A Family Under the Christmas Tree Read Free Page B

now.”
    â€œAll you do is work,” Troy said, his face set in a mulish look. This didn’t bode well. “I want to play.”
    â€œTroy, we’ll go to the park after lunch.”
    â€œNo! I want to go now !” he shouted.
    Cringing from the high decibel noise coming from the small child, David grit his teeth. “Do not yell at me.” He tried to keep his voice even and calm, like the books had told him to.
    â€œYou promised,” Troy said in the same tone of voice.
    Again, David took a deep breath and answered calmly. “Do not raise your voice at me.” His hands gripped the chair, and he noticed that his knuckles were turning white. “We will go to the park when I am done here.”
    â€œWell, I’m going to go now,” Troy said. His voice was quieter, but laced with challenge.
    â€œYou are not going to go to the park on your own. We will—”
    â€œYou can’t tell me what to do!” Troy screeched. “You’re not my daddy!”
    David’s heart sank. The accusation shredded his insides. He’d been warned that Troy would act out in his grief. David was barely processing his own sorrow at the loss of his brother; he couldn’t imagine how hard this had to be for Troy.
    Patience , he told himself. He knelt down and gripped Troy’s slender shoulders. Looking into his face, David saw his brother in the jut of Troy’s chin, in the shape of his eyes. Sadness swamped him, making his eyes burn. “I know I’m not your father. I can’t replace Daniel. But, Troy, you and I are all either of us has in this world. We have to figure out how to live together.”
    â€œI don’twant to live with you anymore.” Troy wrenched free, and he ran toward the front door.
    â€œTroy, no!” David raced after his nephew. David’s feet tangled in the Thomas the Tank engine tracks that lay in the middle of the living room, and he fell to his knees as Troy ran out of the house into the wet, cold, rainy day. Without a hat or coat.
    Pure panic gripped David. All sorts of horrible scenarios played through his head. “Oh, Dear Father in Heaven, please don’t let anything happen to him.” The prayer slipped out, surprising him. He wasn’t really sure where he stood with God, but he’d been raised to believe. Apparently in a crisis, default mode was to turn to Him.
    He jumped to his feet, grabbed his and Troy’s jackets, and chased after his nephew.

CHAPTER
2
    S ophie clicked a leash to Riggs’s collar. She was dressed for the rain with mud boots, waterproof pants, and a raincoat over a warm sweater. She knew better than to come to the Pacific Northwest in December unprepared. “Come on, dog. We’re going to let Grandma rest.”
    Grandma had settled in a recliner by the fire, her feet up and a blanket covering her. A book lay open in her lap but her eyes were closed. Sophie smiled with tender affection.
    After a filling breakfast and some Christmas planning—­decorating the house, shopping online for the family, and recipes to make for their holiday dinner—Grandma had taken to her chair while Sophie finished unpacking her things into the guest room. Not much had changed in the house since her childhood. The same green comforter covered the trundle bed. The same lace curtains, yellowed with age, hung over the window that looked out on the small backyard.
    The hallway was lined with framed photographs, starting with black-and-white images of her grandparents from back when they were first married and moving through time with each subsequent picture. It was like watching her family’s lives unfold.
    Sophie touched the images of her grandfather with fond remembrance. He’d been a big man with a large laugh. If she closed her eyes and listened she could hear the echo of his laughter filling the house.
    In the living room, the knickknacks Sophie had played with as a child still