Christmas On Nutcracker Court by Judy Duarte Read Free Book Online Page A

“but when he’s quizzed about it, his responses are pretty evasive.”
    â€œCan you please hold on a moment, Mrs. Evans?” Carly set down the pink roller she’d been holding. “I need to find a quiet place to talk.”
    After covering the mouthpiece, she apologized again to Ruth-Ann and said, “I’m afraid I have to take this call. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll just be a minute.” She offered her the latest People magazine and a smile of reassurance.
    Once inside the break room, Carly returned her full attention to the school principal. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Evans. I don’t understand. What’s going on?”
    â€œJoshua is sitting outside my office right now. He was more than five minutes late entering class this morning, so his teacher, who was working with another student at the back of the room, sent him to get a tardy slip. When the school admissions clerk noticed his injury and torn shirt, she asked him what happened, but he refused to explain. So she sent him to see me. Unfortunately, he won’t tell me, either.”
    Why wouldn’t Josh speak up? Was he afraid of getting into trouble? Was he trying to protect someone?
    And why had he been late to class? He’d ridden the bus to school this morning, hadn’t he?
    Of course, after breakfast, he’d mentioned that he wanted to walk to school. But she’d insisted that he stay with . . .
    Mikey.
    Fear clawed at her chest. She tried to keep the panic from her voice as she asked, “Where’s Mikey? The boys should have been together. Is he okay?”
    â€œYes, I’ve already checked into that. Michael is in class. And from what he told Mrs. Hornkohl, he rode the bus to school, but Joshua didn’t.”
    Carly’s heartbeat thudded in her ears. Josh had argued with her in the past. He’d also done his share of whining and complaining about looking after his brother or accepting responsibility. But up until now he’d always been compliant and had never rebelled or willfully disobeyed her.
    Was this the sort of thing she had to look forward to when he became a teenager? Was this only the beginning?
    She closed her eyes, trying to conjure an image of that sweet little baby who’d nursed at her breast, the toddler she’d cuddled in her arms—her firstborn son. Yet all she could see was the disappointment on his face when she’d told him he had to ride the bus this morning.
    And now he was in some kind of trouble.
    â€œI’ll have to shuffle a few of my clients around,” Carly said, “but I can probably be there within twenty minutes.”
    She’d ask one of the other stylists to finish rolling Ruth-Ann’s hair and to put her under the dryer. Depending upon how long she would need to stay at the school, she’d probably have to ask someone to do the comb-out, too.
    But her sons were—and always would be—her first priority.
    â€œYou don’t need to leave work,” Mrs. Evans said. “I know that you’re a single mom and the sole support of the household. But I did want to notify you and let you know that Josh will have detention after school today. We’d like to keep him until four. Will that be a problem?”
    â€œNo, that’s fine.” Josh certainly deserved to be punished for disobeying and refusing to tell the truth when he was questioned. But what was she going to do with Mikey? He got out of class at two thirty, and her only option, at this point, was to pay the fee for him to stay for the YMCA day-care program.
    Once again, there was another financial hit. If she could afford the cost in the first place, she would have registered her sons at the beginning of the school year.
    â€œWe’ll take care of it from here,” Mrs. Evans said.
    But Carly had a second thought. “Can I speak to my son? Maybe he’ll tell me what happened.”
    â€œOf course. I’ll put him on the