Holiday Hearts by A. C. Arthur Read Free Book Online Page B

from him. “No thank you. I’ll pay my fare if you don’t mind.”
    She pulled out a twenty dollar bill and extended it over the seat to pay him. The cab driver shook his head again and touched her wrist. His fingers were warm, and his tone was soft and gentle as he spoke.
    “Sometimes we’ve got to open our hearts and our minds to receive the gifts that are meant for us.”
    “I don’t understand,” she said slowly.
    He closed her fingers over the money and pushed her hand away.
    “You have a good day, ma’am.”
    The doors of the cab unlocked with a jolt. Keysa shrugged and got out of the car. But as she walked into her house she replayed the old man’s words and instantly thought of Ian and the empty black box.
     
     
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    SEVEN
    About two seconds after Keysa stepped through her front door, closing it behind her, she knew she wasn’t alone. Fear stuck like a lump in her throat and she reached into the bottom of the coat rack right beside her door and pulled out one of her long umbrellas. With weapon in hand she took slow steps, peeping around the archway that led into her living room to see there was no one there. Then she heard the clatter of pots and pans and made her way to the kitchen.
    Pushing on the door slowly she eased her way inside, umbrella held high and ready to swing.
    “Surprise!” she heard about a millisecond before she swung the umbrella.
    A female who was only a few inches shorter than her took a quick step back and giggled as she reached for the umbrella.
    “Oh goodness. Is this how you greet your sister that you haven’t seen in years,” she said with a chuckle.
    Keysa let Brynne take the umbrella from her hand as she looked shocked. Standing in her homey kitchen was her younger sister, her stepmother, and her father.
    “What are you doing here?” she asked.
    There were bags of groceries on the small table in the center of her kitchen and Jocelyn, who had obviously found the pot she was looking for, was now at the sink running water in said pot. The petite woman with a cap of dark brown hair that was stylishly cut turned to her with a warm smile. “Hi there. We figured since you wouldn’t come to us, we’d come to you.”
    “I don’t understand,” Keysa heard herself saying for third time today. It seemed as if there was a lot she didn’t understand.
    Bernard Donovan now stood in front of her, his tall broad body nearly blocking everyone else from view. They had the same complexion and almost identical brown eyes. But that’s where the resemblance ended. Keysa was slender like her mother, Bernard was burly. Keysa’s reserved demeanor was definitely a result of Mary’s restricted upbringing. But Brynne and Bernard shared the same wide smile. Even now, her father was opening his arms wide to embrace her into a warm comforting hug.
    Keysa fell into the embrace easily, closing her eyes and felt a warmth she’d missed for far too long.
    “I missed you little girl,” Bernard whispered in her ear.
    “I missed you too, Daddy,” she admitted quietly. Pulling away she looked up at him. “But I told you I’d be busy working through the holidays.”
    “And I called Maser to give him a piece of my mind. No way is my daughter working through the Christmas holidays. I don’t care how important the project is.”
    “What? You called Maser and told him I couldn’t work? Like I’m a child and you were calling to get me out of a school project?” Keysa didn’t know how she felt about that.
    “That’s right. Somebody’s got to shake some sense into you,” he said. “Look, Keysa, for too long I’ve let you go your own way, do your own thing because I didn’t want to cause you or your mother any more pain than I already had. But family’s important to me and it should be to you. The holidays are a time for family and sharing and caring.”
    Sharing and caring, were words Keysa did not want to hear again.
    Shaking her head she took a