Read Online Luke's Crazy California Christmas by Cindy K. Green - Free Book Online

at the edge of the pool.
    I glanced up into a stream of sunlight. “Yes.” I smiled and laughed while trying to block the sun with my hand. And that’s when I got a clear view of the person on the concrete threshold. “Andrea?”

7
    “Luke, what…is…?” Her mouth hung open and she had her arms crossed. She didn’t look as happy to see me as I was to see her.
    I zipped out of the pool in my sopping-wet clothing. My heart pounded. I held my arms out as water drained off of me. I wanted to hug her, but that was clearly out of the question. “Andrea, what are you doing here?” I had to have had the hugest smile on my face.
    Charli joined me on the cement, her clothes also drenching the surface of the concrete.
    “Luke, who’s that?” She stared at Charli with a pointed expression.
    Before I could get my mouth open to utter one word, Charli moved past me toward Andrea. “Hi, I’m Charli. I’m going to be his new sister.”
    “Charlie?” She looked at me with accusation pouring from every inch of her face.
    I think I might have still been smiling at her. It just seemed hilarious, her being jealous of Charli. And I was completely ecstatic to see her. Was she jealous?
    “This is Charlie?”
    “Yes, Charli with an i ,” Charli supplied. She so wasn’t helping this situation.
    “You never told me Charli was a…”
    “Female,” Charli broke in again. “I get that a lot. It’s part of going by a more masculine-sounding name, but I am so not a Charlene.”
    I stepped in front of Charli. “I never had a chance to explain. You haven’t been exactly great at communicating lately.”
    “And neither have you, evidently.” Dressed in a flowing pink sundress with a white sweater and her green eyes flashing in the bright sun, she looked beautiful…and angry.
    I just wanted to wrap her up in my arms and kiss her.
    Charli poked her head around the side of me. “You really don’t have any reason to be mad at Luke. Like I said, he’s like my brother.”
    Andrea eyed me, not Charli. “You really have been negligent, Luke Ryan, with your news.”
    Charli now stood beside me.
    “Hey, why don’t you give us some privacy?”
    “No problem. Mom and I are going for a bike ride down to the beach anyway. And I will get that sketch done of you, Luke, before I leave. I promise you that.” She pointed as she playfully admonished me.
    I reached for Andrea’s hand, but her fingers slipped through mine, fleeting like the breezes surrounding us. Yeah, she was mad. I heaved out a deep breath and led the way toward a table with an oversized umbrella. She took a seat in a chair under the umbrella, but before I had a chance to squish my soaking backside into another chair, she was out of her seat again.
    “You know what? I’m leaving. I don’t think I can be around you anymore.” She curved toward the gate.
    I grabbed her hand, but she wouldn’t turn to face me. “Andrea, where are you going?”
    “I have Aunt Georgia’s car.”
    “You haven’t even explained what you’re doing here. How are you here?”
    She stood straight, her shoulders back.
    I kept hold of her hand.
    “It was a surprise.” I could hear the flutter of tears in her voice.
    “Well, I’m surprised. Now come on, talk to me.” I rotated her around.
    Tears were creeping down her cheeks.
    “Hey, don’t cry.” My clothes were still way too wet or I might have hugged her.
    “What do you expect?” She whipped her hand from mine and wiped her tears away in a swift, jerky movement.
    “I expect you to trust me. Charli is Heather’s daughter. Yes, we’ve been spending time together, but it’s mostly been because we’re both bored and our parents want us to get to know each other since we’ll be related soon. My dad asked Heather to marry him the other day. I would have told you, but I haven’t been able to get ahold of you. You know, if anyone has a reason to be upset here, it should be me.”
    “You? What did I do?” Her arms