By Catelyn Meadows
Copyright © 2019 Cortney Pearson
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, printing, recording, or otherwise—without the prior permission of the author, except for use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, incidents, or events are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copy Edited by Leona Bushman
Cover Design by Beetiful Book Covers
Author Photo by Clayton Photo + Design
www.catelynmeadows.blogspot.com
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
All I Want for Christmas
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Epilogue
What Do You Think?
More by Catelyn Meadows
Acknowledgments
About the Author
For Duane. For being real.
Chapter One
“Mom!” Parker rushed from the bathroom, his mouth dripping with blood and sporting a gap that wasn’t among his uneven teeth a few minutes ago.
“It came out,” Saylor said, herding him back in for some toilet paper. She tore off a small snatch, and he yanked the crumpled heap to his mouth. “Where’s the tooth?” Saylor bent to examine his gums.
“I lost it.” He pointed to his mouth. Blond hair tufted across his forehead, and freckles sprayed over his nose in a way that always gave her heart a little squeeze. She prayed he’d never grow too big for freckles.
Saylor smiled at that sweet face, at his boyish enthusiasm. “I can see that.”
“No, I mean, I lost it.” His tone took on a slight whine.
“You mean you can’t find it? At all?”
Parker shook his head.
A chuckle escaped from behind her, and she cringed. She’d completely forgotten David was standing there, sneering at them in his black coat. Snow clung to his shoes and was melting on her floor. Parker looked so much like his father, it was uncanny; with their wide, brown eyes, the shape of his nose and cheekbones. The closeness of their resemblance had slipped her mind after not having seen them stationary, side by side, for a few months now.
“One thing’s for sure, Sport,” David said. “You do things thoroughly.”
She took her boy’s hand, pushing away the strangeness of having David here. He hadn’t bothered coming inside their new house before. New to them, anyway. “Come here. Show me where it happened.”
“I was flossing here, and it just popped out,” Parker said, pointing to the purple rug at their feet.
That was how, seconds later, the three of them ended up on their hands and knees on the bathroom floor, checking beneath the dark wood cabinets which had probably looked nice back in 1970. Saylor cringed at the dust bunnies under here. Anyone looking would think she never swept.
She backed up, her arm brushing against David’s. The soft feel of his coat’s fabric, and the shock at touching him without meaning to, startled her. He flinched and knelt onto his feet, taking Parker’s arm.
“I don’t see it, bud,” David said. “But Amanda is waiting outside. We’d better get going.”
The mention of her pinched in Saylor’s chest like a fist. She and David had talked about this—Amanda was going to be in David’s life. She needed to meet his son. Their son. Unfortunately, talking it over hadn’t made things any easier.
Saylor hated court rulings.
She forced an encouraging smile at the devastated look Parker gave her. “But my tooth! I’m going to Omniforus!”
“Orofino,” David corrected. Saylor fought another cringe.
“How will the tooth fairy find me?”
She pulled Parker to her chest and gave him a big hug, kneeling so she could be at his eye level. Her knee landed in something wet, right where David was standing moments before.
“Remember what we talked about? If Santa can find you at Amanda’s cabin, then I’m sure the tooth fairy can just hitch a ride along with him.”
Saylor stroked his cheek as tears welled in his eyes. Big, brown eyes, eyes she’d looked into and loved, eyes she’d dried or had watched light up with excitement at seeing sock puppets or learning how to read his first words.
It’s just one weekend, she told herself, hating that she was trying to be okay with something she was entirely not okay with. It was more heart-wrenching than anything she’d ever experienced, to watch her son being taken from her.
He was six. It would be her first Christmas away from him. What was she thinking when she agreed to this?
David intervened, handing Parker his coat.
The three of them made their way outside into the brisk, snowy afternoon. The sunlight was blinding. David’s snazzy car, a black Lexus reeking of exhaust and money, idled outside, Amanda in the front seat. She didn’t so much as glance up as they approached, just stared at her phone in her lap.
“Mommy.” Parker wheeled around, squeezing her waist. Saylor crouched and gave her little guy a hug. “Can you come with me?” His voice was small in her ear.
She hugged tighter. “No, sweetie. You get to spend some time with your dad and his new family.”
“But why?”
“Come on, bud,” said David, practically brushing her aside and nearly knocking her into the snow. “You said you wanted to go. Time to get in the car.”
Saylor blinked rapidly and plastered a smile onto her cheeks. “You’ll have fun with Daddy and get Santa and the tooth fairy all in one night!” She forced the excitement. Parker didn’t seem as certain. “Plus, you can call me whenever you want.”
She gestured to the phone she got him just for this. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t condone a device for someone so young, but she wasn’t about to send him off without some way to contact her that didn’t involve his father.
This one won her a smile, though reservation still lingered in the boy’s eyes.
“Bye, Mom. Love you.”
“I love you too.” Saylor waved as David closed the door behind him, leaving their son to stare up at her from within the backseat. A heavy dread plummeted
