Dae's Christmas Past Read Online Free

I’d been too wishy-washy about his request. I had to disappoint him, make sure he knew I wasn’t going to touch any of the horse statues that he’d dug out of the sand. “I’m scared. I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to do this. Please try to understand.”
    I could feel his anger as strongly as I felt the darkness surrounding the stone horses in the brown bag. He grabbed me again, his hands tightening again on my arms. He pulled me closer until there was barely an inch between us. His need to see this done battered at me like gale-force winds.
    “Hey, everything okay out here?” Gramps pushed open the back door. “Dae, you don’t have all the time in the world to get ready, you know. You’d best come inside. You can see Jake at the party.”
    I wasn’t sure if Jake was going to let me go. His gaze burned into mine and his hands continued to clench on my arms.
    Then suddenly he let go and stepped to the side. He glanced at the bag he held. “All right. I guess you have to do what’s right for you. I have to do what’s necessary for me. I’ll see you later.”
    I was happy to see him climb in the old truck and back down the drive. I sighed, rubbed my arms, and walked toward the house where Gramps was still waiting with a concerned look on his face.
    “What was that all about?” he asked. “If you’re having trouble deciding between Jake and Kevin, you’d better say something now . That looked pretty intense to me.”
    “That’s not what he wanted.” I explained about the horse statues.
    He’d known about the problem for a while. Like Kevin, he understood what could happen if the pull of something I held with my bare hands was too much for me. He’d lived with my grandmother having the same abilities.
    “He’s gonna have to get over it.” He shrugged, already dressed in his khaki cargo shorts and a yellow button-down shirt with colorful fish on it—his idea of party clothes. “You need to keep saying no, Dae. And mean it. I’ve heard the way you say no sometimes, and it sounds more like maybe. Do you want me to talk to him for you? I can handle this once and for all.”
    I felt like I was a teenager again. “No, thanks. I can handle it. I’m going to get ready for the party.” I changed the subject. “So you and Mary Catherine, huh? Or should I say MC?”
    “Get in there and get ready and stay out of my personal life,” he said. “Just because we live together doesn’t mean you get to poke around in my stuff and tell me what to do.”
    “That’s funny. Wasn’t that what you were just doing with me, Jake, and Kevin?”
    “I can do that. I’m older and wiser. The sooner you acknowledge that, the better off you’ll be. I recall explaining how this works years ago. It hasn’t changed. No matter how old you get, I’ll still be older.”
    I laughed out loud at his statement, given in his professional law enforcement voice that I remembered so well. “You’re addressing the newly-elected mayor of Duck North Carolina,” I reminded him. “That gives me a certain amount of wisdom and foresight that someone my age wouldn’t necessarily have.”
    “Whatever. Don’t forget to feed your cat before you go accept your accolades, Madam Mayor. If I decide to come home early, I don’t want to hear him crying all over the place and looking pitiful.”
    Mary Catherine was staying in the spare bedroom. I ran lightly up the stairs with my cat following me. I’d named him Treasure because he’d come to me like so many other important gifts I’d found. Now he was so much a part of my life, I couldn’t imagine how it would be without him.
    I wouldn’t say I could talk to animals—not like Mary Catherine—but Treasure and I communicated. I sat on the bed, and he jumped up beside me. I could tell that he wasn’t happy that I was going out again.
    “I’m sorry.” I rubbed his white tummy. “People expect me to celebrate winning the election. I’ll be back later. I’ll feed you