Page 21 of A Hard Luck Christmas

“You have to enjoy life sometimes,” Ari grumbled.

Patience shot her a devilish grin. “Which is why I don’t always let him dictate what we do. I’m your parent. I’m the one who gets to decide.”

Patience’s phone signaled a text. Because she was driving, she asked Ari to check it for her. She assumed it would be Carl, asking her to pick up something he needed. He didn’t like running errands, left most of that type of thing to her. But she could tell by how quiet and still Ari became that it wasn’t Carl. “What is it?” she asked.

Ari looked up. “It’s Dad. He wants to know if you’ll keep me this week while he works through his separation with Glenda.” She put the phone back in its holder. “I knew things were getting bad, but…are they splitting up?”

Although Patience hadn’t been certain she was going to tell Ari, after that message she decided she may as well. “Things could change, but that’s the way it’s looking right now.”

Her eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

Patience nodded.

“They’re getting a divorce? Just like that?” She snapped her fingers. “I mean… I knew they weren’t getting along, that they’d probably wind up divorced. But I thought they’d make up and try a little longer before they called it quits. They’ve been doing that for years.”

“To be honest, I’m surprised that it has ended so suddenly, too,” Patience said. “I suggested he wait until after Christmas to make such a big decision. No one wants to wade through a divorce during the holidays. But he said he can’t—that he’s done, it’s over.”

“You talked to him?”

“For a few minutes.”

Ari wiggled her eyebrows. “He came to you.”

“Don’t start.” Patience raised one hand. “He only came to me because he wanted to talk about how the situation might affect you.”

Ari gave her seat belt a tug to loosen it at the neck. “What’d you say? That I wouldn’t care?”

“I told him I thought you’d be fine.” Patience came to a stop before making a right-hand turn onto Montgomery Street. Flip-n Burger was down a few blocks by the Lucky Day Motor Inn. “Did I get it right?”

She sighed. “It’ll be weird not having her at the house when I’m there. She’s been part of my life for five years. But it’s also been hard to put up with her always trying to come between me and Dad and me and you.” She pursed her lips as she shook her head. “That always made me feel icky.”

Patience pulled into the drive-in, turned off the engine, and grabbed her phone and purse. “I wish I could reassure you that she’ll remain an important part of your life. But the truth is…I don’t know. She and I had an argument yesterday.”

“When you went to meet her at the coffee shop? About what?”

“Our complicated relationship. What else?”

Ari grew slightly outraged. “You’re not going to be friends with her again, are you?”

“No. I can’t. All the emotional trust that was there before she married your father has been destroyed. But she shouldn’t hold that or anything else against you.”

“I don’t think I’ll care even if she does,” Ari said with a shrug. “Can I get a burger and fries with my shake?”

Grateful that this really wasn’t going to be a big deal for her daughter, Patience chuckled. “Sure. Why not?”

Chapter Eight

It was late. Patience shouldn’t have still been up—she had her alarm set for six-thirty so she could pack lunches and take Ari to school—but she’d been trolling social media while waiting to see if Kanon would send her the design for the incentive card they planned to use for the festival tonight. If he didn’t get it to her soon, she’d have to design it herself; it needed to go to the printer.

She’d just decided he’d forgotten, that she’d have to take care of it the moment she arrived at work in the morning, and gone to the bathroom to brush her teeth, when she got a message from him.

You still up?

Yeah.

Just sent you the design. Let me know what you think.

She’d already powered down her laptop, but after rinsing and drying her mouth, she hurried to reboot it. She had no idea what to expect but was pleasantly surprised when she found his email and downloaded the attached file. He’d created something that didn’t match the design of her flyer in any way, but she liked it much better.