Free One Snowy Night Before Christmas by Pamela Fryer Page B

heard. It seemed she’d awakened today a transformed kid.
    They walked one block down and one block over to a quaint
little Italian restaurant as traditional as any East Coast pizzeria, right down
to the checkered tablecloths. After they ordered a large veggie pizza, which
Jessie claimed was the best on earth, Tom turned around to see Officer Mike
seated in the back with a pretty blond.
    Jessie followed his gaze and visibly stiffened when she saw
them.
    “How about we sit over here by the tree?” Tom suggested,
hoping to put them out of visual range. He gestured to a booth on the opposite
side of the tree from her ex. Amy scampered off to look at the huge tree
literally dripping with ornaments.
    Jessie sat down with her back to them and made a slow
project of removing her gloves and coat. From the corner of his eye, Tom saw
the patrolman glance their way.
    “I haven’t seen him in a year, now I see him three times in
as many days. I told you I have rotten luck at Christmas.”
    At least she smiled as she said it.
    “It’s all how you look at it. How often do you get the
opportunity to see them arguing?”
    She glanced back, trying to appear casual. At that moment their
voices rose. It was obvious Mike had said or done something to upset his
fiancée.
    Amy came back to the table, but didn’t slide into the booth.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” she proclaimed loudly enough for the next table
over to hear. Jessie grinned, and Tom realized he must look like a fool with
his mouth hanging open.
    “Um…”
    “I’ll show you where it is.” Her smile increased as she slid
from her chair and led Amy to the restroom.
    Lord, how was he going to learn to live with a six-year-old girl?
He couldn’t take her into the men’s bathroom with him, and he couldn’t go into
the women’s with her.
    While Jessie and Amy were gone, he picked up a tabletop sign
for Romano’s beer selections and pretended to read it as he listened to the
argument going on behind them. In the reflection of the juke box, he could see
Mike’s fiancée leaning her elbows on the table with her hands covering her
face.
    “How could you,” and “I’m sorry,” were all he heard. They
leaned close over the table, speaking in hushed but urgent tones.
    At the moment Jessie and Amy emerged from the restroom, the
woman sitting with Mike rose from her chair and stormed out.
    Jessie froze, staring across the room at him, her face void
of emotion and those deep, green eyes dark and quiet. Amy let go of her hand
and crossed the room, oblivious to her discomfort.
    The patrolman had also risen from his chair, but his gaze
was on Jessie, not the departing figure of his fiancée. For a long minute
neither moved.
    Whatever had just passed between them, it was about as
subtle as an earthquake.
    It was irrational for Tom to be jealous, or even
disappointed. He was nothing to Jessie but a stranded motorist with a cute kid.
She was silent as she returned to her seat and stared at the grain of the
wooden table, and Tom could think of nothing to say to ease the  thick
tension. She didn’t look up as Mike walked to the door.
    “Hi Jessie.” A pretty young girl gave them a cheerful smile
as she served their pizza. “How’s it going? Elmer got you working through
Christmas again?”
    “Hey Becky. You know it.”
    The girl gave them each a fork, and told them they’d need it
for all the toppings on the pizza. She looked at Amy. “All the kids who finish
their whole lunch get to pick a Christmas ornament off the tree before they
go.”
    “I don’t have a tree,” Amy responded in a tiny voice.
    “We’ve got one at home, honey,” Tom said. We will as soon
as I call my secretary back, anyway . He looked at the girl. “Thank you.”
    Thankfully Amy chattered enough to cover up Jessie’s
suddenly quiet demeanor. It didn’t take an engineer to see the gears turning in
her head as she ate her meal in silence. When Amy got up to pick her ornament
off the tree, he