Page 1 of Christmas Wishes

Prologue

Gene

It's Thanksgiving and I'm spending it alone in a bar surrounded by strangers. I sip my beer without even tasting it. It's a reflex at this point. The man to my right is talking the ear off his neighbor on his other side and I worry I might be his next victim if the other man leaves.

Sure enough as soon as the man is left to his own devices he turns to me.

"Nowhere to go on Thanksgiving?" He asks.

I shake my head. Do I want to talk about this? How my life is in shambles? To a stranger?

"You know what I'm thankful for? Dive bars that open up on the holidays. What are you thankful for?"

The question takes me by surprise, though it shouldn't have. Someone immediately pops up in my mind.

"I have an angel in my life. I'm thankful for her."

"Is that right? What's her name?"

"Her name is Lilah. She's a beautiful human being that is looking over my mother while I'm away from home."

"Then you're a lucky man. What's going on with your mother?"

"It's a long story."

"I've got nowhere to be. Have at it."

I spend the next few hours telling a complete stranger my life story and in the end I realize I've got no one else to blame but myself for how things are in my life. Truth is, Lilah is the only good thing in my life and I don't dare get close to her.

Everyone hates me back home at Woodland Falls and I'm worried that being linked to me might hurt her or her business. I've gotten to know her bit by bit through the texts we send each other every day. My excuse is that I'm checking up on my mother through her, but I can no longer let a day go by without Lilah's texts or some sort of contact with her.

She's gentle, caring and very candid in all our exchanges. Still, I feel she's not telling me everything that is going on in her life and I understand that is her prerogative. If I were a better man, if I were a younger man, I would court her and make her mine.

As it is I've got nothing to offer her. I mean, I have money, lots of it from my time as a hot shot lawyer in Texas. There's also a lot of money that doesn't belong to me and I need to give back. I shake my head and get back to my RV, my makeshift home.

I've been riding around the country aimlessly for the past two years. I need more. I need an anchor. Is Lilah that anchor? Should I go back to my hometown when there's nothing but hatred and anger for me there? I toss and turn all night debating whether I should go back or not.

After a restless night of sleep I wake up to words that terrify me.You need to come home.

Chapter 1

Lilah

Iread the letter from the bank one more time in despair. What am I supposed to do about this? In the end I scrunch it up into a tiny little ball. When it's all wrinkled and tiny it doesn't feel overwhelming. I'm several months behind in my mortgage and the bank is threatening to take action.

Losing my shop also means losing my home and my brother Connor and I would be left homeless in the middle of winter. I toss both the envelope and it's contents into the trash bin as I hear my brother come into our apartment. I have a turkey sandwich waiting for him.

It was the only Thanksgiving-ey thing I could make for us without spending too much money. He looks to be in a sourmood as he takes off his coat and throws it on the living room couch.

"Is it so hard to hang it in the closet, Connor?"

He doesn't answer me, just reaches into his pocket and tosses a thick envelope on the table in front of me.

"What is that?"

"I know you're late on the mortgage. There's a months worth there. I'll get more when I can."

I look at the envelope in horror. Where would a sixteen year old get that kind of money? I nudge the flap of the envelope open with my index finger and see a big wad of money. I take my hand away like I've been burned.

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