Wish Upon a Christmas Star by Darlene Gardner Read Free Book Online

buzzed
with activity. Travelers walked quickly along the moving walkway that connected
the two concourses, some arriving, others departing, all of them in a hurry. It
seemed as if Christmas was hours instead of six days away. A tinny voice over
the loudspeaker issued a periodic reminder not to leave bags unattended.
    Logan and his parents had gone through the security checkpoint
together, since he’d thought to book early morning flights that departed within
thirty minutes of each other. The planes didn’t leave from the same concourse,
though. When the walkway ended, Logan moved off to the side to get out of the
way of other passengers. His parents did the same.
    “This is where we part,” Logan said. “I hope you both have a
fantastic time on the cruise.”
    His mother sniffed, her eyes dewy with unshed tears. In her red
coat, black pants and black shoe boots, she was dressed for winter in Lexington
instead of in the tropics. “I still wish you were coming with us.”
    “Boy’s gotta work, Celeste.” His father slung an arm around her
and kissed the side of her head. He was gruff with most people but treated his
wife like gold. “Guy I work with, his thirty-five-year-old son lives in the
basement.”
    “Logan’s only thirty-three,” his mother countered. “And I never
said I wanted him to live in our basement.”
    “Basements aren’t for me, anyway,” Logan said, attempting to
lighten the mood. “We New York types prefer lofts.”
    “But you’re not a New York type,” his mother protested. “Not
really. You love Kentucky. You’ve always loved it. Don’t you think it’s past
time you moved home?”
    “Celeste, I thought you weren’t going to bring this up,” his
father said.
    “I can’t help it,” she answered. “You tell me not to make waves
about it when Logan’s home because he’s here for such a short time. But it’s not
the kind of thing to discuss over the phone.”
    “Whoa,” Logan said. “Where’s this coming from? I’m happy in New
York.”
    “You wouldn’t have moved there in the first place if Maria
DiMarco hadn’t married someone else,” his mother said.
    Logan sucked in a breath that felt jagged going down. His
mother was right. When he was in college, he’d fully expected he and Maria would
get back together again someday. Finding out she’d gotten married had come as a
vicious blow. In that instant, he’d decided to look for a job outside
Kentucky.
    His father removed his arm from his mother’s shoulder and gazed
at her with rare disapproval. “Celeste, what are you doing?”
    “Saying what I should have said a long time ago.” She took
Logan’s elbow. “I think it’s time you and Maria put the past behind you.”
    “You’re way off base about this, Mom,” Logan said. “My living
in New York has nothing to do with her.”
    It had nothing to do with Maria now, a voice in his head clarified. When he’d graduated from
college, the state hadn’t been big enough for him to risk running into her and
her new husband.
    “If you’d seen her when you were home, you could have wiped the
slate clean,” his mother said. “You’d either have feelings for her or you
wouldn’t.”
    Last night Logan had told his parents he was meeting friends
for a drink. Now he was glad he hadn’t mentioned Maria by name. He wasn’t up for
a postmortem session discussing his feelings.
    “Maria and I were over a long time ago, Mom,” Logan
insisted.
    Then why did he feel as if he was abandoning her? It was
ridiculous, considering that in the past Maria had been the one who’d failed to
wait for him.
    “But—”
    “Wish our son a merry Christmas, Celeste,” his father
interrupted. “You don’t want him to stop visiting us, do you?”
    “Of course not.” She came forward and hugged him tightly,
smelling of the familiar light perfume he associated with his childhood. She
whispered in his ear, “Forgive a meddling mother for wanting to see her only
child happy.”
    He