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“I could get behind that,” Marci agreed, leaning forward a bit. “What did he have in mind?”

“His plan was to set up a shopping event where they could come in and purchase gifts for their family, featuring low-cost items from the mall’s retailers.”

“That could get pricey,” Marci said, taking notes on her phone.

“That’s what I said. Kian assured me that Van Adler Holdings would pay. He wants cookies and cocoa, gifts for each child from Santa, and a Christmas carol sing-along. He also wants to send home a package with extras like treats and baked goods they might not otherwise get. He, of course, will reprise the role of Santa again.” Taking a moment, she explained to Marci what he’d done for Kyra’s family.

“Damn,” Marci said, dropping her phone into her lap. “Who is this man claiming to be Kian Van Adler?”

“Right?” Joy asked, biting her bottom lip. “You had to be there, but when he told me about it, it wasn’t for kudos. He saw a problem he knew he could fix, so he fixed it.”

“I’ll be honest. He’s nothing like the person you led me to believe he was,” Marci said. “In fact, he’s been the opposite of what you described him as. Granted, he was kind of a jerk at the hospital that day, but in his defense, his mom had just died.”

Sighing, Joy nodded. “In my defense, before the day she died, I hadn’t seen him since high school graduation. Lorelei took every opportunity to tell me he’d changed, but as his mother, you’d expect her to say that.”

Marci waved her hands. “Clean slate?”

“Yes,” Joy said with a relieved sigh. “That’s what we decided today. Anyway, what do you think of his idea?”

“It’s fantastic, but how are we going to figure out which kids fall into his categories?”

Joy held up her finger. “On the way home, it dawned on me that we could speak with the food shelf manager and the organization that oversees the Rudolph trees. This wouldn’t replace the gifts they receive there, but it would hopefully make their season a bit brighter.”

“Can they provide you with the information?”

“My thought is no, but if I tell them what we want, I think we can work with them to provide the families with the information.”

“Like a special invitation from Santa? Maybe we could do it on a Wednesday night? Close at six instead of seven and say it’s a private party. That would give us a couple of hours.”

“I don’t think any of the shop owners would object to that, since Wednesday night is our slowest night anyway,” Joy agreed. “They’re also getting paid for the items the kids buy with their Santa Bucks.”

“Santa Bucks?” Marci asked, wearing a grin.

“It was Kian’s idea,” Joy promised. “I told him I had to run it by you because the work will fall to us and there isn’t much time until Christmas.”

“Leave it to me,” Marci said with a nod. “You have enough to do, but I can handle the outreach for it, and then we can get back together to decide whether it’s feasible to move forward.”

Joy clasped her hands together and shook them. “Thank you! I am a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out the hospital event.”

“No luck with a Mrs. Claus costume?” Marci asked.

Joy shook her head. “No, and it’s not looking good. I’ve decided it’s time for a change. I asked Kian if he’d be willing to be Santa and accompany me to the hospital on the twenty-third. He agreed.”

Marci frowned, and Joy knew why. The thought of Lorelei not being there was too much to bear.

“He promised to ho-ho-ho quietly to keep it chill since the kids are sick,” Joy said with a shrug.

“That’s why Lorelei did it every year,” Marci said. “Her opinion was that it was better to offer sick kids a soft, quiet, feminine touch.”

Joy grimaced. Time to change the subject. “He also asked me to join him in Middleburg to meet with Mark Stanton, CEO of Harrington and Vale, to discuss opening a store here.”

Marci shot to her feet, waving her arms in the air. “What? Why didn’t you lead with that?”

“We were distracted by Kian’s lips!”

Marci’s snort of laughter broke the tension, and she made the ‘Home Alone’ face. “We’ve been courting them for years!”

“We have been,” Joy said, motioning for Marci to sit again. “According to Kian, he regularly golfs with Mark, and they’ve been friends since Mark was a guest lecturer at Wharton. When he heard there would be an opening for an anchor store here, he reached out to Kian.”