A Marine for Christmas (Hearts Ablaze: Men in Uniform) by Makenna Jameison Read Free Book Online

getaway.”
    “I’m sorry.  I really, really want to go.  And a trip right before Thanksgiving sounds amazing.  But now that Nick and I are living together, I can’t just leave him the weekend before our first Thanksgiving.  We want to go shopping together, pick out the food, start buying Christmas decorations….Sappy, I know.  And our tickets to the spa are refundable.  Remember I insisted we get that travel insurance?  Plus it was supposed to be a last trip before Melissa’s big day, and now she’s kind of down about it….”
    “Yeah, I get it,” Amy said with a sigh.  “I was just looking forward to a weekend away.  I can’t go home for Thanksgiving this year—my parents are taking that month-long cruise around Europe, my sister has a million things to do for her residency….”  Amy trailed off, thinking that for once the rest of her family had more hectic lives than she did.  In the past they’d practically been scheduling family events around her.  She’d had to stay on a stricter schedule that followed the school calendar.  And she’d never been without a boyfriend.  First there was Mark, all throughout college.  Then that dreamy guy Frank that she’d only briefly dated, but yum.   He was rebound all the way.  She’d dated her next serious boyfriend Craig for a couple of years before ending up with Ben.
    Sh e’d known Ben since high school.  He was always way out of her league—captain of the football team with a parade of cheerleaders around him.  They’d gone their separate ways for college, but when he’d moved back to town six months after she got out of her last relationship, she’d practically jumped at the chance when he’d asked her out.  Now she’d gone and ruined that, too.  It was hard to believe that for the first time in years, she’d be without a boyfriend around the holidays.  And now her family had all made separate plans as well?  The year was definitely not ending how she thought it would.
    “ Let’s have Thanksgiving together,” Beth suggested.  “We’ll do it at my place.  Our place,” she quickly corrected, referring to Nick.  “And after the Thanksgiving stuff, we’ll do a girl’s day out on Friday or something.  We could grab lunch.  Shopping!” she added, eyes brightening as she began to organize a new plan.  “For Christmas.”
    “That would be fun,” Amy mused, remember ing their earlier years of marathon shopping sessions during the holidays.  Times had changed as they’d gotten older and been busy with work, boyfriends, and other commitments.  But if they couldn’t get away for a girl’s weekend, there was certainly no reason they couldn’t all spend Thanksgiving together.
    “So it’s okay if I text Melissa and tell her we’re cancelling the girl’s trip?” Beth hedged.
    “I guess so,” Amy said with a shrug. “When were you guys talking about it anyway?  No one said anything last night.”
    “Oh, right after we left.  Remember how we parked around back?  Kara pulled me aside to ask what I thought.  Melissa overheard us….”
    Amy laughed.  “Sounds like there was no reason to talk to me then if everyone else was already out.  Thanksgiving will be fun though.”
    “Definitely.   I’ll let the others know the trip is off.  And invite them over for Thanksgiving.”
    They finished up their breakfast, and Beth drove Amy back to get her car at the restaurant.  Thankfully it hadn’t been towed, but she’d told the restaurant manager last night that she’d lost her keys and couldn’t drive it home.  She probably wasn’t the first one to leave her car here—surely others had either had too much to drink or not gone home alone.  Her SUV was the lone vehicle sitting in the lot this morning though.
    The girls said their goodbyes and Amy stopped by the grocery store on her way home.  She still had cookies and apple pies to bake for the school bake sale tomorrow, not to mention countless little