The Gift by Mary H. Collins (classic romance novels .TXT) 📖

in the microwave and after eating it and reading her email, she headed for the shower. She was in bed by ten.
The next day when she got off work she picked up her pay for the photo shoot at the daycare, and headed straight to the bank to deposit the checks. Every family had purchased the whole package and she'd made enough to do her Christmas shopping without going into her savings. She smiled as she headed toward the mall. Being that she didn't have to work the next day and didn't have to hurry home, she might go see a movie before returning to the apartment.
Kimberly couldn't get her mind on shopping and everywhere she looked in the mall, she saw families laughing and having fun. It only reminded her of her own childhood, how her parents used to take her to the mall with them to do their Christmas shopping. The only time they didn't take her was when they were buying her gifts, they were always secretive about that. She never knew what they were giving her for Christmas. It was always a wonderful surprise.
It was only five days until Christmas and the loneliest time of all, the other girls at work were busy with their shopping and getting together with family and friends, no one hardly knew Kimberly existed.
Kimberly picked up the gifts for her parents, and left the mall. If she hurried she could get them to the Post Net on the corner before they closed. She hoped they would arrive on time.
After shipping the packages and not wanting to face the loneliness of her apartment, she stopped at Benny's. As she sat at the bar and sipped on a glass of wine, she looked around the room at all the lonely faces. In that moment she felt as if her life were passing her by, and knew that she had to change it now, or she could end up like these people.
She had some vacation time due her, she decided she would take it and go home for the holidays. She wouldn't even call her parents, she'd rather surprise them. She got up, leaving the half empty glass of wine setting on the bar, she was too excited to spend any more time here, she had places to go and people to see.
She called the airport and found that there was a flight to Chattanooga, Tennessee, leaving the next morning at 5:45, she could make it and be home before noon. She gave the representative her credit card number and booked a seat on the flight. She then threw some clothes into a suitcase and went to bed.
As she got into the cab that would take her to JFK, she smiled and thought of the wonderful dreams she'd had the night before, probably the best she'd had since leaving Tennessee. She was surprised that she'd slept at all, as excited as she was.
It was Saturday and she knew there would be no one at the Studio until 10:00, so she would wait until she arrived in Chattanooga at 11: 00 to call her boss, she knew he'd be unhappy that she'd taken off with such short notice, but she didn't care, she just wanted to see her family.
When the Plane landed at Lovell Field she felt tears spring into her eyes. She wiped them and rushed out of the airport and found a waiting taxi. As the cab drove up Shallowford Road and headed for Interstate 75, she looked around at all the familiar buildings. To her left was Olin Mills, where she'd worked a few days a week while she was a senior in high school. It seemed so long ago, but it had only been three years. She hoped her parents were home, if not she knew where they kept the spare key.
As the cab neared the exit that led to her childhood home, Kimberly could feel the goosebumps on her arms, she was so excited she could barely contain herself. As they went by the Farmer's home, she saw Chad helping some girl into the car. She was gorgeous, with thick red hair that fell down to her waist, the type of girl that she'd always pictured him ending up with. He looked great too, and she felt a twinge of jealousy, he still made her heart do flip-flops whenever she saw him. She'd been in love with him since she was ten years old and would probably love him for the rest of her life. She remembered how after moving to New York, she'd pretend that he was there with her, sometimes she would set two plates on the table and talk to him as if he was really there. Then other times she would pile the pillows up on the sofa and pretend it was him lying beside her. As a matter of fact; it hadn't been that long ago that they'd had one of their romantic dinners, and then she dreamed that he'd made love to her all night long. Now she would have to give up on the hope of them ever being together, Chad was happily married, she could tell by the way the beautiful red haired girl was looking at him, and the way he protectively held his hand to her back.
She wished she hadn't seen him. Now her visit would be ruined; she'd come here to feel less alone and now felt more alone than ever. But she was here and would have to make the best of it. At least she would get to see her parent's. She hadn't seen them since the day she'd left.
There was no one at home, so Kimberly felt around under the broken step and found the house key, good thing her father had never repaired the step or she wouldn't have known where to look for it. They'd kept it there ever since she was in junior high and she'd run her four-wheeler up onto the step and it had broken due to the weight.
