The Year the Cat Saved Christmas - a novella Read Online Free PDF Page A

he'll
know this is a thrift shop special."
    "So what if he does?" she said. "We're
students. Nobody expects students to be rich."
    "You're rich," he said with a shake of his
head. "At least you were until you married me."
    "Ancient history," she said lightly. "I knew
my trust fund would be cancelled if I got married and I'd do the
same thing all over again."
    He searched her face for reassurance. "I
never wanted your money," he said. "If I could, I'd--"
    "You're not going to start that nonsense
again, are you?" She couldn't keep the exasperation from her voice.
"I know you didn't marry me for my money. You married me for my
cooking." Her lack of culinary expertise had made for interesting
dining the last six months.
    His serious expression didn't brighten one
iota. "Look at how we're living, Jill." His gesture took in the
entire four room cottage. "You had more space in the dorm, for
crying out loud."
    "Maybe I did," she said, twining her arms
around his neck, "but you're much more fun than my last
roommate."
    "I'll make it up to you some day, Jilly, I
swear to you. You'll never regret marrying me."
    "I wish you wouldn't talk like that. You're
the most wonderful person I've ever known. You're decent and kind
and smart and ambitious--" she grinned up at him "--and you love me
more than anyone has ever loved me in my entire life."
    His kiss was long and slow and intoxicating.
She rose up slightly on her toes and pressed her body close to
his.
    "Let's skip dinner," she said, tracing his
beautiful mouth with the tip of her index finger. She laughed at
the horrified expression on his face. "I'm only kidding,
David."
    "Your old man hates me enough as it is. If we
blew off the dinner invitation, I'd be on the FBI's Most Wanted
list."
    "I don't care what he thinks," Jill said,
feeling her jaw set into a stubborn--and very familiar--line. "The
only reason I said yes to this dinner was because you said we had
to accept it."
    "He's your family. I'm not going to cut you
off from your own parents."
    "My father hasn't been a real part of my life
since I was five years old and he walked out on my mother." He'd
gone on to raise two more families and if he ever gave more than a
passing thought to the little girl he'd left behind, Jill couldn't
fathom a guess.
    And, to her delight, she found it no longer
hurt. Her parents had done the best they could with the emotional
tools they had to work with. No amount of wishing could change the
past but now that she loved David she knew the future would be as
golden as the simple ring that circled the third finger on her left
hand.
    So they would see her father tonight and he
would do what he always did. He would tell charming stories and
make every laugh, and before he paid the tab, half the restaurant
would be in love with him. He would never ask David about his
studies or try to find out why she'd fallen in love with the
serious young man with the vivid blue eyes and even if Jill told
him, her father would never understand.
     
     
    #
     
     
    David had been as good as his word.
Discipline and determination moved him steadily up the ranks at
Bailey, Haverford, and Macmillan and now he was being rewarded with
a plum two year assignment in San Francisco, designing a soulless
metro complex for a Japanese consortium.
    Rewarded . There was a funny word for
you. Whatever happened to Christmas bonuses and a corner office?
You didn't reward a man by uprooting his family from their home and
shipping them to the other side of the country like lawn
furniture.
    Not that it mattered any more. They could be
sending him to Saturn for all the difference it made. After
tomorrow, she wouldn't be part of his family. She'd be part of his
past.
    David motioned for her to hurry as she
stepped out the front door. She ignored him, taking great pains to
make certain the door was locked and the welcome mat was properly
straightened. He waved again, more impatiently than before. She
muttered something rude under her breath.
    "I