Hot Flash Holidays Read Free

for new life during the coldest season of the year.”
    Shirley blushed. “I
do
think all that. But you know, I never got to have children, and my three former husbands were all assholes, so I never had a really
happy
Christmas before. I was never with someone I loved, who loved me in return.”
    “So what dreams do you think will come true this Christmas?” Alice tried to sound casual. She knew it made Shirley unhappy, but Alice distrusted Shirley’s beau, that jackal Justin. She just hoped that Shirley understood that this wariness came from her protective love of her friend.
    Shirley gulped. She shouldn’t be nervous, she told herself. When was she going to grow up? When was she going to stop being a coward? Hadn’t she proven herself enough already? She’d been the creator of The Haven, and for two years now, she’d run the spa intelligently, just as if she were a clever person with good business sense. Her friends should trust her judgment. They should be
reasonable
about her forthcoming announcement.
    Yeah, and pigs would fly out her butt.
    This Christmas she was going to give Justin a gift that would change his life. She was
certain
that even though he was twelve years younger than she, Justin loved her, too, just as sincerely. Her Hot Flash friends had to stop fretting. Sure, Justin was handsome, but if he
had
looked at other women—and who could blame him, they were always looking at him!—that was
all
he’d done. He was in her bed every night.
    “Well?” Alice prompted. It didn’t take a psychic to know Shirley was feeling guilty. Something was up. “You’re giving Justin a computer for Christmas, right?”
    “Of course not.” Shirley faked a laugh and sipped her cocoa, stalling. “He already has one.” What she was giving Justin cost a lot more than a computer.
    But that was nothing compared to what she suspected he was going to give her.
    “Shir–ley,” Alice wheedled, trying not to sound like a mother looking at a kid with a suspicious bulge in his backpack.
    Shirley stalled. “I’m spending Christmas Day with Justin and his kids.”
    “He’s got three kids, right?” Faye asked.
    “Right.” Shirley held up a finger as she munched another bite of cookie. “Spring’s thirteen, her sister Angel is fifteen. Ben’s ten; he has a different mother from Spring and Angel. The girls live in Stoneham with their mother and stepfather, and Ben lives on the Cape with his mother and grandmother. The girls don’t like Ben and he doesn’t like them, and Justin would prefer to have Ben on Christmas Eve and the girls on Christmas Day, but Ben’s mother insists on having Ben on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, and the girls’ mother insists . . . Well, you get the picture.”
    “And you think this Christmas is going to be about making dreams come true?” Polly looked skeptical.
    And Alice looked downright disbelieving.
    Shirley decided not to tell them now. Why should she, after all? Justin was the recipient; he should know about it first. She could tell them later.
    “But you see,” she babbled evasively, “I finally have enough money to give really cool gifts! I’ve never had this kind of money before—”
    Alice shook her head impatiently. “You’re not rich, Shirley. You’re just solvent, and you’re working hard for every penny you make, and don’t forget, you’re getting older and you need to save for the future. You
are
sixty-two.”
    “Thank you, Mrs. Scrooge,” Shirley sniffed.
    Faye, playing peacemaker, changed the subject. “Alice, are you spending Christmas with Gideon?”
    Alice knew she was being headed off at the pass. But why was she so worried for Shirley when the other three seemed to be perfectly comfortable with Justin? “Christmas Eve, we’re having Alan and Jennifer to dinner. They’re going down to the Cape for Christmas Day with her folks. Christmas Day we’ll spend with Gideon’s kids.”
    “You like them, don’t you?” Polly asked.
    “I like