Abby held her gaze again and she saw a myriad of emotions there. Then Abby touched her face softly. “I’m going to find coffee. Meet you downstairs?”

“Yeah. I won’t be long.” She forced a smile to her face. “I’m anxious to see what Santa left me.”

Abby gave her a real smile. “I hope I get a necklace or something. That would be super.”

Chapter Thirty-one

Aaron and Holly were sitting on the sofa, both holding coffee cups. The fire was going, and Abby automatically glanced up to the stockings, smiling as she saw that they’d been stuffed during the night.

“Merry Christmas,” she said cheerfully. “I see that Santa came.”

“Yes, he did,” Holly nearly purred. “You slept in, even after retiring rather early last night.”

“Yes. I hope no one missed us,” she said easily.

“You love singing Christmas carols.” This coming from Aaron. “That’s normally a highlight for you.”

“Yes, well, I had a different kind of highlight last night.” She actually blushed as she said the words, so she turned away. “Coffee.”

Her mother was in the kitchen putting what she assumed was the normal Christmas quiche into the oven.

“Good morning, dear. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Mom.”

“Where’s Nicole?”

“She was in the shower. She’ll be down soon.” She went to the coffee pot, pouring a cup. “Where’s Dad?”

“He’s in his office. He’s pretending to be working, but I saw him sneak in with some wrapping paper and tape, so I’m hoping he’s wrapping up something special for me.”

“What could you possibly need?”

“I don’t need anything, of course. He’s still trying to make up for keeping the news of his real estate business from me.” Her mother topped off her own coffee cup. “I sensed that Nicole was feeling a little uncomfortable last night. Was everything okay?”

She didn’t know how much to tell her mother about Nic and her childhood. She was actually surprised that her mother hadn’t grilled both of them already. “Well, to use Nic’s words, she had a crappy childhood. Christmas was an afterthought in their house and there were no decorations and rarely gifts.”

“Oh, the poor thing.”

“Yeah, so this is all new to her.” She took a sip of her coffee, eyeing her mother. “If I tell you something, will you promise you won’t say a word to Nic about it? Or anyone else, for that matter.”

“Of course, honey. What is it?”

“Well, Nic’s parents are…are gone. She went to live with her uncle when she was fifteen.”

Her mother raised an eyebrow. “Gone?”

Abby grabbed her mother’s arm. “It’s so tragic. Her father shot her mother and her brother, then shot Nic too, before killing himself.”

“Oh dear lord,” her mother gasped. “You hear of such things happening, of course, but yes, that’s so tragic.”