An Island Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page A

mortals would see.
    Now, out of the blue, like a lightning bolt, a secret desire had taken hold of Felicia. She could talk to no one about this new obsession. She couldn’t understand what had happened to her, except that last week when she andArchie were hiking the Dark Angel trail, they passed a family of three. The man and woman were about Felicia’s and Archie’s ages, and the man carried a one-year-old child in a backpack. The child had on the cutest cap with a long brim to shade his chubby face. When he saw Archie and Felicia, he waved his arms and giggled and babbled to them. Had she ever seen a cuter baby in all her life? Six years ago, when Lauren’s first child was born, Felicia had dutifully traveled to see this miracle of procreation, and had been horrified at the amount of dirty laundry and endless diaper changes. Lauren’s house had seemed so hot, and the infant’s cries shrilled through the air like a fire alarm. Over the years, Felicia came to feel great affection for Lawrence and Portia, although she also took notice of the time and hard work it cost their parents simply to keep them fed, dressed, healthy, and safe. Not for her, Felicia had thought. Never for her.
    But then, last week, the sight of the chubby, bright-eyed, wriggling, giggling baby—it was like a spell from the most ancient of fairy tales. Felicia was enchanted and possessed.
    “Archie, look,” Felicia had whispered. “Isn’t that baby sweet?”
    “All babies are sweet,” Archie responded. “Then they turn into adults and ruin the planet.”
    Felicia didn’t argue. Archie was all about the planet. He was for zero population growth. He was okay with getting married, but it wasn’t of great emotional importance to him. This entire wedding business at her parents’ home onthe island was a concession from Archie to Felicia because he understood how much it would mean to her parents. His own parents had divorced when he was young. His father never saw him. Recently they’d had news that he had died. No, Archie didn’t comprehend the duties and pleasures of family bonds.
    Felicia didn’t dare tell him about her odd new longing. It might be a deal-breaker. Anyway, her sudden obsession would pass, she was certain. Once she was home in the bosom of her anal-compulsive, super-tidy family, the terror of ending up like her mother would remove these strange wishes for a baby from her system. Until then, Felicia would keep quiet and pretend she was the same freewheeling, carefree creature she’d always been.

5
 
    Because the MSPCA didn’t open on weekends unless there was an emergency, Jilly and George had to content themselves in their search for a kitten with scanning the want ads in the local weekly paper, The Inquirer and Mirror . No kittens, puppies, turtles, or birds were listed for sale or adoption, so George went online and checked as many relevant sites as he could think of.
    No luck.
    So it was Monday morning when the Gordons climbed into their pristine Mercury Mariner SUV and drove to the MSPCA. The handsome facility was new, with a desk in the foyer resembling the bridge of the starship Enterprise . The doors and windows were hung with fresh green garlands and red wreaths. A Christmas tree in the corner was decorated with catnip mice, dog bones, sparkling collars, and net bags of treats tied up with red silk ribbons.
    “Hello,” Jilly said cheerfully. “We’d like to adopt a kitten.”
    The young girl at the front desk had curly black hair anda vivacious personality. “Safe Harbor for Animals does the adoptions. They’re right next door.”
    “Great! We’ll go over there.”
    The young receptionist looked dismayed. “I don’t think they have any kittens.”
    Jilly sagged. She’d awakened early, dreaming of snuggling a warm, plump, little body in her arms. “Thank you anyway,” she said politely, and turned to walk to the car.
    But her husband said, “Wait a moment. Do you know if there are any animals up for