Holiday in the Heart by Anthology

Author:Anthology [Anthology]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Highland Press Publishing
Published: 2006-11-10T05:00:00+00:00

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The Greatest Gift of All

Candace Gold

Brittany Sykes waltzed into her older sister Claudia’s room. “How do I look?” She whirled around in her red dress, acting like a contestant auditioning for some debutante reality show.

“Beautiful.”

“I detect a hint of prejudice.”

“Not one bit,” Claudia replied, crossing her heart.

“Why don’t you come to the dance with us?”

Claudia had been waiting for Brittany to bring the dance up again. Neither her mother nor sister understood her desire to remain at home.

“I’m sure Matthew is just dying to have your sister tag along.”

“Don’t be silly. You don’t have to hang with us. There’ll be other singles there.”

“Yeah, Mom’s age. It’s a Valentine’s Day dance at the church, for goodness sake.”

Had Mom not paid for your ticket in advance, you wouldn’t be going, either. “Besides, I have a ton of things to do.”

“Such as?”

“Laundry.”

Brittany rolled her eyes. “Claudia, it’s time to put Andrew behind you. You need to get a life again.”

“I am living.”

“Like a nun. When was the last time you actually went out on a date and had some fun?”

“Who’s having fun?” their mother said, walking into the room.

“Certainly not Claudia, Mom.”

A frown formed across their mother’s brow. “Aren’t you going to the dance tonight?”

Claudia shook her head. Please don’t start.

“For heaven’s sake, why not?”

“She has too much laundry.”

A look of disbelief crossed their mother’s face. “The laundry can wait. All work—”

“I know the saying.”

“Then follow it and go.”

Between them both, they verbally tortured Claudia into going. Attending a Valentine’s Day dance at the church was just about the last thing on her to-do list—somewhere between gouging her eyes out and walking barefoot on hot coals.

She hadn’t desired to go out since Andrew broke their engagement a month before the wedding and ran off to marry some woman he’d met at a cousin’s club get-together. Although almost a year ago, it still hurt. She guessed she didn’t go out because she feared getting hurt again. Granted, not all men would act like Andrew, but if you don’t start anything, you won’t end up getting hurt—plain and simple. Of course running into Andrew and his new bride at the Swap Mart a few months ago hadn’t helped her forget, either.

Anyway, Brittany, the social butterfly, was forever going out and easily picked up the slack for her.

Reluctantly she put on her favorite black silk dress and swept her long hair up to achieve a look of some sophistication. As she looked in the mirror, time rolled backward to the last time she’d worn this same dress . . .

She saw herself brushing her honey-colored hair into the same knot. Andrew was taking her to a Christmas party at his supervisor’s home.

“You look gorgeous!” He’d popped out of his chair when he’d seen her on the steps.

As they’d walked towards his car, he’d stopped and taken her into his arms. She remembered seeing a look of pride in his eyes just before he’d covered her lips with his.

Subconsciously she touched her lips.

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