Page 44 of Jam and Jingle Bells
I snickered and shook my head. “Kids. Who knew they were so hard to figure out, right? I’m sure my mom feels the same about me right now.”
“What happened?” she asked leading me to the couch to sit, but I didn’t. Instead, I went to the stairs that led to Holly’s bedroom.
I held my finger up and yelled at the top of my lungs. “Holly, it’s Addie. Ellis said you should wear that shirt you have with the holly leaves on it so he doesn’t forget your name.”
“That’s dumb, Addie,” she called back down.
“Maybe, but he sees a lot of kids in one day, so help him out, eh?” I asked kindly and without judgment.
When I turned around Mel was laughing into her hand. “Seriously?”
I gave her the palms up. “Hey, it’s only funny if it doesn’t work.”
She giggled and put her hands on her hips. “No, it’s still funny. In fact, it will be funnier if she comes down wearing that shirt. Anyway, your mom?”
“She’s okay.” I leaned against the wall while I waited for Holly. “It turns out my dad isn’t such a great guy. He’s in prison. She really was protecting me all this time.”
She put her hand on my shoulder gently. “Why didn’t she just tell you that? It would have been easier for you to deal with if you’d known that.”
“I asked her the same thing. She said she could see I was determined and if she knows one thing about me, it’s that once I’m determined there’s no stopping me.”
“But you had the name and didn’t look at it. Or did you?”
“Nope, I didn’t. I tore it up in front of her. She said she knew I’d also come to the right conclusion once I calmed down. I know his first name is Sean. She let it slip by accident, but that’s all I need to know. The rest is ancient history.”
“She was taking a chance though. You could have looked at the name before you ever came to the conclusion,” she pointed out.
“You’re right, but to be honest, I doubt she wrote his real name down, not after what she told me. He’s in prison for murdering someone and this is his third time through the system. She probably wrote down Mickey Mouse or Ashton Kutcher.”
She laughed hysterically as we heard little footsteps on the stairs. “Well, I’m glad it all worked out for you. I’m sure it wasn’t good to hear those things about him, but now you know, right?”
I nodded once. “Now I know and I’m good. Is it okay if I take her to dinner when we are done with the class?”
“Sure,” she agreed immediately. Holly climbed down off the bottom stair wearing black leggings and her t-shirt that said,Have a Holly Jolly Christmason the front with holly leaves scattered around.
“He’s not going to forget your name now,” I said, tickling her until she squealed. “Get your boots on, little lady.”
I herded her toward the door while Mel stood in the living room trying to gather her composure. At least I gave her something to laugh about today.
Once Holly had her coat on, Mel hugged her daughter and rubbed her back. “Have fun, Holly.”
“Thanks, Mom. I can’t wait to go back to the Rudolph Express!”
It was the first time I saw real enthusiasm in her in a long time. Maybe yoga was just what we both needed tonight.
“I’ll text you when we’re done eating and you can let me know where you want me to bring her?” I asked and she nodded.
“We should be done with dinner by seven.”
I gave her a thumbs up and Holly and I jumped down the three stairs to the sidewalk. Once she was buckled in the car, I turned the engine over and eyed her in the mirror. “Ready to ride the Rudolph Yoga Express?”
“Ready!” she called, clapping excitedly.
“Let’s do this!”
I pulled away from the curb and held my breath that this was the first step in getting our Holly jolly elf back.
I pulled the car to a stop in front of the yoga studio and left it idling. Ivy’s statement earlier today about his living situation ran through my mind. I could go park around back and see if she was right, but that felt wrong and underhanded. There would be plenty of time to deal with that once I didn’t have an excited eight-year-old with me. I put the car in park and shut the engine down before I turned in my seat.
