Finding Christmas Read Online Free Page A

and just like every other school day, the kids filed in, but today the air was buzzing. Everyone was still hyped up from the big football win on Friday night, and Matt Benson was a bit of a celebrity.
    Will could see, as soon as Matt walked in the classroom, that he wasn’t too comfortable with it. There were two girls trying to get his attention, a few of his teammates were trailing, chanting his name like the crowd did the other night at the game, and all through it Matt was alternating between elation from the win and embarrassment because this kid really was all about the team. A rarity.
    Once everyone settled down, he walked past Matt and patted his shoulder. “If you need to talk, you know where to find me.”
    “Thanks, Coach.” Matt looked back at his notebook. “Oh, Coach Fitz? Are you coming to my house for Thanksgiving?”
    “Yeah. Your sister invited me. You okay with that?”
    “Um, sure. No prob. I can’t believe Maggie asked.”
    Will couldn’t either. He shrugged wondering what other little surprises Maggie would roll out.
    *     *     *
    Some things didn’t change, and the warm feeling that swamped Maggie when she pulled up in front of her old friend Sabrina Gervais Killen’s family home was one of them. She and Sabrina discovered each other in the beginning ballet class at Holly Point Dance Academy. Maggie was three and Bree was four, and the pair had been friends ever since. They’d gone in different directions, sometimes didn’t talk for months, but time or distance didn’t matter. When she needed a friend, she knew Bree would be there.
    Recently married to the love of her life, hockey star Jake Killen, Sabrina had hunkered down at her parents’ house for a few days with her daughter to bake and prep for the holiday while Jake was on a road trip. Benson Thanksgivings were chaotic, but the Gervais family brought it to a whole new level.
    The other reason Maggie wanted to see Sabrina was because her longtime friend was the best physical therapist on the East End. If she was going to be here while figuring out the next step, she needed to keep rehabbing, and Bree agreed to take her on.
    The big front porch of the house on the water was decorated with tall corn stalks, big orange pumpkins and colorful mums. The last of the orange and red leaves were falling off the maple trees in front of the house, and Maggie thought about all the autumn days spent picking apples off the tree in the yard, playing in the leaves, and anticipating the holidays to come.
    The front door flew open and Charlie, Bree and Jake’s daughter, ran down the steps and into her waiting arms. “Aunt Maggie!”
    Charlie was the best. Her daddy, Jake, had no idea she existed until a year ago. Bree, distraught after she and Jake broke up, never told him she was pregnant. Stupid on her part, but they were finally together.
    “You are so big! And so beautiful. Oh my, God!” Maggie held her close. “Stop growing up.”
    “You shouldn’t have stayed away so long,” Charlie whispered. “We love you.”
    For the first time since she’d been home, Maggie’s eyes filled with tears. Charlie said what everyone had been thinking and Maggie knew she was right. She was loved. Maggie cried not only for the friends and family she’d pushed away, but for herself, for all she’d missed.
    Holding onto the little girl, she looked up and over Charlie’s dark head and saw Bree standing in the front doorway. Folding her arms against the chill in the late November air, her friend was simultaneously laughing and crying.
    The sentiments seemed to be going around.
    Taking Charlie’s hand, Maggie walked her back to her mother. “I guess I’m in trouble, huh?”
    Bree was forcing down the emotion, trying to keep her wits about her, but when it got to be too much, she gave in. “Oh, come here.”
    The two friends embraced and held, and once again, like it was with her sisters and brother, Maggie felt like another part of her world