We Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus by Brenda Novak Read Free Book Online

captain of the debate team—exactly the type of girl who would never be interested in a tough, poor boy who missed as many days of school as he attended.
    For a moment, the memories of Feld threatened to swallow him up again, but he focused on what Jaclyn was saying and pushed them aside.
    “I wanted the kids to have somewhere to ride their bikes and set up a lemonade stand and run through the sprinklers,” she said. “The neighborhood’s not as bad as it looks, really. Mostly old folks on a pension.” She sank into a seat across from him. “Of course, my three kids spice things up a bit.”
    “I bet.” Cole noted that most of the pictures on the walls were crayon drawings, and wondered what Jaclyn’s kids were like. After raising his brothers, he swore he’d never have any children of his own. He’d had enough of that kind of responsibility. But he’d bet Jaclyn’s were cuter than most. Not that he wanted to meet them. He planned to offer Jaclyn the money she needed to get on her feet, and move on.
    He cleared his throat. “I guess you know why I’m here.”
    She stared down at the threadbare carpet. “You found out I was fired yesterday.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Well, you didn’t need to come.”
    She smiled, making another valiant effort to act as if she was fine, but Cole noticed how her hands fisted in her lap.
    “Now that I’m on my own, I’d better get used to the ups and downs of it, don’t you think?”
    “How bad are things?” he asked, cutting to the chase.
    Her eyes widened in surprise. “They’re fine. I’m fine—”
    “Jackie, I didn’t come here for more of your stiff-upper-lip routine. I’m willing to help you, but I can’t do that unless I know what you need.”
    “What I need?” She laughed, but there was no humor in it. “I need to go back twelve years, get a college education and not marry Terry. That’s what I need.” She paused. “You once warned me against doing exactly what I did. Do you remember?”
    He remembered. He also remembered he’d warned heragainst Terry because he wanted her himself. He’d had plenty of girls following him home from school and coming on to him at dances, and Rochelle calling him night and day, but Jaclyn was the one he’d dreamed about. “I was just a dumb kid. I don’t know why I said what I did,” he lied.
    She folded her arms and leaned back. “Still, I wish I’d listened. Except, my children are great. I don’t regret them.”
    The telephone rang, and she put up a hand to indicate she’d be right back. She carried the cordless phone into the kitchen to talk, but Cole could easily hear her, even though he stood and tried to amuse himself by figuring out what the pictures on her walls were supposed to be.
    “What do you want now?…No, I didn’t say that. I said she’d have to have her birthday party here…That place is too expensive, Terry, you know it is…Why do you always have to ruin everything for me?…Listen, I can’t talk about this now because someone’s here…Cole Perrini. You remember him, don’t you? We went to school with him…What…?
    She lowered her voice until Cole could barely hear her, but now that he’d heard his name, he strained to catch the rest.
    “I can’t believe you just said that. We’re not doing anything. You have no right to even ask me that! Cole and I have never so much as kissed…Are the kids there? Did you just say that in front of Alex?…Forget it. I’m hanging up, Terry…”
    Finally, in one frustrated-sounding burst, she said, “Well, he wouldn’t have to be very good to be better than you.” Then she hung up, leaving Cole wondering what he wouldn’t have to be very good at. On the heels of her previous words, his imagination certainly presented some interesting possibilities. But they were possibilities he refused to entertain, because he knew that anything physicalwith Jackie would come at a price higher than he was willing to pay. He’d already raised all the kids he