Read Online Be Mine at Christmas by Brenda Novak - Free Book Online

for human touch, love.
    He’d wanted to give her both.
    He took a seat across the room from her and her daughter as his mother started handing out presents. Angela and Kayla sat with polite smiles fixed on their faces—outsiders looking in, enjoying everyone else’s gifts and excitement without hoping for anything themselves.
    He glanced over, but Angela avoided meeting his eyes. Again.
    Maybe she’d been so hurt in the past that she was scared to let down her guard, he decided. She must’ve had a lonely childhood, after losing both parents and then living like a guest in someone else’s house.
    Then there was Stephanie. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what dealing with her on a dailybasis must’ve been like. Even as an adult Angela seemed to live a pretty solitary life—just her and Kayla. They were both engaging and polite, and he sensed that they wanted closer relationships than they had but didn’t know how to reach out because they had no trust.
    He remembered Kayla’s story about her father. So he walked out, and left my mom to raise me by herself. We don’t even know where he is.
    The bastard had caused some deep scars.
    “Are you going to open it?”
    Matt blinked and focused on his sister-in-law, who’d just shoved a present into his lap.
    “Sure,” he said, and unwrapped a bottle of his favorite cologne.
    “This is great. I was getting low.” He gave her a hug, then waited for the process to continue around the circle until it was Angela’s and Kayla’s turn.
    His uncle, who was sitting next to him, received a basket of salami and cheese. Matt’s father acted excited over a new hand drill.
    At first, Grandma had tried to boycott the gift exchange because his mother had put a ban on the special eggnog Matt usually provided. But then she relented, opened his brother’s gift, which was a box of chocolate-covered cherries and, with a spiteful glare for his mother, stuffed three in her mouth at once.
    “Wow. You go, Grandma,” Ray said, sitting taller for Matt’s benefit. “I guess I’m your new favorite grandson, huh?”
    Matt shot his mother a look that said, “Next yearI’m bringing the eggnog.” But he didn’t bother to wait for her response. It was Kayla’s turn to open her gift, and he didn’t want to miss it.
    “This is for me?” she asked in surprise when his aunt dug the present out from those that remained.
    His mother checked the tag. “Yep. From Matt.”
    Kayla smiled shyly at him and tore away the wrapping. When she reached the plush blue box inside, she sent him another questioning glance, then snapped open the lid.
    Her smile spread across her whole face. “It’s a gold locket,” she breathed. “I love it!”
    Her response filled some of the hollowness Matt had been feeling since he’d left the bedroom downstairs. Especially when she hurried across the room to hug him. Her little arms felt so thin and fragile, as fragile as he imagined her heart must be.
    “I’m glad you like it,” he said.
    She immediately returned to her mother so Angela could help her put it on, but Sherry insisted they let someone else do that so Angela could open her gift.
    Angela’s eyes flew wide when Sherry set a box in her lap, a box that was much, much bigger than Kayla’s. “I’m sorry. I—I didn’t bring any gifts,” she said self-consciously.
    Matt shrugged. “I didn’t tell you it was a gift exchange.”
    She cleared her throat. “You should have.”
    He hadn’t wanted her to feel obligated to go out and buy a bunch of presents. He’d just wanted her to come. “It’s fine.” Hadn’t anyone ever given her a giftshe could accept without feeling the obligation to respond in kind?
    Probably not. Typically, only parents and grandparents gave gifts like that.
    Matt’s mother huddled closer to Angela. “Let’s see what it is.”
    “Yeah, open it,” Kayla chimed in, her locket now securely fastened around her neck.
    Angela unwrapped the box and pulled out the quilt