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

on those little table stands and left us.
    Dad served himself a slice and took a bite. “Mmm, I haven’t had good pizza since you left, son.”
    It smelled good, but I’d suddenly lost my appetite.
    “Aren’t you going to eat?”
    I reached in toward the Supreme. “I’m not moving in with you, Dad.”
    “Look, I know you haven’t been real happy with me lately, but it would be different now.”
    “What makes it different?” I eyed him and tried hard not to roll my eyes in disbelief.
    “Well.” He sat up straighter with a cheery smile. Yeah, sincerely happy. The kind of smile that made it all the way to his eyes. A genuine smile.
    It had been a long time since I’d seen him that way.
    His gaze met mine. “I’m planning to ask Heather to marry me.”
    ~*~
    “So, how do you feel about that?” Andrea asked me the next morning.
    I’d waited the whole night before calling her. I needed time to digest. I was still digesting. “I don’t even know. I think I’m still in shock.” I settled a folded arm under my head as I spoke while lying on the bed in my temporary bedroom. “I mean, by the way my dad has been for years, I thought he hated being married. Why would he want to get married again…and so soon? They’ve been divorced only ten months.”
    “I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t like being alone. I’ve heard some men are like that.”
    “I guess…maybe. Anyway, I can’t wait to get back home.”
    “Only eight more days,” she replied cheerfully.
    “Yeah, eight more days. Well, enough of me. What have you been up to?”
    “Oh, you know, it’s been pretty boring.”
    “I know it can get that way with me gone.”
    “Ha! Ha! But yeah, with you gone and Amy and Angie away on that missions trip, it has been on the dull side.”
    “But I have a feeling you’ve been filling your time with lots of piano practice. How’s everything coming along?”
    “You do not want me to regale you with complaints about the chord I just can’t get right.”
    I laughed. “Of course I do. I live and breath listening to you talk musical speak.”
    “It must be like when you talk about RBIs and batting averages.”
    We shared a laugh.
    “Most of it is the typical Christmas carols, which are no-brainers, but I’m playing one of my own compositions and that is freaking me out a little.”
    “You’ll be awesome. I wish I could be there to hear you.”
    “Me too,” she said a little wistfully. “Just remember, eight more…”
    “I know, eight more days.”
    “So, what did you think of my journal?”
    I sat up straighter on the bed, leaning against the dark wood headboard. “Your journal?” I swallowed hard. “I…uh, honestly, I was surprised you gave it to me.”
    “It’s just a loan.”
    “I’ll take good care of it until I see you.”
    “I know you will. I trust you.”
    She did. She trusted me. It kind of surprised me, because Andrea wasn’t always so forthcoming with her thoughts, and now she’d given me a gateway to them.
    “Have you read it yet?”
    “Um, no, I haven’t had a chance. I’ll look at it today.”
    “Only if you want. I thought it might help you. You are praying about everything, aren’t you?”
    “Yeah, of course.” I covered my eyes with one hand.
    It was a lie. My first lie to Andrea. I wanted to punch myself. I’d promised I’d never lie the way my dad always did. But I didn’t want her to know that I hadn’t prayed since leaving NC. “I’ll look through it later on. I promise. So are we going to Skype while we watch this superhero flick or what?”
    “I can’t.”
    “What? I have it all queued up and ready to start.”
    “I got some extra practice time in the school auditorium. It will be great practice for the Christmas Eve concert. Maybe it will settle my nerves. I can’t tell you how on edge I’ve been.”
    My door banged open. Charli traipsed inside and flung herself on the bed, just as brazen as when the opposing team broke in and stole our mascot