A Home for Christmas by Katie Eagan Schenck

Author:Katie Eagan Schenck
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: contemporary romance, sweet romance, sweet holiday romance, holiday romance, small-town romance, homecoming, home sweet home
Publisher: Champagne Book Group
Published: 2022-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Shelly lay on her bed for hours after Lilly and Brad left to go to the dress rehearsal. The scene in the driveway played on repeat in her head. Just when Shelly was finally getting the hang of motherhood, something had to come in and shatter her confidence.

It shocked her when Brad defended Lilly’s stance. Having lost both his parents, Shelly expected he would share her view of the situation. That if he had the chance to talk to his parents again, he would take it in a heartbeat. While their situations differed vastly from Lilly’s, family was family, and you didn’t turn your back on them, no matter what. Shelly sighed as she realized how wrong she was. It was clear he had a different perspective than she did, and she couldn’t help envying how he had empathized with Lilly in a way Shelly couldn’t.

If she was honest with herself, she was less upset about Lilly not responding to her father and more upset with the way Shelly had learned he’d reached out. Her relationship with her mother-in-law had always been strained, no matter how much she tried to please her. It should have been more of a red flag the way Cindy would go to visit Carl at work, then stop by the house, all the while talking about how amazing Deborah was.

Back then, Shelly brushed it off, but now she wondered if Cindy had always hoped Carl would wise up and leave Shelly. They married rather young. Her mother had taken it in stride, having married young herself, but Cindy believed Carl was made for bigger things, which apparently didn’t include a wife and a child in his early twenties. When Cindy had moved back to Texas, it had been such a relief.

Seeing her today brought up a lot of resentments, which were only compounded when Cindy implied Shelly was a careless mother. Since Lilly hit her teen years, Shelly walked a fine line between giving her daughter privacy and keeping her safe. She monitored her social media and regularly discussed internet safety, trusting her daughter would be honest with her. While it hurt that Lilly had kept this big secret from her, Shelly understood why.

Lilly vocalized how conflicted she was about her father the other night, and she was likely still working through her emotions. If only she had at least shared she had heard from her father, it might have saved them the pain and embarrassment of the encounter with Cindy. Yet, there was no way Lilly could have known they would run into Cindy in Eagle Harbor’s town square, of all places. When Carl left, he had not only left the home and the life they shared, but the town as well. The divorce documents suggested he moved into Deborah’s apartment, closer to the city. Shelly couldn’t help wondering if Cindy shopped at the town square with the express intent of running into them.

Shelly glanced at the clock. It was almost time to feed Newton and start dinner.

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