Free The Awakening by Lorhainne Eckhart Page B

fought and struggled through to keep him with her, it just ain’t right.”
    “Aida, we’re getting him back. Diana’s a lawyer, and I’ve already contacted mine, and they’re working with her.”
    “But how long will that take? Separating a mother and child at Christmas just isn’t okay.”
    “Aida, I promise you that I’ll make sure it happens.”
    She stared at him for a few seconds, long and hard, and then walked away. “Then you’d best get on with it. Now get out of my kitchen, Andy Friessen.”
    Andy watched Aida for a moment, her back ramrod straight as she lifted something hot and heavy from the oven. Andy left, nearly tripping over Jules and the wait staff Aida had asked to leave. He said nothing as he walked away, hurrying upstairs for the first time ever, realizing he had made a promise he may not be able to keep. And that just didn’t sit right.

Chapter Sixteen
    Guests mingled in the library, the living room, and the grand foyer of the estate as waiters in white shirts and bowties carried trays of hors d’oeuvre and glasses filled with champagne. His mother had outdone herself this year, and the house was decorated in all manners of Christmas glory. Christmas lights stretched up the entire long driveway to the estate. For the first time ever, Andy wondered about the extravagance of the electricity bill. He’d never thought of it before, but all the finery, the food, the liquor that would go to waste tonight would feed so many hungry families.
    “There you are, darling.” Caroline slid her arm through Andy’s, and she patted his black tailored tux, which had been imported from some fancy Parisian outfit and cost more, he realized, than what Laura paid for rent in a year.
    Andy glanced at this mother, dressed in a silver sequined gown, her hair curled, perfectly groomed and not a hair out of place. She flashed a tasteful amount of diamonds: earrings, necklace, and a bracelet. Again, he couldn’t help wondering how one ring could set Laura and her son up for life.
    “What’s going on in that head of yours, Anderson?” She smiled and flicked her fingers at the senator, who was speaking with Todd. Alexis stood beside him, and their gazes met for a second, and then she looked away and smiled and laughed at something Todd said.
    “Nothing, Mother. So how long are you going to hold me hostage here?” he snarled, wanting to burst out the back door, squealing down the driveway and out of there.
    She grinned, flashing perfectly straight white teeth. Her icy blue eyes were free of any loving motherly concern. “You have two choices here, darling, and only one is the right one. So I suggest you put on that dashing smile of yours and go over to woo Alexis. So far, all you’ve managed to do is irritate her, and that is making the senator unhappy. Since your father and I were just speaking of your cousin Jed and the money he needs to get that therapeutic riding off the ground, we’ve told the senator how supportive you are of the venture and how interested you are in his daughter. He wants this allegiance as much as we do. Now smile. I’m sure your father has talked to you.”
    Andy stared at his mother. “If you think threatening to take funding away from Jed is going to make me toe the line, you’re sorely mistaken. There are other avenues for Jed, and I’ll make sure to help him.”
    His mother laughed, a very ladylike soft chuckle that drove a shiver up his spine. “Oh, Anderson, without the senator’s help, it’s not just funding. You should know better than anyone that there is also licensing approval, and from what I understand, they have to be careful nowadays with anyone who wants to work with children, especially those with special needs. After all, who knows what people really have hidden away in their closets, what can suddenly creep out with further investigation?” His mother patted his arm. “Now, I think Alexis is looking a little warm. Maybe she could use a refreshment and you