The Patricia Kiyono Christmas Collection Read Online Free PDF Page A

be
molded into a clone of Melinda Billingsworth. He’d do anything to
prevent that.
    But he couldn’t keep his daughter if he
couldn’t support her. Time to get to work. He took another sip of
his coffee and carried it back to his office.
     

Chapter Five
    S ophie blinked as she focused on
making her to-do list for the day. She’d tossed and turned all
night. At the end of the screenplay she’d been writing, the main
character parachuted out of a plane, landed on a rooftop, and
captured the villain. But each time the scene played in her dream,
the hero would instead follow that up by looking directly into the
camera with those gorgeous blue eyes and murmur, “This is for you,
Sophie.” And then the movie would end. Why? And why was the dream
so unsettling?
    Probably because the hero looked exactly
like Mitch Carson. And she didn’t want to think about the handsome
photographer. Even if he was interested in her, she didn’t dare
pursue any kind of relationship. She couldn’t let anything distract
her from her goal. And in order to accomplish her goal she needed
to focus on her portfolio so that she’d have spec scripts and
resumes ready to send out.
    Concentrate , she told herself. What
did she need to do today? She checked the list she’d begun the
night before.
     
    1. Revise script for
Christmas pageant .
    2 . Send screenplay to three more
agents .
    3 . Formulate a plan for dealing with
the Longton boys .
     
    Number three was going to take the most
work. She’d told Mitch and Angie her idea to find the meanest
teacher she’d ever had, but she really had no idea how to contact
her, or whether or not the woman was still alive. Joanie would
know. Her sister knew every detail about every resident of Zutphen,
past and present.
    Sighing, she pulled her robe out from under
the covers and slipped her arms in the sleeves. Michigan winters
were even colder in attic rooms, and she’d learned to keep her
bathrobe tucked between the sheets and blanket to keep it warm. Her
slippers, when she wasn’t wearing them, were kept over the heating
duct on the floor.
    Still yawning, she padded down the stairs.
Joanie sat at the kitchen table, frowning into her coffee cup.
    “ Something wrong with your
coffee?”
    Joanie turned bleary eyes toward her. “No
caffeine. I miss my regular coffee. This decaffeinated stuff just
doesn’t taste right, and I forgot to ask Dave to pick up some
flavored creamer.”
    “ I can pick some up. I have
a few errands to run today.”
    Joanie’s worn features broke into a smile.
“Bless you, little sister. Say, you got home late last night. I
wondered what happened when the Meindertsmas brought Joey home
without you. Did your rehearsal run long?”
    “ You and I have to talk
about that. But no, it didn’t run too long. One of the dads was
late picking his daughter up, and I stayed with her until he got
there.”
    “ That’s not good. Who is
he?”
    “ Mister Carson. He’s the
new photographer who opened up a studio in the old Hager house in
town.”
    “ Oh, him. He’s got
kids?”
    “ Yes, a little girl,
Angie.”
    “ Is he single?”
    “ I don’t know — but Joanie,
I need to—”
    “ You should find out. I can
ask Rachel. She knows the scoop on everybody.”
    “ Joanie, listen to me!” She
put her hand on her sister’s. “We need to talk about this play.
It’s not going to work with just me doing it. No wonder the last
few programs were so boring with kids just standing there. Those
wild kids run around like crazy. Those Longton twins knocked over
chairs, climbed up on the pulpit, and tore down the curtains behind
the pulpit.”
    “ What?” Joanie pulled her
hand back and shook her head. “Peggy Longton has got to get better
control of those boys. They’re going to tear the town apart if she
doesn’t. The twins have been nothing but trouble since their father
left.”
    “ Well, I think Sam is going
to have a word with her. The twins were having a field day in