The Christmas List Read Online Free

together, and even though she looked pale her lashless eyes were still piercing. Kier turned away from her gaze. He felt—had always felt—that she could look right through him.
    â€œSara,” he said shortly, nodding.
    â€œHello, Jim.”
    â€œYou don’t look so well.”
    â€œI’m fine.” It was obvious that she wasn’t. She was sickly pale and had obviously lost weight since the last time Kier had seen her, three weeks earlier. “We missed you on Thanksgiving.”
    â€œI was out of town. It was a last-minute thing.”
    â€œJimmy was here. You could have met his fiancée.”
    â€œLike I said, I was out of town.”
    â€œShall we get started?” Steve asked.
    Kier turned and faced the young lawyer. “What do you call a criminal lawyer?” Kier asked.
    â€œExcuse me?”
    â€œI said, what do you call a criminal lawyer?”
    Steve looked at Kier with annoyance. “I don’t know. What do you call a criminal lawyer?”
    â€œA redundancy.”
    Steve just shook his head. “Okay, with that out of the way, we’ll begin. Against my counsel, my client, Mrs. Kier, has generously agreed to accept all of your terms, except for two. She would like to keep the piano. It has sentimental value. Also, there’s not enough money for Jimmy’s education.”
    Kier’s grin vanished. “Jimmy can work his way through school like I did. And what does he need college for anyway? He just wants to paint his little pictures.”
    â€œMr. Kier, we both know my client—”
    â€œYour client ? Are you stupid? She’s your aunt. Her name is Sara.”
    Sara looked apologetically at Steve, then back at Kier. “Please, Jim, let’s keep this civil.”
    Kier settled back, crossing his arms and glancing down at his watch. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
    Steve started again. “I have advised my . . . Sara to either get the money for Jimmy’s education or we’re going back for business assets.”
    Kier glared at the young man. Lincoln leaned over and whispered into his ear. “Take it.”
    The truth was Kier neither wanted the piano nor really cared about the price of Jimmy’s tuition. He was a negotiator and the first rule of any negotiation is to ask for things you don’t care about in case you need to bargain for something of real value.
    He exhaled loudly. “All right. It’s his life. Why should I care how he wastes it?”
    Steve glanced at Sara, then turned back to Lincoln. “Very well, then there’s nothing more to discuss. I’ll have the new language added to the agreement and the documents over to you by Monday.”
    Kier stood. “Just get it over with. I want this mistake behind me.”
    Sara looked down, trying to hide her hurt. Kier felt foolish and tried to diffuse the awkwardness. “So, Steve-o. What do you call a thousand lawyers at the bottom of the ocean.”
    â€œA good start,” Steve said tersely, collecting papers and putting them into his attaché case.
    â€œYou learn that in law school?”
    â€œAmong other things.”
    â€œAt least it wasn’t a total waste,” Kier said beneath his breath.
    Sara stood and walked over to Kier. She held out her hand. “Goodbye, Jim.” Kier felt embarrassed for his comment. “I didn’t mean that.”
    â€œOh?” she said, “Then what did you mean?”
    Kier looked at her blankly, at a loss for words.
    Suddenly Sara fell backward. Kier lunged to grab her but Steve caught her from behind.
    â€œHere,” Kier said, pushing a chair forward. “Sit her down.”
    Steve helped her into the chair.
    â€œI’m sorry,” Sara said. “I’m just a little weak.”
    â€œAre you going to be all right?” Kier asked.
    She looked up at him. “I’m not your problem anymore.”
    Kier turned away.