A Nantucket Christmas Read Online Free PDF

Maddox.” Kennedy gazed around the living room. No tree, no pines on the fireplace mantel, no presents. “What are you doing for Christmas?”
    “I told you, Kennedy. Where is your mind these days? Alonzo and I are going to a cleansing spa in Switzerland for ten days. No fats, no alcohol, no sugar. Lots of exercise and fresh air. Indoor tennis, of course.”
    “You told me you were going to a spa, but you didn’t say Switzerland!” Kennedy sat up, alarmed. “Mommy, what about the baby?”
    “Kennedy, he’s not due until the middle of January. I’ll be back on December thirtieth. Plenty of time.”
    “You’ve got to be!” Kennedy ran her hands over her belly. “I need you there, and Daddy and James.”
    “We’ll do our best.”
    “I know you will. Still—”
    “Ssh. It’s going to be fine.” Katya glanced at her watch. “I’ve got my yoga class in about thirty minutes …”
    “I know. I should get Maddox home for his dinner, anyway.” Kennedy pushed her arms back, trying to extract herself from the sofa.
    Katya watched her daughter with an assessing eye. “I promised to give you money for a nanny.”
    “I know, Mommy, and I’m grateful. But I want to bond with the new baby, even if he is a boy.”
    “It’s a shame about that. Girls’ clothes are so much cuter. But never mind, Kennedy, it will be fun for Maddox to have a brother to play with.”
    Kennedy had achieved a standing position. “I wish James would take a week’s vacation and spend it with me and the new baby, and especially with Maddox. It would be wonderful for Maddox to have his father give him special attention when we have a new baby.”
    “James has an important job with his brokerage firm, Kennedy. You’re being far too idealistic with this bonding mumbo-jumbo. Get a nanny, let her care for the baby, and
you
spend time with Maddox. I had a nanny for you, and you turned out all right.”
    Kennedy lumbered across the room and into the hall. She pressed the intercom and told Alonzo that he should bring Maddox up.
    “Maddox wants a puppy,” she said over her shoulder to her mother. “I told him no. I can’t deal with a puppy and a new baby. Plus, I’m allergic to animals.”
    “Are you, darling? I never knew that.”
    Kennedy stared at her mother. “I thought that was why we never had a pet.”
    “Oh? I must have forgotten.” Katya opened the closet door and took out Maddox’s little black dress coat and wool cap. She handed them to Kennedy. “I’m sure you’re right.”

7
    It was the middle of December. Nicole wore a blue roll-neck cotton pullover with a large white snowflake in the center. She’d opened her holiday jewelry box and selected snowflake earrings to match. They’d cost less than five dollars and were iridescent—she could still remember how pleased she was to discover them at a local pharmacy. She looked pretty cute, even if she did say so herself. Kennedy, of course, would consider her sweater sappy. But Kennedy wasn’t here yet.
    And today they were going to buy the tree!
    They bundled up in puffy down coats and leather gloves and drove out of town to Moors End Farm on Pol-pis Road.
    Snow wasn’t falling, but the wind blew fiercely, and overhead the sky hung low and white, as if ready to drop its load of flakes at any moment. Sebastian squeezed the car between two others. He and Nicole slammed their car doors and leaned into the wind, battling toward the trees propped against wooden supports.
    Nicole headed toward the tallest trees. After a moment, she noticed Sebastian was no longer beside her. He’d stalked over to the area with the midget trees.
    “Sebastian!” she called. “Over here!”
    Sebastian waved to her, indicating that she should come over to where he stood.
    “No!” Nicole called. “Tall!” She raised her arms high and wide. “BIG!”
    Sebastian hurried over to her, looking worried. “Nicole, we don’t have the decorations or the lights for such a large tree.”
    Nicole