Free All I Want for Christmas Is You by Lisa Mondello Page A

tower?"
     
    "He used the Romex wire from my van." Will chuckled. "I got to Mrs. McAffree's house bright and early the next morning to re-wire her house with no wire for the job. And of course, there was the time-"
     
    Kyle cleared his throat and extended his cup. "How about some coffee, Ma?" he asked as Judy refilled Lauren's cup. She turned and filled the cup he held out to her.
     
    "Speaking of Chas, he called earlier today when you were out," Judy said. "Seems he and Kim are coming back to Palmer. Things didn't work out like he'd planned in New Jersey so they decided to come back here before Kim has the baby."
     
    "Really?" he answered. "That's too bad. It’ll be good to see him again, though."
     
    "I invited him Christmas Eve. You and Kristen are welcome, too, Lauren. Unless, of course, you'll be with your family."
     
    Lauren's spirit plummeted.
     
    "Great idea," Kyle broke in before she could answer. "What do you say?"
     
    "Well, I, ah..." she stammered.
     
    "No need to decide right now. You let Kyle know. He'll be ho-hoing for the kids again this year."
     
    Kyle half grinned. "Max can be my reindeer." "He'll be no such thing. That dog is so far from my good graces, I don't want him in my house."
     
    Kristen and Julie ran into the room with Scotty on their tails. "He wants to shoot us!" Kristen screamed.
     
    "Yeah! With the gun!" Julie confirmed. Then the girls giggled as they climbed into their mothers' arms.
     
    "Scott William Preston," Will scolded as the little boy ran around the dining room table sporting a plastic gun loaded with a sponge torpedo on the end. "You know better than to scare the girls."
     
    When Scotty ran around the table, Kyle hooked him with his arm and reeled him in, tickling him on his lap.
     
    Lauren chuckled softly, her head still spinning from the chatter during dinner, trying to keep track of all the conversations going on at once. It was a crazy arena. Being an only child, it was something she never understood. She marveled that no one else here seemed to have any trouble keeping it all straight. But then again, it was probably second nature to them.
     
    Watching the commotion around her, she noticed how Kristen interacted and thrived among Kyle's family. The outgoing personality and confidence her daughter displayed both filled her with pride and stabbed at her heart.
     
    Involuntarily, she clutched her stomach and felt it tighten with the thought of how their lives could have been. If Kristen had been adopted, she would have had a family like this. She would have had Sunday dinners and maybe even sisters and brothers like Julie and Scotty. Had she been selfish to only think of what she was losing by giving Kristen up for adoption? She never once thought of what Kristen would be missing in her life. Never.
     
    And now Kristen wanted a daddy. What else did she want that Lauren couldn't provide?
     
    Everyone around her moved in slow motion. She looked at the faces, smiling, laughing, joking, as if she were in suspended animation. It suddenly seemed surreal.
     
    Someone touched her shoulder and she jumped. Looking up, she peered into Kyle's smiling eyes. The lines she'd seen around his eyes earlier had smoothed. She touched his hand and felt her heart race. It wasn't just Kristen who needed something more in her life. Deep down, Lauren knew she'd gone far too long with unfulfilled need.
     
    And Kyle Preston was just the kind of man to satisfy that need.
     
    A short time later, Lauren thanked Judy for the lovely dinner and sent Kristen up to Julie's room to help clean up the toys.
     
    She waited in the foyer, her wool coat draped over her arm. Kyle leaned against the doorjamb staring at her, looking through her, and making her incredibly nervous.
     
    "What's going on in that head of yours?" he asked.
     
    "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about." She avoided his gaze by looking at the pattern of the marble floor.
     
    He reached forward and brushed his fingers