The Christmas Nanny by Elizabeth Kelly

Author:Elizabeth Kelly [Kelly, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781774460320
Publisher: Elizabeth Kelly

Chapter 8

Sam

“Daddy, are you mad at Tess?” Oscar sat on the window seat in front of the big bay window in the living room, staring out at the falling snow.

“No. Why would you think that?” I looked up from the puzzle Oscar had spread out on the coffee table. “C’mon back and finish the puzzle with me.”

“Cause you wouldn’t let her stay for dinner again.”

“She had plans tonight,” I lied. “She can’t stay for dinner every night.”

“I like Tess,” Oscar said. “You like her too.”

“I do,” I said. “She’s a nice person.”

“Then why can’t she stay for dinner every night?”

“Well, because she has her own life. She has her own friends she wants to spend time with.”

“Like Penny?”

“Who’s Penny?” I said.

“Tess’s best friend,” Oscar said.

He continued to stare out the window. I tried to distract him from the subject of Tess. “Are you excited about going to Noah’s cabin tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Oscar said. “Noah said his dad is gonna teach us to snowshoe. But I’m sad because I won’t get to see Tess until Monday now.”

“Buddy, remember that Dad is off until Christmas. You’ll see Tess after Christmas, okay?”

He turned to stare at me, his lip drawn down in a pout. “She’s not coming on Monday to babysit me?”

“No, because I took the day off. We’ll have lots of fun though, I promise. We’ll go sledding and play, and we’ll Facetime with Grandma and Grandpa. Then the next night is Christmas Eve and we’ll put cookies out for Santa and carrots out for his reindeer, okay?”

Oscar grinned, cheered by the idea of Santa and his reindeer. “I’m gonna stay awake all night and watch for Santa.”

I laughed. “Well, you can try, but remember that Santa likes it when kids are sleeping while he delivers his presents.”

“Why?” Oscar said.

“He’s shy.”

“Oh.” Oscar fogged up the window with his breath and drew circles through it with his finger.

“Why don’t you join me, and we’ll finish the puzzle before Uncle Elliot gets here.”

“Uncle Elliot’s already here,” Oscar said. “He’s talking to Tess in her driveway.”

I wasn’t even a little ashamed at how fast I joined Oscar at the living room window. I stared in the direction of Tess’s house, jealousy making my stomach curdle. Tess, bundled up against the cold, and her snow shovel in one hand, stood at the end of her driveway.

My so-called best friend, Elliot, stood beside her, smiling down at her and no doubt plying her with the old Elliot charm. My jealousy intensified when Elliot said something to Tess, and she laughed.

“Oscar, what do you say we go help Tess shovel her driveway?”

“Okay!” Oscar scrambled off the window seat and I followed him to the front door. It took me less than two minutes to get the kid into his winter gear and boots. I jammed my boots on but didn’t bother to put a jacket on over my hoodie. My stomach still churning, I opened the door and followed Oscar outside.

The sun had already set but there was plenty of light from the streetlights to see Elliot standing too close to Tess for my liking.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.