Secret Santa Surprise (Kindred Tales)

“I’m a little apprehensive about it myself,” Melanie confessed. “But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t also…intrigued.”

“Oh, so now you admit you’re intrigued?” Sonja laughed harder. “And why is that?”

“Because I’ve, uh, never been with more than one guy before,” Melanie confessed in a low voice. “Not that I want to be with them like that. It’s just…something to think about, that’s all,” she added quickly.

Sonja was laughing so hard by this time she really did fall off the couch. She waved off Melanie’s attempts to help her up as she sat on the floor and shook with giggles.

“Girl, listen to yourself! Just admit you want to be the filling of that man-sandwich!” she exclaimed when she could finally talk again. “It’s written all over you!”

“I just don’t want to jump into anything too quickly!” Melanie protested, putting her hands to her hot cheeks. “Come on, Sonja—be serious!”

“I’ll try.”

Sonja swiped at her eyes—she was one of those people who cried when they laughed really hard—and scrambled up off the floor. She plopped herself down on the couch again and helped herself to one of the red and green Christmas cookies Melanie had laid out. Cookies she had gotten from a bakery since she was definitely not going anywhere near her wave again. She had put in a request to have it looked at but apparently there was a backlog this time of year so she was still waiting to see a repairman.

“Okay, let’s change the subject,” Melanie said, as her friend took a sip of tea to wash down her cookie. “Talk about anything but making me the filling in a Twin Kindred man-sandwich.”

Sonja’s eyes twinkled but she nodded agreeably.

“All right. Where are you spending Christmas? Here on the Mother Ship or back down on Earth?”

Melanie sighed.

“It’s going to have to be Earth. My Aunt Marge is all alone and she just lost her favorite cat, Miss Marple.”

“Oh no—how sad!” The mirth left Sonja’s dark brown eyes at once.

“Yes, but it’s okay,” Melanie told her. “She’s got like fifteen more without her.”

“What? Are you serious?” Sonja’s eyes went wide. “Your aunt is a crazy cat lady?”

“More like a grumpy cat lady,” Melanie corrected her. “She’s as crusty as they come, but she was always there for me since my parents died, especially during my divorce.” She frowned. “I just hope I don’t see my ex around. Aunt Marge says he’s been calling her and saying he wants to pick up some things he left with me—a box of records or something.”

“Just have her leave the box out on the front porch and let him pick them up that way,” Sonja suggested.

Melanie shook her head.

“He’s got it into his head that leaving them out might warp them—especially if they get rained on. Steven is very particular about his things. But honestly, I think picking up the records is just an excuse.”

“And excuse for what?” Sonja asked, snapping a Santa cookie in two and biting off its head.

“For bringing his young new girlfriend around so he can prove how happy he is now that we’re divorced,” Melanie said dryly. “He loves rubbing it in my face that she’s twelve years younger and thirty pounds thinner than me.”

“Two can play that game! You ought to bring Strong and Clear down with you and show him a thing or two!” Sonja said, her eyes flashing fiercely.

“Sonja, I’m not going to ask them to Christmas Dinner at my aunt’s house just to get back at my ex,” Melanie protested. “If I did something like that, I’d be sinking to Steve’s level.”

“Well, you can think that way if you want, but I’m not above bringing Sahran down to Earth with me and taking him around where I know my old boyfriend will be.” Sonja tossed her head. “You should have seen his eyes pop the first time I walked in on my man’s arm. I felt like a queen.” She preened, running one hand down her long braids. “And I looked like one too, if I do say so myself.”

Melanie couldn’t help laughing.

“Sonja, you are too much! I love how confident you are!”

She wished she could have some of that confidence herself. She remembered feeling young and fresh and full of life—ready to conquer the world, like her young friend. But somehow, in the years she’d spent with Steve, all those good feelings had leaked away, leaving her feeling old and used up.

And certainly not attractive enough to be with two young, virile warriors like Strong and Clear, whispered a nasty little voice that sounded like her ex.

Taking a deep breath, Melanie kicked the bad thoughts out of her mind house and locked the door firmly. She would not dwell on negative thoughts, she told herself. She was going to entertain only positive ideas.

“Have you gotten your present for your Secret Santa person yet?” she asked Sonja, determined to keep things upbeat.