Then she looked directly into his eyes.
“Are you still scared of that mean man?”
Arthur became very still.
He glanced toward the far end of the mall.
Derek was placing the last box onto a cart.
He looked up briefly.
Then returned to work.
Arthur looked back at Lucy.
“No, sweetheart.”
She considered that.
“Because you beat him?”
Arthur smiled gently.
“No.”
Lucy frowned.
“Then why?”
Arthur thought about everything that had happened.
The shove.
The punches.
The humiliation.
The videos.
The lies.
The business scheme.
The discovery that a powerful man had been willing to risk his own son’s safety for a profitable development deal.
Then he thought about Ruth.
About the children who had received gifts.
About Jonah finding the courage to tell the truth.
About Emily risking her job.
About Nora refusing to let him face the situation alone.
And about Derek carrying boxes for three hours without a camera.
Finally, Arthur answered.
“Because I wasn’t alone, Lucy. A lot of good people helped me.”
The little girl smiled.
“Like your elves?”
Arthur laughed.
“Something like that.”
She leaned closer.
“Santa?”
“Yes?”
“Do you think the mean man can become nice?”
Arthur looked toward Derek again.
The young fighter was helping an older volunteer put on her coat.
For a long moment, Arthur didn’t answer.
Then he said:
“I think people can learn to make better choices.”
Lucy nodded seriously.
“Even grown-ups?”
“Especially grown-ups.”
The photographer raised her camera.
“Ready?”
Arthur looked toward the lens.
Lucy smiled.
The flash went off.
And somewhere in the middle of Northbridge Mall, beneath the glowing Christmas lights, Arthur Bell had one more photograph taken as Santa Claus.
Not as a five-time national champion.
Not as a man who had defeated a professional fighter.
Not as the subject of a viral video.
Just Santa.
Exactly the way Ruth would have wanted.
Epilogue: The Strongest Man in the Room
The following Christmas, Derek Sloan returned to Northbridge Mall.
He didn’t arrive with cameras.
He didn’t bring an entourage.
He wasn’t there to challenge anybody.
He came with twelve volunteers from a youth athletics program he had begun helping after his suspension.
