Holiday Affair Read Online Free Page A

his elbow, as he listened to Karina read.
    Pretty soon, her littlest boy was bound to take a stand against “stupid” bedtime rituals too, just like his brother and sister had. It was just the way things were going these days.
    With a sigh, Karina gazed around the attic. First her husband. Then the kids’ bedtime routine. Now her Christmas decorations. What next?
    She couldn’t believe something else was gone from her life…just like that. It felt as though her entire existence was being sneaked away in increasingly smaller increments, and there was nothing she could do about it.
    Except go with the flow. So that’s what she’d do.
    Determinedly, Karina put away the box of onesies and tiny shorts. She would have liked to have had more children. She absolutely had love to spare. But a ginormous family wasn’t in the cards for her, apparently. Eric had made sure of that when he’d decided to play Dream House with Beach Bunny Chelsea.
    “This way, the kids and I can have things exactly the way we want them. I’ll get all new decorations. It’ll be better than ever, probably! So Eric is doing me a favor. Sort of.”
    “Nice call, Mother Teresa,” Stephanie deadpanned. “You’re too kind—as usual.”
    “Well, what’s done is done, right? There’s no point freaking out now.” Through the opening that led to the “attic” came the sounds of something thumping. Then a high-pitched shriek. Olivia. Then another retaliatory thump and a subsequent howl. Possibly Josh. Uh-oh. She’d have to get downstairs soon. “Listen, I think the kids are getting into something they shouldn’t. I’ve got to run, Steph, so—”
    “Wait.” Stephanie sounded harried. All lightheartedness vanished from her tone. “Please. I need your help.”
    “With what?”
    “Well…It’s complicated.”
    Complicated? It wasn’t like Stephanie to be so hesitant. Feeling concerned, Karina gripped her cell phone more tightly.
    “Complicated like, ‘The coq au vin for my supper club isn’t Julia Child worthy’?” she asked, striving for the breeziness her sister lacked. “Or complicated like, ‘I just found Justin licking the banisters and singing a Lady Gaga song’?”
    “Um, not the coq au vin. Or the licking.”
    “Just the singing?”
    “Actually, he has a very nice voice.”
    Stephanie’s admiring tone made Karina smile, despite everything. Her sister and Justin gave her hope. They proved two people could be genuinely happy together. Stephanie and Justin respected one another. They trusted one another. They helped one another in ways that Karina had always wanted to help Eric.
    Unfortunately, Eric hadn’t wanted her help. Or her.
    But Stephanie still needed her. So much so that Karina could have sworn she heard a faint crackling sound travel across the phone line, followed by a harsh, relieved exhalation.
    “Are you smoking again?” she demanded.
    Silence. Guilty silence. Then, “Only one. It’s been a long day. I hardly know my own name at this point. I’m in trouble!”
    “Whatever you need,” Karina said, “I’ll do it.”
    “Don’t you want to know what it is first?”
    “You can fill me in later.” Hearing another thump, Karina peered through the “attic” opening. “In the meantime…Any ideas how to remove glitter from an eight-year-old boy’s hair?”
     
    It didn’t take long for the creek bed to fill. Or for Reid’s travel companions to eyeball the frothy rushing water, stare across it at the sudden, glittering mirage of the Evans Adventure Travel campsite—their ultimate destination, which hadn’t been visible until they’d reached the crest of the ridge—and foolishly decide they could probably make it across.
    “We can probably make it across!” Binky shouted.
    “Hell yeah!” Booster agreed. “Let’s go.”
    “Hundred bucks says I’m first to make it,” Asshat put in.
    The rest of them clamored to get in on that action.
    Disappointed, Reid shook his head. He consulted his