Yule Tidings by Savannah Dawn Read Free Book Online Page B

high school buddies while they wandered around town.  By noon they were starting to get fairly hungry so Jason called his mother.  “Hey, Mom. We’re almost ready to eat if you are,” he said when she answered.
    “Oh, I forgot.  You can go ahead and eat without me if you want,” Anne offered, trying to get out of spending time near Alexia.  “I wouldn’t want you to go hungry because of me.”
    “Mom, we’ll be at Applebee’s waiting to order until you get there,” Jason said irritably.  He didn’t give her a chance to argue before saying ‘goodbye’ and hanging up the phone.  “Well, she’s coming.  We might as well go prepare.”  Jason and Alex walked back to the car, tense and uncomfortable.  Lunch would almost certainly be even worse than dinner last night.  Jason looked at Alex, her face pale, her hands moving around nervously.  “It’ll be okay,” he told her before unlocking her door.  She nodded and climbed in the car.  Jason stood outside the car for a moment taking deep breaths.  He knew without a doubt that his mother would not be happy with their announcement; he was even certain she would have some rather rude and disparaging comments to make.  Jason rubbed his eyes.  There were times when he hated his mother.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Four
     
                  Applebee’s was extremely busy.  Jason and Alex waited fifteen minutes for a table to open up.  Every table and booth surrounding them had people eating and laughing gaily.  The wait staff was extremely pleasant, if a little out of breath, and Alex couldn’t help but feel at ease in the carefree atmosphere of the place.  When they were seated they started to go over every possible reaction Anne might have that they could think of.  Jason thought his mother might just storm off in anger, leaving the restaurant in a huff.  In which case, he figured they should rent a hotel room and call her later that night or in the morning to see if she’d calmed down enough to see reason.  Alex, not knowing his mother very well, didn’t know what to expect, but she doubted it’d be as easy as her walking out.  “She’s bound to say something,” Alex told him, but when he asked what she’d say, Alex could only shrug in uncertainty.  
                  While Jason and Alex were waiting for her, Anne was taking her time and trying not to think about how frustrating it would be to have to share Jason’s attention.  She resented Alexia’s presence, and she wasn’t entirely sure she could maintain a civil mien throughout lunch.  It took her forty-five minutes to reach the restaurant.  She frowned as the waitress showed her to the table and she noticed that Jason and Alex sat hand in hand, talking softly as she walked up.  “It’s really busy in here,” she said, taking the seat across from Jason.
                  “Yeah,” he agreed.  He waited for his mother to look through the menu.  When she was ready, they ordered.  Jason decided to wait until the food arrived before he breached the subject of the engagement with his mother, thinking that if her food was already on the table she’d be less likely to just get up and leave.  She hated it when people wasted food, especially at restaurants.  Jason let her make small talk for a good twenty minutes.  She talked about the weather, her plans for the winter, and all the things that needed to be fixed at the house, which, she hinted, Jason could fix before he left.   When she was halfway through her meal, he finally decided it was time to spill the beans.  “Mom,” he said, clearing his throat, “I’ve asked Alex to marry me.”
                  “What?” she asked, nearly choking on a chip, “you did what?”  Anne couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  It had to be a mistake.  “You mean that as a joke, don’t you?”  Anne looked at Jason in confusion.  He couldn’t marry