Luke's Crazy California Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page A

matter of my future.
    ~*~
    I ran to answer the door as soon as I heard the doorbell. My preference had been to stay in my room and make Dad come force me to socialize with his new lady friend, but I figured that was childish. Better to take the high road. WWJD and all that. I guess if you think about it, Jesus had a stepfather in Joseph.
    If things went Dad’s way, he might find himself with a new wife. And that meant a stepmother for me. Possibly, even a new sister. That idea caused an ache right in the center of my chest as my thoughts carried to memories of Monica. No, even if he married this woman one day, her daughter would never be my sister.
    Just as the second chime of the doorbell sounded, I pulled the door open.
    A petite woman at least a foot shorter than me, with long, pale blonde hair, stood on the steps with a large smile, mouth covered in deep red lipstick. She couldn’t have looked any more different from my tall, brown-eyed mother if she’d tried.
    “Hello, you must be Luke.” She had a low, husky voice as if she smoked a pack a day. She didn’t smell like tobacco. Maybe she’d given it up.
    Before I had a chance to debate who her voice reminded me of, I was accosted around the neck. “Luke, oh my gosh! What are you doing here?”
    Instinctively, I grabbed her arms and tried to pull this stranger off of me.
    She released me and stepped back.
    I knew those sky-blue eyes and that spiky blonde hair. “Charli? What are you doing here?”
    “Small world.” She glanced back at the woman who I assumed was Dad’s new girlfriend.
    Heather something. Oh, right, Bacon. “Wait…no way…” I stared wide-eyed at Charli.
    “Mom lives in this complex too. She met your dad the day she moved in last summer.”
    And yet he’d neglected to even mention her name to me in all this time.
    Dad’s steps came from behind me. “I see you’ve met Heather.” He moved past me and leaned in close to the woman, setting a kiss on her lips. There was no mistaking the extent of their relationship now.
    “Oh, Jim, you’ll never guess. The kids already know each other.”
    “We met on the plane,” Charli filled in.
    “Did you get seated together?” Heather asked. “When I switched Luke’s ticket, I never imagined they’d put him and Charli together.”
    So this was who’d helped him change my ticket.
    “What a coincidence,” I added with a smile. I tried to make it look genuine. “Why didn’t you give Charli a ride home from the airport if you knew she was on the flight, Dad? She had to take a taxi.”
    “Oh, well…” Dad looked embarrassed.
    “We just didn’t want to overwhelm you, Luke.” Heather took Dad’s arm. “Your father and I thought you should have some time together alone and let you get settled first. Wasn’t it better to meet like this?” She beamed a large smile my direction. It looked a lot like Charli’s.
    “Sure.” I turned my lips up into a quick, closed-mouth smile.
    Dad led the ladies into the house.
    I closed the door and followed. This could not be happening. My dad couldn’t be dating the mother of that kooky girl, Charli. This had to be some weird kind of dream. Please let this be a dream! A nightmare even. At least then I could wake up.
    Dad took us all out to dinner to this trendy, industrial restaurant. It had bright overhead lighting, stainless-steel embellishments, and the servers were all dressed in black other than their metallic silver aprons. I thought I was on the set of some strange sci-fi movie, complete with electronic-sounding music playing in the background. No Christmas decorations either.
    I was seeing a trend here.
    Dad and Heather did most of the talking. I didn’t say much even when Charli addressed me directly. I just wanted the meal over so I could go to bed and wish myself back at Mom’s.
    “So, your dad says you’re a senior,” Charli said out of the blue.
    I glanced at Dad and Heather involved in a private conversation with their heads tilted