Off Limits Read Online Free PDF Page B

afternoon, we’re going for a sleigh ride,” I announced, meaning Jon and I. Pritchard’s Farm had a livery stable that did horse-drawn carriage rides in the summer months and sleigh rides in the winter. I’d thoughtit would be so romantic to go for a sleigh ride through the snow, drinking hot chocolate spiked with Schnapps.
    “Oh, I love that idea!” Emily clapped her hands together. “That’ll be so fun!”
    Oh. I blinked. Everyone else thought it was a great idea too.
    “And they have skating on the pond,” Andrew added. “Let’s all take our skates.”
    I sighed. This was turning into a family outing, when it wassupposed to be a romantic sleigh ride for two. I met Jon’s eyes and gave him a wry smile and a lift of my shoulders. He just smiled back.
    Easygoing. Nothing ever got to him. So that was good.
    He hadn’t seemed bothered by Mom putting us in separate rooms for our stay here either. I’d been surprised, assuming we’d share my room, but it wasn’t that big a deal. We didn’t live together, so it wasn’tlike I was going to die from missing sleeping with him for a few nights.
    “I’m not even sure where my skates are.” I picked up my wineglass, which Andrew had refilled.
    “They’re downstairs,” Mom said. “And they were sharpened last year and you haven’t used them since, so they should be good.”
    “My skates are still here somewhere too, right?” Daniel asked.
    “Yes.”
    “I don’t have skates,” Emilysaid. “Can you rent them there?”
    “Yes, you can,” I answered, having just looked at their website the other day to plan the outing. I looked at Jon. “You’ll need to rent skates too, I guess.”
    “Yeah, I don’t skate.” He made a face. “But the sleigh ride sounds like fun, and I can watch all of you skate.”
    “Oh, you should try it!” I set my hand on his arm.
    “We’ll see.” He wasn’t enthusiastic aboutthe idea. My bottom lip pushed out with disappointment. I loved skating. Even though I’d stopped competing, I hadn’t given up skating. While in high school and college, I’d earned money teaching it to little kids. I could easily teach Jon.
    “There! Done!” Mom stood back to study the tree. “Gorgeous.”
    I smiled at her. It was our tree, not like a magazine or catalog picture, all perfect and symmetricaland color-coordinated, but unique to us and full of love and laughter and memories. “It is,” I agreed.
    A faint squawk emitted from the baby monitor. Emily groaned and I perked up. “He’s awake!”
    “I’ll go change him,” Daniel offered. “Sit down, babe.”
    “Thanks, hon.”
    “When he gets back, your father and I have something to tell you all,” Mom said.
    I frowned. “What?”
    “I said, when he gets back.”
    Curiosity zoomed inside me. “But what?”
    Mom grinned. “Settle down, Jenna girl. Patience. Who needs more wine?”
    “I need a beer,” Connor said. “Andrew? Want one?”
    “Yeah.”
    Jon was drinking one of the red wines we’d brought and I was still working on my bottle of Snobby Frog. Mom and Connor went into the kitchen. I turned to Andrew with big eyes. “What do you think they’re going to tell us?”
    A little crease appeared between his eyebrows. “No idea.”
    “I guess it’s not that they’re taking us to Hawaii for Christmas this year.”
    Andrew laughed. “Yeah, no. But hey, we should totally do that next year.”
    “It wouldn’t be right. You’re supposed to be home for the holidays.”
    “True.”
    Daniel clomped down the stairs a few minutes later with a wide-awake Christopher and a blanket, which Emilyused to drape over her and Christopher as she nursed him. Connor and Mom returned from the kitchen and Connor handed Andrew a beer.
    “Okay, everyone’s here,” I said to Mom. “What’s the big secret?”
    “It’s not a secret.” She took a calm sip of her wine and glanced at Dad. “You want to tell them?”
    God, did one of them have cancer? Was one of them dying? All