Free Mr. Miracle by Debbie Macomber

she’d been so intent on punishing, hadn’t been her father, but herself.
    Addie ran her hand down the chair arm as if giving a silent apology to the father she had never fully appreciated.
    Sighing now, and feeling a bit maudlin, she looked around the house at all that was familiar. Although it was only a week away, it didn’t seem like Christmas, although there were signs of it throughout the neighborhood. Several of the houses down the street had decorated with a dazzling display of lights. The single string around each of the two small arborvitae in the front of the house seemed like a meager effort. In past years, the whole house would have been decorated, top to bottom, inside and out. The Christmas tree would be up, with an array of cheerfully wrapped gifts stored at its base.
    Not this year.
    Her mother had escaped to a tropical paradise and Addie was alone … well, other than Erich, who wanted nothing to do with Christmas.
    Her tea had cooled considerably before Addie tackled her reading assignment. She had fifty pages of
A Christmas Carol
to read before her next class. Even then, the text lay open in her lap as she considered her teacher and fellow classmates.
    Mr. Mills was knowledgeable enough despite being a bit odd. He certainly wasn’t like any teacher she’d ever known. She liked his style, though. He brought Dickens alive, giving them the details of the author’s life, giving him a story of his own.
    It was a tall order keeping the students engaged. Addie suspected that, like her, a number of the other students had signed up for the class because they needed the credits in order to receive their high school diplomas.
    For sure, Danny, who’d served time in prison. She couldn’t help wondering about his story. He was a kick, chiming in with an opinion for nearly everything discussed. It was a bit much, but still he was a likable guy.
    Andrew, the Army vet with the shepherd, was another interesting character. Addie wondered what had brought him there. She doubted he was in need of a high school diploma. He seemed to be in need of something above and beyond what was taught inside a classroom.
    The security guard … it took her a moment to remember his name. Brady something … was almost a caricature of a mall cop. Just thinking about him caused her to frown. He’d been so rude to the woman from the cafeteria when it wasn’t necessary.
    Her thoughts continued to wander from one subject to the next until Addie realized this daydreaming was all a delayingtactic to avoid reading the Dickens novel. It was sure to be wordy and boring, but then on the bright side, she already knew the story.
    “What’s wrong with me?” she said aloud. She’d been excited by this class. Perhaps
excited
was overstating her enthusiasm, but it had been years since she dropped out of high school and she’d been hopeful she could make it work this time.
    It came to her then.
    Addie was afraid.
    The thought amused her. Gutsy girl Addie was afraid of failing, afraid that six years out of high school she not only would have the same problems getting through a lit class, she’d also flounder yet again, struggle with reading and comprehension.
    Maybe she wouldn’t have to read the entire book. Just the beginning to get the hang of the story, which she pretty much knew anyway. If necessary, she could watch the movie. There’d been several adaptations produced over the years. And surely there was a study guide available she could purchase through the bookstore. For that matter, there might well be online help. With all these resources, she should be able to muddle through. It was time to face those fears head-on and quit flirting with thoughts of failure.
    With that mind-set, Addie turned the page and startedthe book. It wasn’t exactly easy reading, she decided, but it wasn’t all that difficult, either. If Dickens was alive, she wondered how his ego would handle her opinion of his much-loved classic. Truth was, she