Merry Ex-Mas Read Online Free

couldn't have said that because those words could never be true. There was no way that I could live the rest of my life without my father when I'd already been cheated out of years with my mother.
    "Kendall?" my father called me.
    I tried to open my mouth to question my dad, ask him what in the heavens was he talking about. But there was something wrong — my lips wouldn't move.
    "Baby girl, say something, please!"
    I wanted to speak because there were a million questions I wanted to ask and a million assurances that I wanted to give.
    And then there was the big thing that I really wanted to say. I wanted to demand that my father not die because I'd never be able to breathe without him.
    "Say something," my father told me again.
    I wanted to obey him, I really did. But my tongue became thick, and my lips were paralyzed. So I did the only thing that I could do.
    I burst into tears. And I cried, while through the speakers, Mary J. Blige sang, And have yourself a merry little Christmas now … .
    That was my all-time favorite Christmas song by one of my all-time favorite singers. But I would never want to hear that song again. Not ever.

Chapter 3
Asia Ingrum

    I leaned back in the massage chair and lifted both of my feet into the air.
    “ Do you like it, Ms. Asia? ”
    I shifted my toes to the left, then the right. The gold polish that was sprinkled with glitter made my toenails glisten as if they were covered with diamonds. Oh, this was all the way good; my feet looked like they were worth a hundred thousand dollars — each.
    "I love this, Susie," I said to the nail technician who was always on call for me. All I had to do was press her number in my cell and — bam! In ten minutes flat, she'd be there. "Just fab. Perfect for Christmas."
    Susie Wu gathered her supplies, rinsed the tools in the sink that I had installed in this room, and then placed them into the sterilization chamber. "Okay," Susie said when she finished, "so I'll see you next week?"
    "That's the plan, but I'll call you if I need a change before New Year's Eve."
    Susie shoved her purse onto her shoulder. "Well, have a merry Christmas."
    "Same to you. Go on downstairs, you can let yourself out," I said. "I'm gonna sit here for a few minutes longer and make sure my toenails are really dry." I leaned back and picked up my iPad that had been resting in my lap. But before Susie was even out of the room, my eyes were closed.
    This massage chair was not made for doing anything except chill-laxin', and I snuggled into the leather. It wouldn't take much longer for my toes to dry, but there was no reason for me to get up. I didn't have to rush to go anywhere; this was just another day in my extraordinary life.
    I pushed a long sigh through my throat. I couldn't be anything but happy; I was in love with my life. I loved my huge condo, I loved my luxury car, and I loved my bank account balance. Not that any of this had come from working a day in my life — well, at least not working the way other people defined work. I stayed beautiful — that was my job.
    "Mom!"
    The scream made me sit straight up in my chair. "Dang!" I opened my eyes and looked straight into the eyes of my eleven-year-old daughter. Angel may have been a tween, but she was already five-nine, just an inch shorter than me. She was all limbs, long legs and long arms — that part she'd gotten from her father.
    She'd started having these major growth spurts when she was just six, and I have to admit, I was really concerned. I mean, I wasn't worried about her height, but what would she look like with those long legs and arms that looked like they could almost drag along the ground when she walked?
    But then, my daughter had this face: the best of me and Bobby. She had my almond-shaped, gray eyes and my full lips, and she had her father's thick eyebrows and dimples that were carved deep into her skin.
    When I was a child, I knew I was pretty. I mean, all I had to do was look in the mirror — I'm not being