Biting the Christmas Biscuit Read Free Page B

removed the spark screen. Working as a team they had a fire going in five minutes flat. Once it was good and strong, he tossed on a wood log, and they sat back to watch it, their faces bathed in the glow and welcome warmth.
    “I wanted to see what you were like,” Alec began. “Your family. His family,” he said glancing up at Bennett’s photo. He sighed as his eyes settled back on the dancing flames, and he went on. “Bennett meant so much to the people in my life now. I thought if I understood him, where he came from, that somehow I could learn to measure up.”
    Carmondy shook her head vigorously. “Oh, you can’t possibly measure up. No way,” she said as she finished off her drink.
    Alec grinned at her honesty. “I suspected as much.”
    “No, Alec, seriously. Listen. Eli loved my brother and vice versa, but he’s gone. Eli loves you and only you,” she assured him. He didn’t say anything, but his silence shouted his doubts. “Look, I understand you may not want to take relationship advice from the divorced lady,” she said with a laugh, and Alec smiled at her. “What are you, thirty? Thirty-two?” she asked. “Surely, you’ve been in love before.”
    “Yes.”
    “Has Eli erased your memories of them, of how they touched and affected your life?” she asked. He reluctantly shook his head. “They shaped the man you are just as Eli’s life with Bennett shaped him. Those who came before made the two of you ready for each other.”
    “You didn’t seem too eager for me to be here last night,” he said, and Carmondy blushed.
    She looked into the fire again. It was easier than looking at his handsome face; she couldn’t see his eyes behind the flames reflected in his glasses.“Fair enough,” she said with a smile. “It was mom’s idea to invite you; what can I say? It’s Christmas and I miss my brother. Hell, I miss my husband. I miss how Christmas used to be.” She sighed, got to her feet, and headed for the bar again but stopped herself. “I wanted all of us to live happily ever after, but my brother was murdered because he loved a man.” She paused, reading the concern on Alec’s face, and then lowered her angry voice. “And that man, a good man, watched it happen and is permanently crippled! I wanted my daughter to grow up like I did, but my husband cheated, I kicked his ass out, and got a divorce.”
    “Are you regretting that?”
    “I am now. I’m drunk and it’s Christmas!” They both laughed, easing the tension. “Look, Alec, I know how Eli sees this family, and I fear he may have built us up to you, but we’re far from perfect.”
    “I’ll need a list, I’m afraid,” he said teasingly, and she laughed again.
    “When Bennett came out to my parents, they lost it! He was sixteen or so, and there was shouting and crying and pleading and doors slamming. It was a real mess. But, you know, when you love someone, you find your way around or through difficulty.” She sat her empty glass on the coffee table and joined him on the floor again. “After some time, a few boyfriends, much research, and support groups, my parents slowly began to remember how much they loved him and how much they wanted him to be happy.”
    “I didn’t have that.”
    “I know, I know. Neither did Eli, and that’s why I think he believes the Tuckers simply sprang to life one day as we are now.”
    “So you don’t resent me for being here?” he asked.
    “No. I resent that my brother is not.” She reached out and smacked him upside the head. “You’re funny. I like you. Now help me put this thing together, but be quiet about it.”
    The fire died down and the room grew chilly over the three hours it took them to assemble the shiny red bike. They worked mostly under the light from the lamp on the sofa table. After it was done—training wheels and all—Carmondy was about to turn off the lamp and head back to bed, but Alec stopped her.
    “What’s this?” he asked.
    “Oh, jeez, almost