The Christmas Secret Read Online Free

every week and for any occasion over the years.
    Â 
    Marshall swung open the office door. “Have you ever heard of lisianthus, Judy?” He threw the catalog pages on her desk and stepped up to his office, hanging his jacket on the coatrack.
    â€œIt’s a virus, right?” Judy asked, flipping through files in the cabinet.
    â€œIt’s a flower,” he said.
    She stepped over to her desk and peered at the catalog pages over her glasses. “Pretty,” she said. Judy Luitweiler had worked for Marshall for twenty-seven years and in that time all of her children had grown up, married, and produced six grandchildren. Judy had started out on the sales floor but soon became Marshall’s right-hand man in the office.
    â€œWould you like it?” Marshall yelled from his office.
    Judy pulled a file from the bottom drawer and opened it. “I’d love it. But I never claimed to have a favorite flower, either.”
    He stepped to the door. “Don’t you think hydrangeas get kind of old after a while?”
    â€œI’m just saying,” she said.
    He started to close his office door behind him. “Have you heard anything from Jason?”
    She took a bite of a powdered donut and brushed thepowder off her sweatshirt. “Not yet. I’m sure he’ll come directly here from the airport.” She took another bite and tapped her index finger on the desk to clean up the powder, licking it off, and making yummy noises. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”
    He stuck his head around the corner to look at her. “Up for what?”
    She took a sip from her “My Grandma’s the Best” coffee mug. “A visit from Jason? He’s never been your favorite grandchild.”
    â€œHow would you know who is and isn’t my favorite?”
    â€œI know,” she said, shoving the last bite into her mouth.
    Marshall grunted and closed his door.
    Â 
    Jason pulled out his cell phone and hit speed dial. “Hey, babe,” he said, looking out the window of the taxi. “I’m here.”
    â€œI still can’t believe you’re doing this,” Ashley said. Jason had met Ashley during their senior year of college and they had dated on and off for the past three years. His parents found her remote and cool as stone but were kind to her for his sake. Ashley was pretty, thin, opinionated, and talented. She worked for a fashion designer in the city and wanted to design her own clothing line someday. Trouble was, her depth ran as deep as fabric blends and colors. Theirs was a relationship of pleasure and convenience.
    â€œWhy don’t you come back to the city? Plenty of firms will need you,” Ashley said.
    â€œFirms are letting people go,” Jason said. “Not hiring them.”
    The taxi driver made his way through the town square and Jason watched as they passed familiar sights from his childhood. Jason’s mother was the oldest of Marshall and Linda’s children and the one most like her mother. Although she was forty-three Marshall usually called her Bunny. “My parents used to bring me and my sister to our grandparents each summer for two whole weeks,” Jason said into the phone. He shook his head. “Now I can’t imagine staying here for two weeks let alone through the Christmas season.” He groaned out loud. “I’ll call later.” He snapped the phone closed and slipped it into his pocket. Jason had a great sense of self-importance about him. He was college-educated; his grandfather was not. He had traveled the world through college; his grandparents had always loved their hometown and the people in it. He aspired for more.
    Jason paid the taxi driver and lifted his bags from the trunk. He opened the front door of Wilson’s and pulled his suitcase behind him. A slim young girl with blond curly hair looked up from behind a rack of clothing. “Good morning,” she said, much too