The Naughty List Read Online Free PDF Page A

time?” Anya whispered. “We had a heavy snow, and I couldn’t walk to the post office for a few days.”
    She paused and someone on the other end answered her.
    “Who is she talking to?” Daniel asked Maggie.
    “Here…” Maggie said. “This might help.”
    Daniel watched as Maggie reached out and touched a large mirror hanging on the wall. The image in the glass wavered and turned into a new picture. A young man stood in the middle of a narrow hallway holding a cordless phone to his ear. He had shaggy auburn hair and pale skin, hazel eyes, and a face that would turn handsome in a year or two once he put on a little weight.
    “That’s Etienne, Anya’s brother. Haven’t met him yet. Just saw a picture.”
    “He’s the guardian of the family now with Anya in America. Their father is useless,” Maggie explained.
    “Anya told me the same thing.” Daniel looked back at Anya on the floor. In the mirror, Etienne walked down the hallway to a living room. A small tree barely three feet high with only one sad strand of white lights decorating it stood guard over a mountain of presents wrapped in elegant silver and gold paper.
    “I can’t believe you were able to afford all this,” Etienne said, staring at the presents. “How did you do it?”
    “Daniel asked me to stay with him. With the money I saved on rent I could buy the presents.”
    Etienne winced. “I would rather you hadn’t gotten the presents. I don’t trust rich men.”
    “He’s a good man,” Anya protested. “Very good. The best. And he’s so kind to me. And so handsome I can’t… nevermind.” She smiled a little, no doubt realizing her brother was the last person on the planet who’d want to hear about her attraction to her boyfriend.
    “If he’s so kind to you then, why do you keep so much from him? Hmm? Did he know you had a mountain of presents to mail when you walked them to the post office?”
    Anya grimaced. “He would have driven me if I’d asked. But if he’d seen the presents he would have wanted to know where the money came from. And if I told him it was all I had, then he would have made me let him pay for them.”
    “You should have let him if he has that kind of money.”
    “I have some pride, Etienne.”
    “Too much pride.”
    “I have to agree with Etienne,” Daniel said, wanting so badly to touch Anya. He was here, alive, unlike Maggie. Why couldn’t she see him? Why couldn’t he hold her? “The girl is 90% pride and 10% spite.”
    “And 100% in love with you.” Maggie grinned at him.
    “I like that kind of math.” Daniel turned his attention back to Anya. Of course the girl took every last cent she had and spent it on her six younger siblings. He should have known, should have helped. He’d been so caught up in finding the perfect engagement ring, creating the perfect Christmas for the two of them, that he’d forgotten she had her family back in Quebec that she worried constantly about. What else was she keeping from him?
    “Are the little ones asleep?” Anya asked, tucking the blanket tighter around her.
    “It’s Christmas Eve,” Etienne said with a roguish grin. Oh yeah, Daniel realized. That kid was going to be a heartbreaker. Better keep Kingsley away from him. “Of course they aren’t sleeping.”
    “Can I talk to them?”
    “They’d never forgive you if you didn’t. They’re all in Camille’s room trying to get her to sleep.”
    Etienne carried the phone back down the hallway. Daniel winced at the sight of the house. House? It looked more like a two, maybe three bedroom apartment. Small, cramped, dark and dismal. Old carpet, stained walls. The place looked clean but only the presents under the tree gave any hint that love lived in the home.
    Inside the mirror, Etienne opened a door to a tiny room that held twin beds. Children aged between eight and fourteen piled on top of or around the bed. The smallest girl, Camille, clung to a pink elephant stuffed toy and whispered to one of her