A Nantucket Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page A

Maddox down to the condo’s gym to play, which almost made Kennedy like the man, even if her mother had run off with him. Kennedy could still hope with all her heart that her mother would come to her senses and return to her father.
    “All the awful parties,” Katya agreed. “It’s so hard not to gain weight.”
    Kennedy cast a skeptical eye at her mother, who hadn’t gained an ounce after her twenty-fifth birthday.
    Katya had learned to slenderize her body and her life before it became all the rage. She always chose modern furniture with sleek, clean lines. She hated clutter. She disdained “collectibles.” Her clothing, too, was classic. No ruffles, no lace, no faux anything. White shirts and khakis in the summer, white cashmere turtleneck sweaters and khakis in the winter. Black dresses for evening wear. Real pearls. Costume jewelry—ugh. Only real, large—but not vulgar—diamond solitaires for her ears. Her blond hair was always cut to fall just to her chin, sweeping from a side part.
    “How do you stay so skinny?” Kennedy asked.
    “Exercise and willpower,” Katya told her. “Your weight has to be your first priority in life. It’s extremely hard work. I’ll admit I’ve suffered at times.”
    “But it’s worth it, right, Mom? I mean, just look at you.”
    Katya preened. “Thank you, darling.”
    “I’ll lose weight after I have the baby.”
    “Of course you will.”
    Kennedy made a face. “But we’ve got to go to Dad’s next Sunday for the whole
week
!”
    “It will be fine,” Katya assured her daughter. “Come on. This way, Nicole has to do all the fussing about Christmas. She’ll do all the cooking and cleaning. You won’t have to do a thing. Sebastian will take care of Maddox. He and James can go off and do manly things. You’ll be able to rest.”
    “I hope so, because you know Nicole is going to fill Maddox with candy and icing. He’ll be a hyperactive monkey boy.”
    “What are you getting Nicole for Christmas?” Katya sipped from her mug of unsweetened green tea and settled more comfortably into her chrome and leather chair.
    Kennedy shrugged. “I have no idea. I’ve only met her once. I don’t know what that woman likes.”
    “Get her some chocolates.” Katya leered wickedly over the top of her mug.
    Kennedy giggled. “You are bad.” Nicole wasn’t fat, exactly, but she didn’t have Katya’s lean, lithe lines.
    “Why?” Katya widened her eyes innocently. “All women like chocolates.”
    Kennedy snorted. “Nicole obviously does.”
    “Don’t be mean, Kennedy. My sources tell me Nicole is a very nice woman, and your father seems satisfied enough with her.”
    “Oh, Mommy!” Kennedy struggled to sit up. “Why’d you have to leave Daddy?”
    “Darling, we’ve been over this before. Your father and I were boring together. You are grown and married. It was right for me to have some ME in my life.”
    Kennedy flopped back against the pillows. “By ME, you mean Alonzo. Sex.”
    Katya rolled her eyes and directed the subject back to the holidays. “So. You can order chocolates for Nicole online. Go Godiva, that’s always easy and best. Send her the biggest box. They’ll gift wrap it.
Done
. For your father, go online and order a few of the newest biographies. You know all the man does is read.” Katya yawned. “SO boring.”
    “Mommy.” Kennedy didn’t like her parents criticizing each other.
    “What did you get James?”
    “Nothing yet.” Kennedy poked her enormous belly. “Maybe I’ll order him a life-size blow-up doll he can have sex with.”
    Katya ignored this. “Does he need a new golf bag? Tennis whites?”
    “For Christmas? In New England? We can’t go anywhere, may I remind you, because this baby boy is coming in January. So, no Florida, no Aruba, just snow.”
    “Now let’s be positive. How about cross-country skis for James and for Maddox? They can go out together.”
    “That’s a good idea. I’ve ordered a sled from L.L. Bean for