Free A Christmas Wish by Desconhecido(a) Page B

apart.
    The moment had been lost, and they hadn’t even talked about it. The whole incident was as if it never happened.
    She came out of her memory as her son with his meaty fist, grabbed his pumpkin soup spoon and shook it vigorously, splattering Jemma with orange stains. At this rate she was going to run out of clean shirts.
    Some of the pumpkin soup landed on her cheek as well. That was the story of her life.
    “Thank you, darling,” she said, wiping the orange slop with a towel.
    She needed to calm her body down. Ryan wasn’t here, and she didn’t want to risk the happiness they had found together. Jemma also didn’t want him to think she was trying to replace Simon. She wasn’t.
    Her gaze wandered to the clock.
    Twenty-five minutes left until she saw him next. She couldn’t wait for his arrival.  
    ****
    Ryan drove out of town after he’d made a quick stop for some groceries like he did every Monday. He smiled as he passed the townsfolk waving and greeting them back. The small town was full of activity as they were all doing some sort of Christmas shopping. He loved Christmas, and the town thrived at this time of year. Each shop was aglow with decorations, and lights. He wondered how long it was until Christmas. About fourteen days? He couldn’t remember, and did a quick check of the date on his dashboard. Yep, fourteen days. Time seemed to go quickly these days. Between work and spending time with Jemma and the kids his time to sit and think was limited. Not that he minded. It was nice not to wait for his life to go on by.
    He wondered what Jemma wanted to do this year. Last year, without Simon, they’d both tried to give the kids a lovely time, but Simon’s presence had been missed. Now, a year later, the children were coping and understood their father was in heaven and wouldn’t be coming home. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop this time of year being difficult for all of them.
    Ryan guessed they would have to sit and talk about this year. Would she want him around the house? Even with Simon alive, Ryan had always been around for Christmas dinner. In fact he’d always made sure he was there in time to see the kids open their presents. His life had been with Simon and his family, and he’d played a huge role within the family and one he was pleased he shared with Jemma.
    When he was honest with himself, he had to admit that he’d been in love with Jemma since, well, since forever. From the moment he’d glanced over the room, looking for Simon, and there she’d stood smiling at him. His heart had melted on the spot, and even to this day no other woman had ever come close to meaning something to him. Jemma owned his heart and soul. She was the one woman he loved more than anything. The only problem back then was the fact Simon had known her first, and Ryan loved his best friend. He would never ruin the budding relationship between Simon and Jemma. Instead, he’d stood on the sidelines, keeping his feelings to himself. He wasn’t a selfish man, never would be.
    Jemma had only been young when they’d all met. Simon at the time had been twenty-five, and she’d been eighteen, but the love could be seen by anyone who took the time to look.
    When Jemma turned twenty, Simon had gotten her pregnant and then married her. In the background, Ryan was the best man and then the chosen godfather, and adopted uncle. Now he didn’t have the first clue what he was. He didn’t want to take over from Simon.
    Ryan wanted so much to be the man for Jemma. To be the man she could fall in love with and the man she could trust with her three children. He loved them as if they were his own.
    Ten minutes later he parked outside her house. No fairy lights or decorations covered the front of the house. It was bare. When Simon had been home he and Ryan use to decorate the entire outside, lighting it up. Last year, Jemma refused to get the decorations out, let alone placing them up around the house. Too soon and too painful,