Page 45 of The Best Christmas Choir Ever

He knew getting tangled up with Charlie again was full of unknowns. She was still grieving Tom, dealing with Doris, reluctantly volunteering. That had unpredictable written all over it, and she’d ghosted him for what felt like less. There was nothing stopping her from doing it again despite how right things had felt at the community center yesterday. So how could he get involved with someone who had no idea what they wanted? This was exactly the kind of situation he’d spent the last eight years avoiding—the one where he’d end up alone.

But… his mind screamed.

But what? He was smarter than this. Julian walked around his desk and shook his mouse to wake up his computer screen. “I wanted to show you what Heather sent to me this morning.” He twisted the monitor toward her.

“Heather from the community center?” Charlie clarified as he hit Play on a video.

He nodded, waiting for her reaction. “Apparently it’s going viral.”

Charlie leaned close to him, staring at the screen, and he could almost feel the heat of her skin. Focus, he told himself, and he did, watching her face to spot the exact moment she recognized the auditorium and the choir.

“Wait, is this—”

“The community center performance,” Julian said, nodding. “Someone recorded the choir and uploaded it online. It only had a couple thousand views when I looked at it this morning. Now it’s already climbing through the tens of thousands. If this continues, I wouldn’t be surprised if it hit a hundred thousand by the end of the week.”

“But…why would anyone want to watch that?”

“What are you talking about?” Julian exclaimed. “Look at you guys! You’re adorable. You sound amazing.”

“Pretty sure Harriet is attempting to twerk,” Charlie said, laughing as she pointed it out on screen.

“Which the comment section is loving,” Julian said, shaking his head. He started the video from the beginning. He’d never seen the residents so enthusiastic. They beamed, clearly having fun, and best of all, so was Charlie as she directed them through the song.

Charlie knuckled a spot on her chest. Julian caught the motion from the corner of his eye, and he wondered if she was thinking about Tom.

Charlie cleared her throat. “They do sound great.”

He scrolled to some of the comments, trying to distract her. “Look at this. People really seem to love them. ‘Oh my God! How adorable. Reminds me of my grandparents.’ And this one… ‘Does anyone know who this choir is? I’d love to show them my support.’”

“You were right,” Charlie said.

“About what?”

Charlie scrolled up and paused the video. “That I needed to lighten up. Look how big those smiles are when I’m not ordering them around. This is how happy people always looked when working with Tom,” she said softly, growing quiet and thoughtful for a moment. “He expected greatness but never at the expense of loving the music. Maybe I was trying too hard to emulate him and asking for the wrong things.” Her finger brushed over Doris’s face on screen, caught in a moment of joy. “They should be enjoying themselves like this all the time. Or else what’s the point of any of it?”

“I’m glad to hear you say that,” Julian said. “Because I think we’ve found our audition tape.”

Charlie’s eyes widened. “You don’t think we can do better? I mean, maybe if we—”

“Charlie,” he said, halting her before she could overthink it. “I think this perfectly captures the Glendale Shakers. A little imperfect but with a lot of heart. And!” He pulled the keyboard closer so he could open up his inbox.

“There’s more?”

He stood aside to show Charlie an email. “The local news station got a hold of me,” he explained. “They want to do a story on the choir.”

“No way!” Charlie said, scanning the email. “All because of the video?”

“I don’t know where else they would have heard of us. I’ll have to run it by Diane first, to make sure they’re cleared to film in Glendale, but this could be great press. Might even bolster our application to the Arts Council if we’ve got public support behind us.”

Charlie chuckled.

“What?”

“Who’d have thought that little performance would spark all of this?”

“I don’t think anyone really expects when things go viral. But this was all you.”

Charlie flushed. “Pretty sure you’re the one who had the impromptu performance idea.”