Read Online The Christmas Secret by Donna VanLiere - Free Book Online Page A

probably wouldn’t remember the address of where she was when she had her heart attack. She took the time to be nice!” He ripped up an envelope and threw it away. “Judy said she’s a waitress named Christy. Could you please find her and get some contact information? Judy and Dave want to thank her.” Marshall looked over his glasses, dangling Dave’s keys to Judy’s car in front of him. “Did you catch all that?”
    Jason’s face was vacant. “You mean you want me to go now?”
    â€œBefore someone decides to tow her car.” Jason grabbed his jacket and opened the door with a huff. Marshall picked up the phone and dialed, pressing the receiver to his ear. “Linda? I think Jason just might drive me crazy.”
    Â 
    Before lunch I pulled a sweatshirt over my head and threw on a pair of jeans. I needed to pick up my last check at Patterson’s. I held Zach’s coat out in front of him.
    â€œI don’t want to go,” he said.
    â€œNeither do I,” I said. “But I need to deposit that check.”
    â€œWhy?”
    He continued to play with his plastic action figures and I lifted his arm and put a sleeve of his coat over it. “If I don’t deposit it I’m going to bounce some checks.” I shoved the other sleeve over his arm and he flung the coat off in onequick motion. I was too weary to deal with this kind of stuff. “Put it back on, Zach.”
    â€œI don’t want to go.”
    I held the coat in front of him again. “Zachary, why do you argue with me every step of the way? Put this coat on and get in the car.” He yanked it from me and held it in front of him, determined not to wear it.
    â€œI’m wearing my coat,” Haley said, watching us.
    I looked up and saw her wearing purple pants shoved down in rain boots, a red princess dress, and a denim jacket with Minnie Mouse embroidered on the front. “Thank you, Haley,” I said, pulling Zach’s coat from him. “It’s too cold to go outside without a coat. Please put it on.” He snatched it from me and slipped his arms into it.
    All the parking spaces were taken in front of Patterson’s so I pulled into one across the street from Wilson’s Department Store. Someone was busy outside the fire station hanging a swag of evergreen from one window to the other. An older woman was decorating the three fir trees in the square, hanging enormous bulbs from the branches. I noticed a woman sitting on a bench in the park and thought it was unusual to just
sit
on such a cold day. Maybe she was there to help the woman decorate the trees but she wasn’t paying attention to the work being done behind her. It struck me as odd and I sat in my car and watched her, waiting for her to move.
    â€œCan we go look at toys, Mom?” Haley asked when she saw a display of dolls and trains and stuffed animals in Wilson’s front window.
    I turned the car off, shaking my head. I never shopped at Wilson’s. There was never enough time or money. “Not today,” I said, opening my car door. “I need to deposit my check.”
    â€œHow long does that take?” Zach asked. “Can’t we look at them for a few minutes?”
    It seemed I was always saying no to them. I had no desire to look at toys but said, “Let me pick up my check first.”
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    Jason pulled open the door to Patterson’s and stepped into the crowded waiting area. He excused his way through the lunch crowd and waited for the hostess. A young girl with sweat on her upper lip walked breathlessly back to her stand and crossed a name off her list. “I’m looking for Christy,” Jason said, leaning his head toward her.
    â€œIs she already here?” the hostess asked, grabbing three menus from their holder on the side of her station. “You can go look for her.” She craned her neck and yelled over Jason’s head, “Gerald!