A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER by Kay Stockham

MARLEY ENTERED her parents’ house and listened intently. How could anyone be that quiet?

“Mama, you home?” She walked through the foyer and into the kitchen, carrying the miniature sunflower she’d bought at the nursery.

It had been a successful trip, not as expensive as she’d thought it would be, so she hummed as she searched the cabinets for a plastic plate to go underneath the pot. She found what she needed in her mother’s old entertaining stash gathering dust in the pantry. At the sink, a quick flip of the tap watered the dry soil.

Marley smiled down at the bright flower, amazed how something so simple could cheer her up on just about any given day. There was something about growing things, nurturing them from seeds and watching them blossom into something beautiful.

Please let her like it.

“What are you doing?”

At the edge she heard in the softly spoken query Marley froze, then pasted a smile back on her lips before turning to face her mother. She was still in her housecoat, the burgundy and black colors fading her already pale complexion to ghostlike extremes. At forty-five, Donna Pierce appeared older, the lines and grooves around her mouth and eyes telling a traumatic story.

“I, um, dropped by to bring you this.” She forced into her tone a cheeriness she didn’t feel. “Isn’t it beautiful? I thought you’d like the reds and oranges, and the pot matches the kitchen. Can’t beat that, right?”

Her mother didn’t move, much less look at the pot. “It’s very nice, Marley, but you shouldn’t have bothered.”

“Oh, it was no bother. I thought you’d like it so I--”

“You know how forgetful I am these days. It won’t get watered properly and then you’ll have wasted your money.”

So much for being appreciative. Strained, Marley glanced around the immaculate kitchen and noted that the housekeeper had come recently to clean. “Um... Have you eaten lunch? I thought we could--”

“Roberta is dropping by soon,” her mother said with a glance at her watch. “I need to get dressed and... She said we have a lot to talk about.”

“Oh. Well, maybe I could get lunch and bring it back for u--” She broke off when she spied the look of utter panic flickering across her mother’s face. “I guess not.” Marley wet her dry lips. “Mama, are you ever going to feel comfortable having me around your friends again?”

Her mother wrung her hands. “I don’t know what you mean. If you want to stay, Marley, stay.”

Now that was a warm invitation. Marley shook her head, an attempt to fend off the hurt threatening her. Dwelling on it only made it worse. “You know what, forget it. I’ve got a lot of work to do today and you don’t see your friends that often. Just forget I asked.”

Her mother padded over to the cabinet and after retrieving a glass, she poured herself some water. Her hands trembled as she pulled a small, brown bottle from her pocket and shook out a tiny white pill.

Marley stepped closer, watching her. “Are you sick?”

“No. It’s just—it’s just something Dr. Bourke gave me to calm my nerves when... when I get upset.”

Like when I’m around? Marley fisted her hands and refused to give in to the tears stinging her eyes. She had to stop reading things into her mother’s comments, but how could she not after “the incident”? “Dr. Myners was your doctor for years. Why did you switch?”

Casual conversation was good. They needed to stick with it. Build a bridge over the past since they couldn’t seem to wade through it no matter how hard she tried to make up for embarrassing her mother with a teenage pregnancy.

“I still see him.” Her mother placed the pill on her tongue with the delicateness of a Duchess at tea and swallowed, taking a drink before setting the cup aside.

Desperate, Marley stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her mom, but the moment she did she felt the tension, the awkwardness, and her hopes fell as they always did. Five years and counting and her mother still hadn’t forgiven her. “I love you, Ma.”
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From the book A Christmas To Remember by Kay Stockham Harlequin Superromance ® November 2007, ISBN 978-0373714537, ©2007 Dorma Kay Stockham.
Cover Copyright ©2007 Harlequin Enterprises Limited ® and T are trademarks of the publisher. The excerpt published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A. For more romance information surf to: http://www.eHarlequin.com