Read We Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus Online
Authors: Brenda Novak
Tags: #Romance: Modern, #Contemporary, #General, #Romance, #Romance - Contemporary, #Fiction, #Fiction - Romance, #Historical, #Non-Classifiable, #Romance - General, #Computers, #Romance & Sagas, #Adult, #Programming Languages, #Love stories - gsafd
We Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (25 page)
“Did you have the landscaping done already?” she asked, trying to solve the mystery.
“Not yet,” he told her.
“Did you start digging out the pool?”
“Nope. Too much mud for that. We need to wait for the ground to dry out. We’ll do it closer to spring.”
In the back seat, the girls giggled at her failed attempts to discover the secret.
“Tell me what it is, Alex,” Jaclyn said, trying to put some authority in her voice.
Cole gave her son a quick “don’t you dare” look in the rearview mirror, but when Alex answered, Jaclyn could tell he wasn’t even tempted. “You have to wait and see, Mom. We’ll be there soon.”
“Will I like it?” Jaclyn asked.
“You’ll probably cry,” Alex told her.
Cry? Why would she cry?
They parked at the curb of their new home and picked their way through the melting snow and mud to reach the heavy oak doors that had been hung just a few days earlier. Now nearly finished, the house was beautiful. Jaclyn had walked through it two days ago, right after the carpeting and hardwood floors had gone in, feeling like a fairy prin
cess. Never had she dreamed she’d own something quite so lovely or so large.
But what about the house had changed in the past two days?
“Close your eyes,” Alex said, as soon as they reached the entry.
The smell of fresh paint and cut lumber assaulted Jaclyn’s nostrils as soon as she stepped inside. Cole took one hand and Alex took the other, and they guided her slowly through the high-vaulted entryway and around to the sunken living room. Without any curtains or furnishings to absorb and soften the sound, their footsteps echoed loudly.
“Now you can open them,” Cole said, when they stopped.
Slowly Jaclyn lifted her eyelids. There, sitting on an expensive-looking Turkish rug, right in front of the bay window facing the street, was a shiny black grand piano.
“Oh! You bought me a piano!” she breathed, too awed to speak in more than a whisper.
Cole smiled, obviously enjoying the amazement on her face. “Do you like it?”
“I love it. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.”
“Then, you haven’t looked in the mirror lately,” he said, and gathered her in his arms.
“Yuck,” Alex complained when Cole kissed her. “Do we have to see this?”
“Shh,” Mackenzie replied, a dreamy smile on her face. “Mommy’s kissing Santa Claus.”
Laughing, Jaclyn pulled the kids close for a hug, knowing she could never be happier or feel more complete than she did at that moment.
And then she proved Alex right. She cried.
H
ER BACK HURT
.
Jaclyn relinquished her seat on the hard cement and stood up to stretch, but at seven months’ pregnant, she wasn’t exactly at her most mobile.
The cold didn’t help. It was almost Christmas again. A couple of inches of snow covered the ground outside, and a chill wind blew. It crept through the cracks of the garage, seeping through her sweater. Jaclyn knew Cole wasn’t going to be happy when he got home and learned she’d been out moving boxes and shifting stuff around in her condition. He’d told her not to bother with what they had in storage, that he’d take care of it, but the kids were with Terry, Cole was at work, and Jaclyn didn’t want to wait. The garage was the last part of the house she had yet to organize, and she wanted to finish. Then she could decorate for the holidays and enjoy her leave of absence from Guthrie until after the baby arrived and she was ready to go back.
Problem was, most of the boxes belonged to Cole, and she didn’t know what to do with the stuff inside them. Did he really want to keep the old sweaters she found? They didn’t look nearly large enough for him, but maybe they’d belonged to his father or something.
Digging a little deeper, Jaclyn uncovered some old pictures. She smiled as she studied a black-and-white photograph of Cole and all four brothers. He was in the middle, with one arm around Rick and another around…who? It had to be Chad, judging by the size, but he looked so dif
ferent. There were holes in the knees of their blue jeans, the toddler had his sneakers untied, and the oldest three were in various stages of getting their permanent teeth, but it had to be the cutest picture Jaclyn had ever seen. She set it aside to have it framed and added to the hallway, where pictures of their family already hung in vast array, and moved on to the next box.
This one contained odds and ends, a pocket screwdriver, a video, a small sewing kit, loose photographs of houses and land, keys, even some loose change. It looked as if Cole had emptied his junk drawer and carried it with him when he moved, instead of sorting through it.
Finding a piece of crumpled paper, Jaclyn ironed it out to see if it was something she could throw away, and was surprised to find a handwritten letter.
Dear Cole,
If you ever get this, I know it will come as quite a surprise. After everything we’ve been through, you may not even want to hear it. But I have to tell you I’m sorry, for me, if not for you. You were right. I did lie about the baby….
By the time Jaclyn finished Rochelle’s letter, she had tears in her eyes. Finally she understood Cole’s past. He’d married a woman he didn’t love and tried to stay with her even after he learned she’d trapped him. Then he’d protected Rochelle by not telling anyone what she’d done and had carried the brunt of the blame himself. What kind of a man did that?
A very fine man, she thought, swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. Her husband.
Remembering Terry’s bet that their marriage wouldn’t last a year, Jaclyn wanted to call him and read him Rochelle’s letter, so he’d know just how wrong he’d been about Cole. How wrong they’d all been.
But Cole had kept Rochelle’s secret all these years, had proved himself honorable in spite of everything. And she admired his integrity enough to stand by his decision.
What Terry thought didn’t matter. She refolded the letter and tossed it back in the box. Burt’s opinion didn’t matter, either, nor did that of all the folks in Feld.
Because she knew Cole’s heart.
Thank God it belonged to her.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-4024-1
WE SAW MOMMY KISSING SANTA CLAUS
Copyright © 2001 by Brenda Novak.
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