Lacey bristled. “Your son just ruined her Christmas, so I’d be careful what you say.”
“I’m sorry, Lacey. My husband will handle this when he comes home.”
“I’m not sure what your husband can do. The damage is already done, and I’m not happy about it. Your son was very cruel to ruin their Christmas.”
“They’re stupid kids, and...”
Sharon popped Brad on the back of the head with her hand. “Shut up. Your father will deal with you when he gets home. Go to the house and wait for me.” Brad ran away, but Jimmy waved shyly at Emma before following.
“Could we talk for a minute?” Sharon asked.
Lacey nudged Emma toward the hall. “Go brush your hair.” Surprisingly, she went.
Sharon twisted her hands. “I know Emma’s been through a rough time and I understand that, but I feel it’s best if our kids don’t play together anymore.”
You hussy almost erupted from Lacey’s mouth. The woman had nerve. Lacey quickly calmed her rising temper. Jimmy was Emma’s only playmate, and her sister needed a friend. Since their father’s death, Emma had alienated everyone around her. Lacey was working to change that, but days like this didn’t help.
Lacey swallowed her pride. “Emma and Jimmy play well together. It’s your older son who’s causing all the problems.”
“I know. Since he turned ten, I can’t handle him anymore. I leave that up to my husband. I’m really sorry, Lacey. Jimmy likes Emma.”
“Can Jimmy come here to play with Emma, because I really don’t want Emma around Brad?”
“Well, I guess that would be okay.” Sharon looked toward her house down the street. “I better go before the boys get into another fight. Again, I’m sorry.”
Lacey closed the door and made her way to the kitchen. Emma bounded in with her hair all around her face and climbed onto a bar stool.
“Did you wash your hands?”
“Yes.”
“We’ll have to wash your hair tonight.”
Emma brushed it from her face. “Why?”
“Because it’s dirty.”
“Lacey, you always make me do things I don’t want to.”
“That’s life, snuggle bunny.” Lacey placed a plate in front of Emma and sat beside her on the other bar stool.
Emma stared at the food. “What’s this?”
“Supper. Your favorite mac and cheese out of a box. Green beans, turkey and cranberry sauce left over from Thanksgiving.”
“But you burned it.”
“I cut the burned part off and the turkey is still good. Eat it.”
“You’re gonna kill us, Lacey. You’re not supposed to eat burned food.”
“Eat and stop complaining.”
Emma ate the mac and cheese, most of the turkey and picked at the green beans. Lacey had to admit she was a lousy cook. Her mother was, too. Her dad had been in charge in the kitchen. It shouldn’t be that hard, but she seemed to burn everything she made. In Austin, she ate out mostly because she was so busy. But a child needed a healthy diet.
“These beans are yucky. You’re supposed to put butter on them or something. Daddy did.”
Butter. Why hadn’t she thought of that? She had to buy a cookbook or something. Eating at the local diner was getting old. She’d attempted Thanksgiving dinner because she wanted it to be special for Emma, but she wasn’t fooling anyone. It had been a disaster. And kind of lonely with just the two of them.
She carried her plate to the sink. “If you’re finished, go take your bath and I’ll do the dishes. I’ll be in to help with your hair.”
Emma climbed off the stool and dashed down the hall. After putting the dishes in the dishwasher, Lacey wiped the counter. A banging sounded from next door. Their neighbor, Gabe Garrison, was working on something. He always was.
Lacey had never actually had a conversation with the man. Her father had introduced them months earlier and Gabe had said hello and walked away. Her dad had explained that the man’s son had been killed in an ATV accident—an ATV that Gabe had bought the child for his birthday.
According to her father, Gabe had been a lawyer in Austin. After the accident, he’d tried to continue working, but hadn’t been able to. He and his wife had divorced and he’d moved back to Horseshoe, where he’d been raised, to grieve alone. He wanted privacy and Lacey understood that, but that was hard to explain to a six-year-old.
Gabe’s son’s dog, Pepper, was in the backyard and a big temptation for Emma. Lacey lost track of the number of times she’d told Emma not to go into Gabe’s yard. Emma never listened. If she heard the dog, she went over, and then Lacey would get a short lecture from Gabe on respecting a man’s privacy.
Leaning against the counter, Lacey wondered what her friends in Austin were doing. Probably getting ready to go out for the night to a club to party. That had been Lacey’s old life, and she missed it in ways that were hard to explain. Maybe because that life had been carefree with very little responsibility. Now responsibility weighed on her like an anvil around her neck. Some days it was hard to stand upright for the weight. She didn’t regret her decision to raise Emma. She just regretted she wasn’t more experienced at being responsible.
Her parents had divorced after nineteen years of marriage, and Lacey’s young life had been thrown into turmoil. Her college dream had been forgotten because there was no money to send her, so she worked at Macy’s in the makeup department. Her mother worked there, too. It hadn’t been ideal, but it had been a job.
A short three months later, her mother had remarried and Lacey had moved out of the house and been on her own. She’d gotten a job with a party-planning company. She’d loved it, and she’d been away from the influence of her mother and her mother’s new husband.
Her dad had moved back to Horseshoe, where he had grown up. A year later he’d married Mona and they’d had Emma. Her father had been happier than Lacey had ever seen him. She’d continued to visit, much to her mother’s displeasure, and had enjoyed spending time with them. Never in a million years had she imagined her dad’s and Mona’s lives would be cut so short.
She tucked the memories away and hurried to help her sister. Bathed and in her jammies, Emma carried her soft blanket, her Pooh bear and a pillow to watch TV.
“I’ll see if I can find a Christmas show.” Lacey flipped through the channels.
“I don’t want to watch a Christmas show. There is no Christmas.”
Lacey let that pass, hoping Emma’s attitude would change. At six, it changed often. Sometimes faster than Lacey could keep up. “Shrek the Halls is on. You like Shrek.”
Emma curled up with the blanket on the sofa and watched without complaining. Score one for Lacey. “I have to get clothes out of the dryer, but I’ll be right back to watch it with you.”
“’Kay.”
Lacey folded the laundry and put it away. She thought of taking a shower, but decided to wait until Emma had gone to bed. Her sister needed all of Lacey’s attention. She stopped short in the living room doorway. The blanket, Pooh Bear and pillow were on the sofa, but Emma was not.
“No! No! No!” Lacey ran for the back door. The only place Emma would go was to see Pepper, and Lacey did not want another confrontation with Gabe the Grouch.
Her father had installed a privacy fence around their backyard. A gate opened into Gabe’s