She ran upstairs to her old room, everything was still the same, nothing had been changed or moved from the way she'd left it. The same posters and school banners were still on the wall, the picture that her mother had taken of her and Chad at the church carnival was still hanging on her mirror. Why hadn't her mother thrown it away or put it into an album as she usually did with pictures?
Kimberly picked it up and looked at it, her heart did a flip, the way Chad was looking at her in the picture, she'd never noticed it before, but he was really looking admiringly at her. She put the picture back and laid down on her bed, she'd gotten up so early, maybe she could take a nap before her parents come home. Before long she was sound asleep.
She was at the school dance with Chad, she'd hoped he would asked her and he did. They were dancing close and he was looking deep into her eyes, the same way he was looking at her in the picture, he pulled her close and she knew that he was getting ready to kiss her, as their lips touched, she heard her mother's voice.
“Kimberly?...is that you?”
She opened her eyes and her mother was standing over her looking as if she'd just won the lottery.
“Yes Mother it's me, I wanted to surprise you and Dad, but when I got here no one was home.”
Her mother wasn't listening, but had grabbed her up into her arms and was squeezing the breath out of her. And then she heard her father running up the stairs to see what was going on.
“Who's up here? Who are you talking...Kimberly...is that you? Her father ran to the bed and grabbed his daughter and with both parents holding her she could hardly breathe.
“Yes Dad, it's me. I wanted to surprise the two of you.”
“We saw your suitcase setting downstairs and knew you were here. Besides you left the key in the lock, someone could have come in on you,” her father said.
“Get up and come downstairs we're having company for dinner,” her mother said.
“who is it?” Kimberly asked.
“I'm not telling you, you'll find out.”
“It's someone you'll be glad to see,” her father told her.
She couldn't imagine who would be coming for dinner, but when she got up and looked at the clock she realized she'd slept for four hours. She would barely have time to take a shower and get dressed before dinner time.
She took a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from her suitcase, and went into the only bathroom at the foot of the stairs, to take a quick shower. When she came out she heard people talking in the kitchen, and recognized Chad's voice. What is this? Why would her parents want Chad and his wife to come to dinner? Knowing how she'd always felt about him. Was it some kind of joke? Was his parents in on it too? Kimberly didn't think it was funny, she didn't want to face Chad and his new wife, she was afraid of what might happen. What if she broke down in front of them, what if his wife guessed how she felt about him? She couldn't face them, she would have to fake a headache. She ran back upstairs to the safety of her bedroom. She would stay there until they left.
She'd just closed the door and laid down on her bed when she heard voices on the stairs, and again recognized Chad doing the talking. Why would he be coming up stairs? There was only her bedroom up here...her parent's bedroom was downstairs. The house originally had only two small bedrooms downstairs, but when she turned ten years old and wanted more privacy, her parents had turned the attic into a bedroom for her, and knocked the wall out downstairs to make their bedroom bigger.
She heard the knock on the door, but laid still and didn't make a sound. She heard the door open and her mother calling her.
“Why are you back in the bed Kimmie? We have guests waiting to welcome you home,” her mother said as she turned on the bedroom light and walked across the room to the bed.
“Hey Kimberly! It's good to have you home. How long are you staying?” Chad asked.
Just the sound of his voice made shivers run up her spine. She was still madly in love with him, but now that he's married, she would have to get over him. But how could she with him so near? She would have to forget her visit with her parents and go back to New York. She laid still and didn't open her eyes, hoping they would go away, but her mother didn't fall for it, instead she continued to talk to her as if she was still a little girl.
“Come on Honey. Get up now, someone wants to talk to you.”
Kimberly slowly opened her eyes and saw Chad and her mother standing over her, “I'm sorry I have a headache and won't be coming down for dinner,” she said.
“Hey girl!” Chad said, ignoring her statement, “I've missed you so much...have you come back to give me a second chance?”
Why is he saying these things? He's a married man, or maybe not; maybe the woman she saw him with is just his girlfriend. Anyway...he is involved with someone else. And why is her mother going along with him on this? she thought. A few years ago she would have been so glad to hear Chad say that he'd missed her, but now it was nothing short of torture for her,