Read Online Carats and Coconuts by D. D. Scott - Free Book Online

let on so far. His dark espresso
eyes had that same twinkle in them when he looked at me. I could
feel my connection to him being drawn straight from my
soul.
    It’s that unspoken understanding two
people share that makes for one helluva life partnership. In my
world, Mr. and Mrs. Claus were proof of that.
    “ I think it’s the perfect
time for gifts,” Mom said, taking her napkin and wiping a stray
piece of turkey from dad’s beard.
    I watched with a warm heart as each
person around our table picked up the gorgeous packages my mom had
wrapped just for them.
    Her packages were always so beautiful.
Sometimes I didn’t want to open them.
    But if you knew you had a Mrs. Claus
original ornament waiting for you inside those little boxes, you
couldn’t resist.
    Each member of our family took turns
holding up their ornaments to the oohs and ahhhs of
everyone.
    For Aunt Tulip, my mom had created a
mouth-blown and hand-painted glass spear of asparagus.
    “ OMG! I’m going to have to
start an Aphrodisiac Produce themed-tree! This is wonderful, Suzie.
Really quite extraordinary,” Aunt Tulip said, getting up from her
chair to wrap her gypsy-bejeweled sleeves around my mother’s
crushed velvet and red suede capelet I’d made for her.
    “ I’m glad you like
it.”
    As each ornament was revealed, the
crowd went wild.
    For Grams, there was a lunch box with
the name of her diner in my mom’s beautiful print. For Kat, it was
a neon-colored cowboy with the name of her saloon on his hat. Lily
received a miniature hand-sewn satin bra on a hanger, with the name
of her family’s water bra company - Fluid Fulfillment - hanging on
a tiny price tag my mom had added. Roxy, of course, got a cowboy
boot and stiletto hooked together as if they were about to dance
across the pine needles. Jules got one bedazzled and sparkling
cupcake. For Audrey, there were baby blue-colored baby booties with
the names of her twin sons. And not to be left out, each man at the
table got a reindeer to serve as a keepsake from their first
Christmas in Witherspoon Whoville. Roman’s reindeer even had a tiny
crown resting in its rack.
    “ You’ve outdone yourself
this year,” my dad said, leaning across his end of the table to
place a kiss on mom’s sweet, pink-blushed cheek.
    “ This is a special year. Our
family has grown, and I wanted to celebrate that.”
    She lifted up her wine glass and
toasted us all.
    Following a round of good cheers, the
doorbell chimed.
    Who could that be?
    I looked at my mom. It didn’t take but
a second or two at most to see fear and panic take over her
expression of season-of-giving sweetness.

Chapter
Thirteen
     
    W anda Lu returned to the dining room with a medium-sized box.
It was wrapped to-the-nines, although still not as terrifically
wrapped as one of my mom’s gifts.
    I studied the lime green metallic
paper, covered in what looked to be diamond-encrusted white stars
that reflected every bit of light from my parent’s
chandelier.
    My mother took the box, and I swear I
saw her hands shaking as she looked at the tag hanging over one
side of the mystery package.
    “ It’s for you, Zoey,” she
said, so softly that her voice was almost a whisper.
    My hand had been resting on Roman’s
knee, and at the mention of my name as the recipient, I felt his
body jerk.
    Roman was smart. He’d more than likely
caught onto my mom’s change in mood.
    “ Were you expecting this
package?” He asked, in a tone that usually indicated the activation
of his Dark Knight protective mode.
    “ I was not,” I said, looking
at my mom, who I knew was begging me with her eyes to be careful
with this box.
    “ In that case, R, I’d like
you to check it out first,” Roman said.
    “ I’m way ahead of you, My
Prince,” R said, already having taken the package from my mother’s
hands.
    “ I’m not sure what this is
about, but I don’t like it one bit,” my dad spoke-up.
    “ Suzie? Zoey? I know
something’s up with you two. I’ve