Blue by Danielle Steel Read Free Book Online

shelter. I’ve done it before when I was in New York. I thought it would be a good way to spend Christmas Eve. Do you want to come with me?” He shook his head. “The food is pretty good.” He had eaten a lot of the Chinese food and said he wasn’t hungry. “Breakfast tomorrow?” she offered, and he nodded and walked to the door. He thanked her again, and then he left.
    She thought about him while she got dressed. She knew it would be hard work carrying heavy pots and ladling out hundreds of dinners. The shelter served thousands every night, and she welcomed the opportunity to exhaust herself so she wouldn’t think about how things used to be.
    She took a cab downtown to the West Side, and signed up when she got there. They assigned her to the kitchen for the first two hours, carrying the heavy pots full of vegetables, mashed potatoes, and soup. It was hot, backbreaking work, and then they put her on the front lines, helping to plate and serve meals. There were mostly men that night and a few women, and people were in good spirits, wishing each other merry Christmas. All she could think about was Blue as she worked, and how cold he must be in the shed. It was nearly midnight when she finished and signed out again. The last stragglers had left by then, and volunteers were setting up the long tables for breakfast. She wished everyone merry Christmas and left, and stopped at a church on the way home, to catch midnight mass and light candles for Mark and Chris, Becky and her family, and their father. And at one in the morning, she took a cab the rest of the way home. But as soon as she got out at her address, she knew what she wanted to do.
    She walked the short distance to the shed. There was no one around, and she kept an eye out for anyone who might attack her. It was late, but there was no one in sight. The wind had come up again, and it was freezing. The cabdriver had said that it was ten degrees with the wind chill factor. She saw the railing where she had stood trying to get up the courage to jump the night before, and she walked straight to the shed and knocked softly, but loud enough to wake him up, since he was probably asleep. She had to knock several times before he answered, and he sounded sleepy when he did.
    “Yeah? What?”
    “I want to talk to you,” Ginny said, loud enough so he could hear her, and a moment later he stuck his head out the door, and made a face in the bitter wind.
    “Shit, it’s cold out here,” he said as he squinted at her, still half asleep.
    “Yes, it is. Why don’t you spend the night on my couch? It’s Christmas. And it’s a lot warmer in my apartment than it is here.”
    “No, I’m fine,” he said. He had never thought about staying with her, and he didn’t want to take advantage of her, she had already been so nice. He didn’t want to abuse it, but Ginny had a determined look in her eye.
    “I know you’re fine. But I want you to come home with me. Just for tonight. They say it’s going to be even colder by tomorrow. I don’t want you to turn into an icicle out here. You’ll get sick.” He hesitated, and then as though he didn’t have the strength to resist, he opened the door wide, stood up with all his clothes and shoes on, rolled up his sleeping bag, and followed her down the street to where she lived. He was too tired to argue with her, and didn’t want to anyway. The thought of a warm place to sleep was appealing, and she seemed like a good person, with good intentions.
    They went back to her apartment, and she made him a bed on the couch with two pillows, sheets, and a blanket. It was the closest he’d had to a bed in months. She handed him a pair of her own pajamas, and told him he could change in the bathroom. And when he came out, he looked like a little kid in his father’s pajamas, as he stared at the neat bed she had made him on the couch.
    “Will you be okay here?” she asked, looking concerned, and he grinned.
    “Are you kidding? This is a