Lonely This Christmas by Krissie LaBaye Read Free Book Online Page A

Fearing that her mother might tell father what she had witnessed, Judy quickly made her excuses and invited Ian to call round to see her the next day.
    As she danced through the front door Judy was met by her mother holding her finger up to her lips, gesturing her to be quiet.
    “Shh! your Dad’s asleep. No point in wakening him; you know he’s cranky when he wakes up. Get yourself up to bed; I turned the electric blanket, so you can thaw out. Now don’t you wish you had worn a coat?” whispered Catherine with a wry smile on her face.
    “Thanks, mum, love you,” Judy whispered, before pulling off her unloosened platforms, picking them up, and tip toeing up the stairs.
    Once in her bedroom, Judy quickly changed into her nightclothes and climbed into her delectable warm bed. So this was what falling in love was like, she reflected. Going through the evening’s event moment by moment Judy relived the night she would remember forever, before drifting off into a deep sleep.
     

Chapter Twelve
     
    Judy opened her eyes and realized that she must have fallen asleep with the bedside light still on. She wasn’t quite sure when she had drifted off to sleep; but she was grateful that she had got through till the next morning without even a hint of a nightmare.
    Although she had awoken feeling comfortable and relaxed, it wasn’t long before she was off on another guilt trip. Thoughts buzzed around in her head, and while she easily asked herself the same old questions, Judy still wasn’t sure of the answers. Should she go to the reunion? What if Ian was there? What if Ian wasn’t there? Was she being disloyal to Bruce? Should she have been spending more time remembering Bruce, who she married and spent a happily married life with; rather than Ian, who she had loved and lost all in the space of a few years?
    This last question prompted her to recall her Grandma Brown’s attempt to console her when the relationship with Ian was unequivocally accepted as being over, for good.
    “Never mind love; better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Plenty more fish in the sea, Judy,” Grandma said.
    These words of wisdom did little to help matters, and Judy sobbed as she spluttered out her response in between the wails.
    “But who wants to cuddle a cod? It’s not better to have loved and lost; I’m never going to fall in love again, Grandma, it just hurts too much.”
    The crying lasted for days and the broken heart lasted for almost a year. Then after a suitable mourning period Judy commenced to get back on with her life. Eventually she met and fell in love with Bruce, and the rest was history.
    This last short session of reminiscing had inadvertently provided some of the answers Judy had been searching for. She would go to the reunion. She hoped that Ian would be there. If Ian was there, she would show him that she had got on with her life, and she might even go as far as to give him a piece of her mind for breaking her heart all those years ago.
    All she had to do now was go on a Sunday spending spree with Elaine, pick up a stunning outfit that would make her feel a million dollars, then count the days until the reunion.
     

Chapter Thirteen
     
    By the time Elaine and Judy had entered the eight woman’s clothing boutique, their feet were aching. They must have tried on just about every available style and color in the latest clothing trends, and they were fast running out of options. There is a time in one’s life when clothes have to be chosen carefully, and for Judy and Elaine that time was now. Too young looking clothes and they would look trashy; too old looking and they would look dowdy.
    When the girls reached the third floor women’s clothing section, and spied the mannequin at the end of the aisle, both girls squealed in unison like two teenagers at a live pop concert.
    “That’s it, Judy, that’s the one.”
    Approaching the mannequin Elaine quickly grabbed the price tag and reeled back from the