Read Online Sleigh Ride Together with You by Joann Durgin - Free Book Online

secrets, anyway. My mom’s in a nursing home and has been since I was sixteen. She has advanced dementia and doesn’t remember me, her only child. Yet she constantly asks for her mother, my Grandma Camille, even though she’s been gone for almost seven years.” She drew in a quick breath. “The saving grace is that she doesn’t recall the sadness and heartache my dad put her through when he left us. That happened when I was thirteen.”
    Her statement made him want to find her dad and slug the guy. “I’m sorry, Nicole. Do you see him much?”
    A tear slid down her cheek. “I only saw him on holidays. To be honest, I hated every minute. He died a couple of years ago, but we’d made our peace. God kept nudging me to do it, although everything in me fought it for a long time.” When Nicole lowered her gaze, more tears slipped from her eyes, dropping onto her long, dark lashes before sliding down already dampened cheeks.
    How could he comfort her, short of hauling her into his arms? Helplessness wasn’t something Alex was used to, and he didn’t like it. “It must give you some comfort that you reconciled before he died. A lot of people never have that chance, or else they don’t take the opportunity they’re offered to make peace, leaving them with a host of regrets. I think you’re—”
    “Living in a fantasy world? Thinking my mom will someday return to me, her memory fully intact?” Propping her elbows on the desk, Nicole rested her head on her hands and released a light groan. A moment later, she pushed loose strands of dark hair from her face. “She’s all the family I have left in this world. I’m not telling you my sad story to make you feel sorry for me. Let me be perfectly clear about that. I shouldn’t even be saying these things to you in the first place, but—”
    “Nicole,” he said, forcing a calm quiet into his tone, “you can’t keep all that bottled up inside. For what’s it’s worth, I’m glad you told me. I think you’re an absolutely remarkable woman. In more ways than I can count.”
    She’d obviously been through so much and no one deserved to be alone, especially during the holidays. What a brave front she projected, but what pain it masked.
    “Thank you.” She opened a drawer in the desk and rummaged around before pulling out a tissue. Dabbing it beneath her eyes, she inhaled a few quick breaths in rapid succession. She then surprised him by laughing, although it contained no real humor. “In spite of what you might think, those were not shuddering breaths. Call me weird, but I’ve discovered that odd breathing pattern actually helps to calm me down.”
    “Whatever soothing method works can only be a good thing. I assume you adopt that particular pattern after every conversation with your mother?” Why that mattered, he didn’t know. All Alex knew was that he wanted to keep her talking so she wouldn’t dwell on the sadness. She didn’t deserve the heartache she’d endured—not that anyone did.
    Nicole glanced at her watch. “Yes. About this same time, like clockwork, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon.” Her smile was wan. “Alex, do you still have both your parents in your life? Are you that blessed?”
    He nodded, feeling oddly selfish about that fact. “Yes.”
    “Then do me a big favor.”
    “Anything. What’s that?”
    Another tear slipped onto her cheek. “Next time you see them, hug them tight, kiss them, and tell them how much they mean to you. Love them, Alex. With everything in you.”
    At her sentiment, tears pooled in his eyes. Strangely enough, he wasn’t embarrassed.
    “Here, take this, if you’re going to cry about it.” She handed him a tissue across the desk.
    He balled the tissue in his hand. “You don’t have to be so tough all the time, Nicole. At the risk of ruining my macho image, I’ve cried a few times in my life.”
    Nicole’s lips thinned as she pressed them together, making his heart jump when he saw her