spelled 'Meridian,' with an i, while the other is spelled with an e,” Eleanor emphasized. Calloway’s eyes widened as the simple, linguistic trap revealed itself. He hadn't known. “It appears,” Eleanor continued, “that there was indeed a miscommunication on both ends.”

“It appears so,” Calloway agreed breathlessly.

“Did this man you were attempting to set her up with know what she looked like?”

“Yes, I showed his father her picture.”

“And did she know what he looked like?”

“No,” Calloway admitted. “I never got around to showing her. She told me she didn’t want to know.”

“And pray tell, why not?”

“She said something about not being shallow—that she didn't want to judge a man based solely on his appearance. She believed there were more important factors than physical features. Although…” he added with a faint, tired smile, “she did sternly tell me that as long as he wasn’t three hundred pounds and fifty years old, she would be willing to meet him.”

“Well, I can assure you that my grandson is none of the above,” Eleanor said, her pride surfacing.

“Yes, I am aware. It’s no wonder my friend was so angry with me. And now Serenity has no idea she met the wrong man.”

“Actually, she does,” Eleanor countered.

Calloway blinked. “She… does?”

“Yes. She found out this evening at our gala. My grandson’s best friend, Leo, bless his big mouth, informed Serenity she wasn’t the one Evan was supposed to meet. But Serenity already has an agreement with my grandson, and she intends to see it through.”

“For what reason?”

Eleanor looked him directly in the eye. “You.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Mr. Chase, Serenity is taking this 'job'—acting as my grandson’s girlfriend—for the money she needs to pay for your cancer treatment and medical bills.”

“SHE WHAT!?” Calloway’s voice tore through the room, thick with a shock that bordered on horror. “Wh—why would she do this? Why would she sell herself to a man like that!?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Eleanor replied, her stillness acting as a chilling anchor to his spiraling panic. She watched him with a piercing clarity. “She loves you, Mr. Chase. She cannot fathom a world without you in it. She is desperate, so desperate that she’s willing to trade her own pride to see your treatments through, so she can have a few more borrowed moments with you.”

“But… no! No! I never asked for this!” Calloway stammered, his hands trembling as the weight of his daughter's sacrifice crashed down on him. “I’m already dying, Mrs. Sterling. The medicine, the doctors… it isn’t working anymore. I’m days away from being moved to hospice care. This is the one thing I never wanted—for her to lose herself trying to save someone who is already gone!”

Eleanor’s expression shifted, her eyes narrowing as she sensed the depth of the deception. “Does she know?”

“No,” Calloway whispered, the word barely more than a ghost of breath. “I can’t tell her. It would shatter what’s left of her heart.”

“Mr. Chase,” Eleanor began, her voice dropping to a low, warning register. “I understand the instinct to shield a child from pain, but there is a cruelty in this kind of mercy. You are leading her to believe there is hope while she sells her soul to pay for a miracle that isn't coming. If she finds out from a stranger that this is the end of the line, that hospice is the next step, that betrayal will leave a scar far deeper than the grief itself.”

“Mrs. Sterling, you don’t understand,” Calloway pleaded, his eyes glistening with the fierce, protective love of a father who knew his time was short. “Serenity is a sensitive soul. She feels everything too deeply. I cannot, in good conscience, be the one to extinguish her light. I can't bear to see her eyes fill with tears because of me one more time.”

He paused, a bittersweet smile flickering across his pale face. “My only wish is that she finds a good partner, someone strong enough to help her stand when I can no longer hold her up. I want her to move past me, to survive the day the good Lord decides my time is through. I don't want her consumed by a sadness that erases the person she is. I won't let my death become her life.”

“But don’t you see?” Eleanor questioned, her words landing like stones in a quiet pool. “By keeping her in the dark, you are taking away her chance to say goodbye. You are being selfish in your selflessness.”

“You can call me selfish all you like,” Calloway doubled down, his knuckles white as he gripped the hospital bedsheets, anchoring himself against the truth. “I’m her father. I’ve carried her since she was a baby, and I will carry this secret to my grave if it gives her even one more week of peace. This is the only way.”

Eleanor let out a long, weary sigh. She looked at the man before her, frail, stubborn, and desperately in love with a daughter he was about to leave behind. As much as she detested the web of lies he was weaving, she realized it wasn’t her place to tear it down. The choice was his to make, and if he chose the path of silence, she would have to stand by and watch. It was a tragedy born of the purest intent: a father’s love, as profound as it was dangerously misplaced.

“Mrs. Sterling, please… tell your grandson that my Serenity is not the woman he’s looking for,” Calloway pleaded, his voice thin and desperate. “Tell him all of this was a mistake. I can’t sit by and let her continue this charade for a losing battle. My life isn't worth her dignity.”

“I can’t do that,” Eleanor stated, her voice firm and final.

“Why not?”

“Because in the short week that Evan has known Serenity, he has become completely smitten by her,” Eleanor revealed.

“He… what?” Calloway’s brow furrowed, the gears of his mind grinding to a halt.

“He has no idea that Serenity isn’t the professional actress he intended to hire to fool me,” Eleanor explained with a faint, knowing smile. “And truthfully, even if he had met that other woman, I would have seen through it. It is quite difficult to get anything past me, Mr. Chase. But when I met your daughter this evening, she captivated me. It wasn't just a role she was playing; it was her genuine kindness and her spirit.”

Eleanor leaned forward slightly, her eyes softening. “She speaks with a rare blend of confidence and grace. For a young woman who has never stepped foot into a gala as grand as the ones my family hosts, she held her own remarkably well. Whatever script Evan gave her to study, she did more than just memorize data and personal facts—she mastered the essence of the moment. She didn't just play the part; she lived it.”

“What are you saying?” Calloway asked.

“What I am saying, Mr. Chase, is that I would like for your daughter and my grandson to continue this courtship. Even though Evan hired her to play a part, I truly believe he is falling for her.”

“And what if my Serenity isn’t falling for him?” Calloway countered, his voice defensive. “What if her heart isn't in this at all?”

“Oh, please,” Eleanor dismissed with a wave of her hand, “that is not possible. Half the women in this city are clawing at each other for a chance with Evan, though they want him for all the wrong reasons. They see a bank account; they see a status symbol. Your daughter is different. She doesn't care about Evan's world, not yet anyway. Right now, she only cares about you.” She paused, her sharp eyes softening with a rare moment of transparency. “That is exactly why I came to see you this evening. I needed to uncover the root cause and understand why such a wonderful, principled young woman would be willing to do something so outrageous. And now that I know the truth, I can’t be angry with her. In fact, I admire her.”

Eleanor leaned in, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “Evan is falling for her true character, even if he doesn't realize it yet, and I refuse to disrupt that progress. Because just like you, Calloway, I have a duty. I need Evan to find a woman who will take care of him. Someone with the strength to keep him disciplined and the heart to keep him grounded, but doesn’t care about the number of dollar signs in his bank account. And I’m convinced that that woman is your daughter.”