Home for the Holidays Read Online Free PDF Page B

silver spoons in their mouths?”
    “I don't think so. I think he's just rich.”
    “That's it?” Frankie said. “That's all it takes to get elected King of Carrington?”
    “You have to be rich, and you have to be smart—and he's both. He moved here when the real estate market was just starting to get hot, and he made some smart investments, and he made a fortune. He got interested in some local charities, and he made some big friends by making some very big donations. Next thing you know, he's on the board of this and the board of that.”
    “And how'd you meet him?” Frankie asked.
    “You couldn't miss him,” Nicky's father said. “He was everywhere—every fund-raiser, every charity event, every party. He's very ambitious.”
    “You two should get along, then,” Frankie said. “Elizabeth told me about your plans for Fairport—Mr. Mayor.”
    Nicky's father blushed. “Cut it out, Frank. I got involved with Fairport because it's the right thing to do. Nice apartments for poor people and artists. Plus it looks good for my law firm. All that other talk, about merunning for office, that's just a lot of talk. If it happens, however, that the people of Fairport want me to represent them …”
    Frankie clapped Nicky's father on the back. “Congressman Borelli! Senator Borelli! A Borelli in the White House! Good for you, Nick. The old man would be proud.”
    “Don't jinx it,” Nicky's father said. “The paperwork is being done now. First business day of the new year, it's ours.”
    “What a great way to celebrate the new year,” Frankie said.
    “Just keep your fingers crossed for me. After all the sweat I've put into it, I'd hate for anything to go wrong now.”
    Tommy had trouble falling asleep that night. He wasn't used to sleeping in a strange bed. He wasn't used to being out of Brooklyn. It was so …
quiet
here. No cars. No car horns. No car alarms. No sirens. It was creepy. Maybe you got used to it after a while.
    He couldn't stop thinking about Nicky's giving him such a nice present, and his giving Nicky nothing at all. He couldn't stop thinking about telling Nicky that his mom hadn't given him anything, either. He tried to remember the look on Nicky's face. Had he been surprised? Had he been laughing? Did he think Tommy had a bad mother?
    He hadn't seen any of that in Nicky's face. Nicky had just smiled and said, “Fugheddaboudit.”
    He was a good guy, Nicky. And a good friend. Thinking that made Tommy feel even more ashamed of himself, though.
You should get your good friend a good Christmas present
, he thought.
If you had any money, that is.
    The next morning, Nicky got Tommy dressed in snow clothes and had Clarence drive them to Glen Forks. Clarence had loaded the Navigator with sleds. Nicky's mother had made sandwiches and filled a thermos with her own homemade vegetable soup. Grandma Tutti had filled a basket with her own homemade cookies. Clarence dropped the boys and their picnic basket at Glen Forks before driving on to Nicky's father's office.
    Nicky took Tommy to his favorite run, a short steep hill that ended in a long flat area. Nicky said, “You can lie down on the sled on this one, and drag your foot for the brakes. Take it easy the first time down, so you see how fast it is, okay?”
    Tommy nodded.
    “Do you want me to go down first?”
    “What for?” Tommy said, and threw himself down the hill.
    Tommy was a speed demon. Soon he was showing Nicky new tricks to do with a sled.
    “Watch this,” Tommy said, and began building a kind of ramp. On his next run down the hill, he shot up the ramp and sailed into the air, then crashed half buried in a snowbank.
    He emerged, grinning, and said, “You gotta try this!”
    Nicky and Tommy sledded until they were exhausted. After a lunch break, Nicky said, “Let's build a snowman.”
    They made his eyes and mouth out of small stones, his nose from a crooked stick, and his hair from a crown of leaves. Nicky said, “He looks a little