Mrs. Miracle Read Free Page A

we could have a family Christmas this year. With your aunt Gerty and uncle Bill coming, it’d be so awkward with you and your sister…”
    Reba’s jaw tensed. “We can have a real Christmas.”
    “Oh, Reba, does that mean you’re willing to put aside your differences with Vicki and—”
    “We can have a family Christmas,” she repeated without emotion. “We’ll do exactly as we have for the last four years. Vicki and her husband can choose to spend either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day with you, Aunt Gerty, and Uncle Bill. Then I’ll be free to join you and everyone else when they aren’t there.”
    Her mother’s disappointment was palpable. “I see.”
    “I don’t have to come home for Christmas, Mother,” Reba returned, unwilling to be manipulated by her parent or anyone else. Really it was ridiculous, seeing that she lived in the samesouth-end community of Seattle. Reba visited her parents on a routine basis. It wasn’t as if she’d saved the holidays for her annual pilgrimage home. Despite the differences with her older sister, Reba made an effort to stop by her parents’ at least every other month. With one condition: She’d go as long as Vicki wasn’t there.
    “Not come home for Christmas?” her mother echoed. “Your father and I would be so disappointed…. It’s just that, well, your dad hasn’tbeen feeling well lately, and it would do us both a world of good if you and your sister would—”
    “Mom, stop.” This wasn’t a topic Reba wished to discuss, not when she’d already been through it a million times. “We both know what Vicki did, and—”
    “You don’t know everything.”
    “Listen,” Reba returned, irritated that her mother insisted on pursuing the issue, insisted on taking her sister’s side. “I’ve told you this before and I meant it. If you’re going to phone me to talk about Vicki, then I’ll hang up. I’ve got a business to run.”
    “But it’s been four years.”
    “Four and a half,” Reba amended. It wouldn’t take much effort for her to calculate it right down to the minute. A lifetime would pass away and she’d never forget what her sister, her own flesh and blood, had done to her. She wasn’t going to forget, not ever. God help them both, but she wasn’t willing to forgive her sister, either. To hercredit, Vicki had attempted to repair the damage, but it was too little, too late. Three times her sister had come to her seeking forgiveness. Three times Reba had rejected her apology. What Vicki had done was unforgivable. It had been so hurtful and cruel that whatever closeness they’d once shared had forever been destroyed.
    Even as youngsters the two sisters had been competitive. Because she was almost two years older, Vicki had the advantage when it came to sports. But that didn’t keep Reba from trying. She made the varsity basketball team, was a high school cheerleader and track star the same as Vicki, but she’d worked hard for those accomplishments. Unlike Vicki, who was naturally athletic.
    Over the course of her high school and college career, Reba had nearly killed herself in an effort to keep pace with her sister’s accomplishments. Both girls were evenly paired in the academic realm. Each had been offered full scholarships to the University of Washington.
    Their rivalry, although often keen, had always been friendly. Reba liked to think that they brought out the best in one another. Each challenged the other to give one hundred percent to their individual endeavors.
    Until Reba started dating John Goddard.
    Even saying his name mentally produced a hard lump in her throat. Briefly Reba closed her eyes until the pain and bitterness passed.
    In retrospect she was willing to admit, albeit grudgingly, that part of John’s attraction had been that Vicki had been attracted to him, too. Her sister had joked that she’d been the one to see John first. Her teasing had taken on a decidedly sharp tone as Reba and John’s relationship turned