Page 98 of Christmas Kisses

“Well, now, don’t fret about it. We’re in a little town called Big Falls in the great state of Oklahoma.”

“Of course,” he said. “Now I remember. Thank you so much.”

“You’re more than welcome.”

He hung up, pocketed the phone and looked at her. “Why would your ex be in Big Falls, Oklahoma?”

“I should have known. It’s where he grew up. He used to talk about it all the time, but he never went back before. At least not as far as I know. I always thought he had some unhappy memories from there.”

“He may just get some more.”

She frowned at him, but Vinnie ran a hand over her hair and sent her a wink. “You know I’m just teasing. You’ve done good for me, sweetie. You’ve done real good. And you can do even better.”

“How?”

“Come with me to this Big Falls.”

“Aw, Vinnie. I don’t want Jim to think I’m harassing him. He’s gonna get pissed and he’s a cop, you know.”

“I know. Believe me, I don’t want to harass the police either. God knows I don’t need to give them any more reasons to railroad me. But you always said Jim was a reasonable man. So maybe if I could just talk to him, reason with him, he’d understand what a terrible mistake is being made here.”

She pursed her lips, lowered her head. “I don’t know. I don’t want....”

“What, Angie?”

“I don’t want you to do anything to hurt him. He’s... he’s all my baby boy has.”

“Come on, you know me better than that. There’s not a violent bone in my body. I wouldn’t hurt a fly. Just come down there with me, huh? Maybe you can help me talk to him. Make him see reason. This is my life on the line here. You know that.”

Licking her lips, she nodded. What she really wanted was to settle into her new apartment, try on her new clothes, her new life. But she owed him. She had to help him if she could. “All right, Vinnie. I’ll come with you.”

CHAPTERFOUR

Jim walked into the kitchen and got hit between the eyes with the past. For just a second, he could almost hear his mother’s voice.

Jimmy! Come on inside, dinner’s ready!

He blinked back the rush of emotion and pressed a hand to the countertop for support

“Jimmy? Are you okay?” Kara asked, her eyes on him rather than on the old-fashioned kitchen.

He looked at her, realized she always called him Jimmy, just the way his mother had. No one else ever called him by his childhood name anymore. He’d missed it

He nodded, then focused on the room again. Tongue-and-groove boards normally reserved for floors had been used as cupboard doors and stained a pale oak hue that went nicely with the yellow walls and tile floor, a checkerboard of yellow and mint-green. “It’s almost the same.”

Kara nodded as she looked around the kitchen. “I doubt Betty Lou saw much need to change it.”

He moved his head from side to side, looking the place over more thoroughly. “No, she did,” Jim said. “She changed it a bunch. It’s nothing like it was when Dad and I lived here alone. But it’sjustlike it was before Mom... “

“I’m sorry. It didn’t even occur to me how many painful memories this was going to bring flooding back for you.”

He drew a breath as if it could steady him. “This was her color scheme.” He said. “Dad couldn’t be bothered. She’d been gone five years before he decided to repaint, and when he did, white was as easy as anything else. But Mom, she loved color. This sunny yellow.” He moved to the windows, running one hand over the white casing. “She wanted the trim painted mint-green. Like those tiles in the floor. She used to talk about it all the time. If only she could get the casing painted mint-green and maybe find some ceramic knobs for the cupboard doors in that color, too, her life would just be perfect.” He smiled at the memory.

“I remember her,” Kara said.

“Do you?”

She nodded. “I don’t think she and Mama were friends or anything. Different worlds, you know?”

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