An Angel for Christmas by Heather Graham Read Free Book Online

not wanting Shayne to say anything. She knew he couldn’t understand what had happened to his marriage, and that he didn’t intend to hurt the kids. He also couldn’t help but be bitter.
    â€œI’ll bet she’ll come back with great and wonderful gifts!” Morwenna said, walking around to hug Genevieve. “So, until then, what will you have to drink?”
    â€œCan we have soda, Dad?” Connor asked.
    â€œIt’s Christmas Eve, why not?” Shayne told his son. Morwenna caught her brother’s eyes. He smiled at her; he was not going to make a disparaging remark about his ex-wife. Something about him seemed to have changed, just since he’d gotten to the house. Maybe he’d had a long talk with Bobby upstairs.
    â€œTwo sodas… Bobby? Soda, beer, wine?”
    â€œHey, it’s my first ‘legal’ Christmas. Please serve me a lovely glass of Cabernet,” Bobby said. “And Dad can’t even get arrested, or call the cops himself, because I am legal these days!”
    â€œI’d have myself arrested?” Mike asked.
    â€œYeah, I think you would, Dad. In the name of justice for all!” He laughed. “My dad may be the best assistant D.A. in the country. I think he would have himself arrested under the innkeeper law,” he told Gabe.
    Mike groaned. “You were underage—you and your friends. It’s illegal for an adult to aid a young person in securing alcoholic beverages. Now you are twenty-one. Go for it.”
    â€œTough to grow up in such a household,” Shayne told Gabe.
    â€œNot so bad. We just decided to smoke pot, since everything was illegal for us,” Bobby said cheerfully.
    Mike looked as if he would explode.
    â€œChill, Dad, chill, just kidding!” Bobby said.
    â€œAn honest man. Rare to find,” Gabe said. He had a curious expression. “I think I’d like a beer, if I may. Sounds intriguing—um, good, sorry. Sounds good.”
    The seeds of mistrust settled more deeply into Morwenna’s soul. Intriguing? Beer? Where the hell had this guy been? Locked up somewhere?
    â€œMom, Dad, Shayne?” Morwenna asked.
    In the end, she had two caffeine-free sodas, four glasses of wine and two bottles of beer. She moved into the kitchen to get the drinks, and found herself pausing to look around.
    And feel guilty.
    Stacy even cleaned while she cooked. With all that she had prepared, her mother had kept up with pots and other utensils as well. She had done so much; every year she did so much. She’d always been an at-home mom. Morwenna wondered if she had ever had her own set of dreams, and if their father’s career had changed Stacy’s life. She’d always cooked breakfast, made lunches, driven the children to Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and Little League, sewn costumes, bought the candy, gone trick-or-treating and done everything imaginable.
    Stacy followed her into the kitchen. “I’ll get the sodas,” she said. “If you pour the wine.”
    â€œMom, why don’t you just sit, and let me do this.”
    â€œAre you kidding? I’m in my element, sweetheart. And we don’t get days like these often anymore—you know, when I have all of you!”
    Morwenna walked to the counter where her mother was pouring the sodas. She slipped her arms around her waist. “Mom, did you ever want to really do anything? I mean, you know, have acareer—do something else besides wait on Dad and all of us?”
    Stacy turned to stare at her, her eyes wide. “Morwenna, this is my career, my life.”
    â€œBut, did Dad stop you from having any other dreams? Now would be the time to fulfill a dream. It’s never too late, you know.”
    She was surprised; she was trying to stand up for her mother, and her mother was angry. “You get it out of your head that your father stopped me from doing anything. Because of your father, I could live my dream, I could