The Best Christmas Ever by Cheryl Wolverton Page A

needed. Justin didn’t know it, but she’d been up nights studying books on parenting and child development, as well as some of the latest housekeeping and cooking tips she found in women’s magazines.
    She was beginning to wonder how women had time for anything else but housekeeping. She’d stripped the floors and rewaxed them. She’d shampooed the carpets. And the curtains…well, they’d said in one magazine that they should be taken down once a month to be cleaned to keep any problems with allergies out of the house. Then there were the meals.
    Sarah was used to buying canned or frozen convenience foods, not fresh meats and vegetables. Her eating habits weren’t very healthy. But she couldn’t expect Mickie or Justin to eat like that. So she’d been doing her best to fix new innovative meals each night.And the meals she was fixing took anywhere from two to three hours each. Some she had to start right after Justin went to work because meats had to be marinated or set out to thaw.
    Today she’d been trying to get all the ingredients mixed for the chocolate coconut cake Mickie wanted, before she had to leave to pick up the child from school. She’d just happened to glance up at the clock and see she should have been at school that very minute.
    Had she been thinking, she would have called the school and asked them to tell Mickie she was on her way and for them to keep an eye on her.
    But she hadn’t been thinking. She’d simply run out the door in her haste to reach her niece.
    “I’m home.”
    Sarah whirled toward the door to see Justin just entering. He looked handsome.
    He always looked handsome. The tweed coat and jeans with cowboy boots were so Texan on him. Odd to think he was the head of such a large corporation yet he dressed like this. He was always full of surprises. “Mickie is out back.”
    “I see.” Justin put his briefcase in the hall closet after taking out a few papers first. He started toward the library.
    “May I talk to you?”
    He looked over his shoulder, surprised. “Sure. I wanted to talk to you anyway.”
    Dread filled her. If she only got fired she’d be lucky. She wondered if he could bring her up on charges for abandonment or something.
    Justin went to his desk and placed the papers there,then turned and leaned against the surface. “You look nice today.”
    She was shocked. But glad. She’d put on a new peach-colored top with her jeans knowing the shade complemented her coloring. Her hair was swept back into a French braid, clasped with a peach ribbon. While dressing this morning, she’d hoped taking more care with her appearance would lift her spirits, make her feel more feminine.
    That was stupid, because she knew, deep down inside, that she would never be feminine enough. After all, she couldn’t have children…“I wanted to talk about this afternoon,” she said, blocking the painful thought from her mind.
    “I figured you did,” Justin replied, his features relaxed.
    “Look, Justin, no matter what you think of me, I wanted to tell you I’m really, really sorry for what happened. I got carried away with cooking and just let the hours slip by.”
    “It’s all right, Sarah. It’s not entirely your fault. It’s partly Amy’s,” he added quietly.
    Sarah stared, confused. What did this have to do with Amy?
    “I don’t understand.”
    How could Justin be so forgiving about this? She’d imagined he’d been waiting all along for an excuse to fire her and she’d just provided him one.
    “Sit down.” He motioned to a chair.
    Sarah reluctantly eased onto the edge.
    “The night Amy left, Mickie was asleep. Of course, Amy didn’t wake her up to say good-bye. How could she have known Mickie would never see her again?”He hesitated, then went on. “Anyway, Mickie has never really gotten over the feelings of abandonment caused by the way Amy left us. If someone is supposed to pick her up and they’re even a few minutes late, she can’t handle it.” He