Free A Wish for Christmas by Thomas Kinkade

He knew his father would be interested to hear that she had dropped by. Maybe too interested.
    Julie came downstairs dressed in her work clothes, a heavy fleece pull-over, jeans, and hiking boots. It was time to get out to the tree stand. Past time, David thought, judging from the cars that were starting to pull up.
    Julie pulled a Red Sox cap over her long hair, and slipped on heavy gloves. “Why don’t you stay inside awhile and keep David company? I can take care of things out there for now.”
    “Oh, okay.” David could see his father was surprised by the suggestion. “I’ll be out in a little while then.”
    “Take your time. Kate wants to watch her video. She’s going to stay inside with you for now.” Julie gave Jack a quick kiss on his cheek then left through the front door.
    While David welcomed the company after being alone for most of the morning, he felt guilty keeping his father indoors. Especially today, a prime day for tree shopping.
    Jack stood in the middle of the living room, his hands stuck in his front pockets as he gazed out the window. Counting the cars in the parking lot, David knew.
    “You can go outside, Dad. It’s okay. You don’t need to babysit me. I’ll watch Kate for you.”
    “Babysit you? What are you talking about?” His father suddenly looked away from the window. “Julie will have a turn now, then I’ll go out later, when it gets cold.”
    “And she comes in to make dinner,” David teased his father.
    “Well, she might do that. But I cook. Sometimes. I try at least.”
    David knew his father did try. He wasn’t a terrible cook and could make some simple dishes. But he clearly didn’t like cooking. Not like David did. While roaming around the country, he had done a lot of grunt work in restaurant kitchens and had learned a few things, too.
    “You want some lunch?” Jack offered. “I can make you a sandwich.”
    David laughed. “Sure. I’ll take a sandwich.”
    “Coming right up. How about grilled cheese with tomato?”
    David had to smile at the suggestion, one of his childhood favorites. “Sounds good.”
    “You got it. Katie likes that, too. Why don’t you call her down?”
    A short time later, David sat at the kitchen table with his father, both eating their sandwiches. Katie had taken hers into the family room, eager to watch one of her videos, some Christmas story she had already seen a hundred times.
    David wasn’t sure why, but he felt down again. As if his father really wanted to be outside working with Julie, the way they had been all weekend long. There had been a lot of early tree shoppers this year, and even Kate had gone outside to help them. David had been left inside to watch from the window or hang out alone in his room, feeling useless and out of the loop.
    His father was making an effort to keep David company today, but that didn’t seem to satisfy him either. David wasn’t sure what he wanted from his father. What he wanted from anybody.
    “Is your sandwich okay? I didn’t burn the bottom, did I?” Jack asked.
    “It’s fine, Dad, thanks,” David said quickly. “You can go outside now. You don’t have to hang around in here with me.”
    Jack looked surprised, then annoyed. Then suddenly he laughed. “Whoa, there. . . . Can I finish my lunch at least? I didn’t eat my pickle yet.”
    David took a breath. “I can tell you want to get to work, that’s all.”
    Jack waved his hand. “Those trees aren’t going anywhere. I’ll be hauling them around for the next month—until I’m sick of looking at them.”
    “Maybe. But you’re always excited the first weekend you open up,” David reminded him.
    Jack laughed. “Yeah, that’s true. Remember what we used to do out there when you were a kid? The horse-drawn sleigh and the hot cider, the Christmas village. What a show we put on. That was all your mother’s idea.”
    “Yeah, I remember,” David said quietly. Those were good memories, but it was hard looking back. When he was