Dashing Through the Snow by Lisa G Riley Page B

year; whenever we see you, it’s a good thing.”
    Lily felt tears fill her eyes as she looked
at the bottomless well of love and gratitude in her father’s eyes.
Oftentimes in her life, she’d look up and see one or both of her
parents staring at her in just that way. It was very seldom when
she didn’t feel the weight of those stares and sometimes that she’d
never be able to live up to them. As a pre-teen she’d learned that
her parents had miscarried twice before she was born and she’d
begun to understand their love -- and their fear -- for her.
    “Thanks, Dad. It’s good to see you too --
usually,” she modified with a cheeky grin.
    “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” He
gestured for her to sit down before taking his own seat again.
    Lily sat down across from him. “You know what
it means. I don’t want any lectures about my career or my lack of a
committed relationship, or anything else. I just want to enjoy a
good meal with my parents. Capiche ?”
    He only snorted and sat back in his chair.
“Tell me about Santa Claus. Have they caught him?”
    Lily frowned; surprised no one in her family
had mentioned her run-in with the jolly thug that day. Perhaps no
one who knew her had seen her chasing him that morning. Whatever
the reason, she was glad she’d get to tell the story, at least
there’d be no embellishments. “No, Dad, considering that he came at
me again this morning, I doubt he’s been caught,” she began and
settled in to tell him the rest.
    ***
    All right,” Lily said hours later as she put
on her coat, “later, dudes. It’s been real.” She’d already hugged
her parents and aunt and was ready to go. She’d enjoyed the food,
but for the first hour of the evening, all her parents and aunt had
talked about were the pitfalls of her career. And Smith? He’d just
sat there with a stupid smirk on his face. “I have an early start
tomorrow, so I’ll be seeing you.”
    “Wait, Lily!” her mother called from the
dining room. Glenda bustled into the room with a shopping bag. “I
packed some leftovers for you.”
    “Leftovers?” Lily asked in surprise. “I
thought we’d pretty much decimated everything tonight, and I know
Dad called dibs on whatever was left. I heard him. He said it
before we even started eating.”
    “Not leftovers from tonight, but from the
week. There’s some roasted chicken from yesterday -- it’ll make
lovely sandwiches -- and some lasagna from Thursday.”
    “Oh, yum. Lovely sandwiches. Thanks, Mom. I
love ya, you know.”
    Glenda laughed as she accepted her kiss. “You
love my cooking, is what you love.”
    “Yeah, but you’re a close second.
Honest.”
    “Humph. How did such a mean mouth ever get
matched with such a lovely face, I wonder?” Glenda teased as she
took Lily’s chin in her hand. “Now you wait just a minute. There’s
enough food in that bag for Smith, who’s going to walk you back to
your grandmother’s. Uh–uh,” she cautioned when saw that Lily was
going to object. “It’s either that or your father will have to take
the time to put on all of his winter gear and leave the warmth of
hearth and home and go out into the arctic night. He’ll let the
cold settle into his rickety old bones – all so he can drive you
home a few blocks. And I know a nice girl such as yourself wouldn’t
want her daddy’s pneumonia on her conscience, when she could
prevent such tragedy just by accepting a gracious offer of
assistance from a gentleman.”
    Lily looked blank for a moment, and then:
“Guilt trip number five thousand six hundred and seventy-eight. And
you say you don’t have any talents,” she teased. “Shame on you,”
she chided and then shook her head before her mother could say
anything else. “Fine, fine. Let’s go, Smith,” she called towards
the back of the house.
    “Over here, princess,” Smith said mockingly
from behind her.
    She turned. He stood in front of the door and
when he saw that he had her attention, he