Free A Nantucket Christmas by Nancy Thayer

won’t marry again. Your mother likes to have things her own way. As you are now aware, marriage is full of compromises. Come on, Kennedy, you’ve seen Katya. She’s completely fine without me. She’s got her own apartment where Alonzo can visit, but it’s her place, and she doesn’t want it messed up. She’s almost sixty, after all. She deserves to spoil herself for a while. So do I, for that matter. I worked hard, providing for my family. Your mother worked hard, raising you and keeping house. Now we want to enjoy life, be free, even a bit silly, before we end up in our rocking chairs.”
    Kennedy gripped her father’s hand. “Daddy, you’re not
old
!”
    “I’m not young, either. I’m healthy. And now, thanks to Nicole, I’m happy. That’s a lot.”
    Kennedy wanted to appeal prettily, “Don’t
I
make you happy?” but at that moment the waiter arrived with their meals.
    “It means the world to me that James is such a nice man,” Sebastian said as he picked up his fork. “He loves you and Maddox. That’s obvious. That’s the best gift any father can have, a good, trustworthy, loving son-in-law.”
    Kennedy conceded reluctantly, “Yes. James’s great.”
    “I wish you could learn to like Nicole,” Sebastian continued. “She’s a wonderful person, and she would love to be part of your life.”
    “But she’s not my mom,” Kennedy reminded him.
    “True. Nicole is completely different from Katya. She’s not as concerned about style, she’s a bit more into politics, she’s a nurse, and she likes being part of the community. You know your mother, Kennedy. Katya always wanted to be seen as being
above
the community. Better than.”
    This was true, but Kennedy protested, “Please don’t say negative things about my mother. It hurts my feelings.”
    “I’m sorry, Kennedy. Let’s change the subject. What did you get James for Christmas?”
    “Just some outdoor gear ordered from catalogs,” she replied. “After all, I’m about to give him another son.”
    “I’m glad you brought that up. I feel kind of lousy, joining your mother and James at the hospital and leaving out Nicole.”
    This conversation was SO not going the way she’d planned! “She can hang out in the waiting room with Alonzo,” Kennedy suggested.
    Sebastian patted her hand. “I think you need a nap.”
    Kennedy wanted to say she needed a diamond brooch, but she kept her silence and focused on her food. If only she weren’t so tired with this pregnancy, she’d have better ideas about how to get her parents back together, or at least how to get rid of Nicole. But her father was right. She was tired. She’d think more clearly after a nap.
    Because she wasn’t finished yet.
    Whatever happened, Kennedy suddenly wondered, to Cinderella’s father and the wicked stepmother after Cinderella married the prince?

14
    The snow was coming down quickly now, coating the lawn with a layer of pristine white. Snix was cold, and he was hungry.
    He was also curious. This morning he’d hidden in a hedge to watch a boy build a peculiar house, a kind of cave, perfectly dog-sized. His father had come out to help him reinforce it with layers from cardboard boxes, covered with some old blankets, then wrapped around and around the outside with duct tape.
    Now the boy and his father had gone. It seemed all the humans had gone.
    Snix trotted to the funny makeshift house. Easing his way between two lawn chairs tilted on their sides, he entered.
    It was warm. Cushions covered the floor. No snow got in. It would be the best place to sleep at night!
    But as hard as he sniffed, he could find no food in here. Reluctantly, he left the warm cave for the cold snowy outer world. Time for another food quest. Before he ventured away, he peed on a bush, the side of the garage, and the side of the house, so he’d be sure to know where to return.
    He headed toward town. Many of the narrower streets were still and empty, the owners of the houses away in their